those who can do, those who can’t run for judge?

Posted on March 24, 2023 by carla

So Kristine Howard only won her State Rep re-election because her opponent was a cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs candidate who is even less qualified as a politician as she is, and because face it 2022 was the lesser of two evils election, wasn’t it? The woman who ran against her, was literally such a bad candidate that even Republicans voted for Kristine Howard.

Howard now wants to run for JUDGE. I mean, it would be a nice salary bump wouldn’t it? According to published media reports judges serve 10 years and the salary is supposedly $197, 119, so that is like more than double what she makes now, right?

There are a lot of Democrats who want to be judge this year, especially off of County Row in Chester County, correct? And then there are some running who are Magisterial District Justices and they haven’t even finished their terms yet, correct? Sorry, not sorry, I kind of have a problem with that. If you haven’t completed the initial task you were originally elected to, why should we consider you for judge?

***Nice salary – that photo is the one***
***from her first campaign.***

And I think Kristine Howard is one of the worst offenders because I’m still trying to figure out what it is exactly she has actually done for us since she was first elected aren’t you? She doesn’t support the people whose lives have been damaged and ruined by the pipelines, does she? She’s not someone you see around unless she’s running. Like she showed up this week at the rededication of the Malvern Historical Commission and opened her mouth for a few seconds. Good thing a public photo op was posted. It’s like proof of life that this State Rep exists.

With this state rep photos are always the subject of some amusement where she’s concerned because when she ran for her first race, the photo was like 15 years old. Literally people didn’t know who she was at first because she was not out much and she didn’t have current campaign photos. I totally get liking certain photos of yourself over others but people literally didn’t recognize her when they actually met her for the first time.

So now Kristine Howard wants to run for judge, so she actually showed her face at something local.

She seems to hide from her constituency, and her staff is not particularly helpful, because there are so many people who have said so. I’ve never contacted her office personally, because when she abandoned her constituents harmed by pipelines, I was kind of done. I mean that was a pretty basic need to just be heard on the part of her constituents affected by pipelines before you get to all the other issues, and she couldn’t even do that.

And is she qualified to be a judge? It doesn’t appear as if she has ever had time in a courtroom does it? So, maybe if she was running for Magisterial District Justice? It would be different, but she’s running for Superior Court, and if you don’t have the chops, you don’t have the chops. And I don’t think she has the chops. I think she just wants this because it’s more money and job security for a decade.

It’s like that quote out of the movie Working Girl in 1988 when Joan Cusack’s character Cyn says:

“ Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn’t make me Madonna. Never will.”
~ Cyn, Working Girl 1988

I wasn’t even going to write about this until I saw that the good state rep was doing her proverbial kissing babies public appearance things. But it needs to be discussed. She has not done an adequate job as our elected state representative and now she wants to be a judge? We can’t see that she has any actual courtroom experience, but now she wants to be a judge? So is being a judge job security, and then a platform for running for something else?

Politics & Government

Election 2023: State Rep. Kristine Howard Runs For Judgeship

Howard serves on the state House Judiciary Committee and is a member of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Taskforce.

By Holly Herman, Patch Staff

Mar 21, 2023 1:31 pm EDT | Updated Mar 22, 2023 9:23 pm EDT

MALVERN, PA – State Rep. Kristine Howard announced Tuesday her candidacy for a judgeship on the Chester County bench.

Howard is serving her third term representing District-167, which consists of Malvern borough and Charlestown, East Whiteland, West Pikeland, West Whiteland, West Vincent and East Caln townships.

There are five vacancies on the 12-judge bench.

So far, 12 candidates have announced they are running in the May primary for a 10-year term serving the residents of Chester County. Judges earn an annual salary of $197,119.

Howard, a lawyer, is serving her third, two-year term as a Democratic legislator after being reelected in November.

” My work as a legislator gives voters a clear picture of the perspective I will bring to the bench,” Howard said in announcing her candidacy. “I have an extensive voting record and have written and published my opinions on many topics.”

Howard of East Whiteland Township said her decision to run for the judge was not easy, noting she loves her job as a lawmaker, a job which provides the public with her position on issues impacting the resident of Pennsylvania…..According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Howard and Judge Nicole Forzato are running on the Democratic ticket. The other 10 candidates cross-filed on both Republican and Democratic tickets.

They are Dave Black, Andy Rongaus, District Attorney Deb Ryan, P.J. Redmond, Don Kohler, Sheriff Fredda D. Maddox, Thomas McCabe, Judge Lou Mincarelli, Sarah Black, and District Judge Paige Simmons.

Her work as a legislator. Good to know she’s working right? Because it has been hard to tell and you rarely hear her actual voice. She’s pretty much invisible to her constituency as an elected official unless it’s a photo op for something.

Also look at who submitted that photo in the opening screenshot I captured from the Patch article which is really not an article but a press release? Isn’t that the guy who is supposedly both her political handler and fancy man? And you’ve seen him show up on campaign finance reports getting paid? If she was a judge, who would be the voice you heard adjudicating from the bench, him or her? What would he get out of her being judge?

Kristine Howard is also someone who always appears completely ill at ease speaking in public, and being a judge is a pretty public thing day in and day out, so how would she cope?

Then there is her LinkedIn. Again, you don’t see actual courtroom experience. You see that she has a law degree, but when someone is running for judge at this level, having a law degree isn’t enough, you need actual experience.

Running for judge of Common Please Court, is a big deal. And the Chester County Democrats did NOT endorse her either. Of course, that begs a different conversation of is the bloom off of the rose with her in Chester County?

PRESS RELEASE: CHESTER COUNTY DEMOCRATS ENDORSE CANDIDATES FOR STATE AND COUNTY-WIDE OFFICES

Feb 16, 2023

Chester County Democrats Choose State and County-wide Candidates for Party Endorsement

West Chester, PA. (February 16, 2023) – The Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC) has selected candidates for endorsement for the 2023 Primary Election at its annual Endorsement Convention, held virtually on Wednesday evening.

Chairwoman Charlotte Valyo stressed the importance of the endorsement process, especially given cross-filing Republicans expected on the May 16 Democratic Primary Election ballot for non-political races. She also noted the recent election successes of Democratic candidates across the county, leading to several very competitive primary races.

Valyo stated “The Chester County Democratic Committee has successfully endorsed a full slate of candidates to run for Judicial and County seats in the 2023 election. The Democratic slate is representative of Chester County, the candidates are highly qualified, and will continue the Democrats’ record of governing responsibly for all Chester County residents.”

For state-wide races, the Committee endorsed Dan McCaffery for State Supreme Court; Jill Beck, Esq., and Judge Timika Lane for Superior Court; and Judge Matt Wolf for Commonwealth Court.

The Committee was proud to unanimously endorse incumbent Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz, along with incumbent Prothonotary Debbie Bookman. Current Register of Wills Michele Vaughn was also endorsed, although not unanimously. Earning first-time endorsements for open seats were District Attorney candidate Chris de Barrena-Sarobe, Esq., Recorder of Deeds candidate Diane O’Dwyer, and Kevin Dykes for Sheriff.

With a very unusual five openings on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas and 13 declared judicial candidates, that position proved to be extremely competitive, requiring several rounds of balloting to endorse Sarah Black, Esq., Judge Nicole Forzato, Sheriff Fredda Maddox, Esq., Thomas “Tip” McCabe, Esq., and DA Deborah Ryan, Esq.

This year’s Democratic Primary Election is May 16, 2023.

That is a fascinating press release. It also mentions the Register of Wills race. The incumbent was not universally endorsed by her party. Does that mean perhaps she should spend a little more time in the office? And Recorder of Deeds? That is an office that has seemed to have had messes and messy revolving door hasn’t it? And the woman whom they endorsed has been there through a lot of it and it’s still a mess, so why should we vote for her?

But that’s a conversation for another day. Let’s get back to Kristine Howard. if she decided for some strange reason that she had wanted to run for Magisterial District Justice , I would not have had a problem with that and why do you ask? Because that is the one judicial category where you do not have to have a law degree or be a lawyer. And technically, you don’t have to have quart room experience either. But State Rep Kristine Howard wants to run for Court of Common Pleas. She just doesn’t have the chops for this job.

I know we all have to get through the primary before we get to the general election. I almost wished that judges were a political as far as parties went, and they just ran as qualified or not qualified individuals. I personally do not want someone who is purely a politician to be a judge, and that doesn’t matter what political party they are. When somebody runs for judge, they have to have some kind of practical court experience that would qualify them for the Court of Common Pleas.

So Chester County Democrats you have a task ahead of you. You need to separate the wheat from the chaff. Most simply put, State Rep. Kristine Howard when it comes to a judicial race is sadly the chaff. I mean, if she’s tired of going to Harrisburg, she could always run for County Commissioner like State Rep Tim Briggs had been considering in Montgomery County until he changed his mind, right?

It’s not up to me to decide if Kristine Howard ends up on the fall 2023 election ballot. But I can tell you she won’t be my choice. She shouldn’t be yours as well. She just doesn’t have it to be a judge.

We need judges on the bench for the right reasons. Being a judge should not be a political steppingstone, or a place to hang out for a decade with a higher salary. I believe people who run for judge should have a true calling for it.

That’s it that’s all I’ve got to say the rest is up to the voters in May.

shipped fedex from beverly hills, ca to exton, pa then painting goes poof?

Posted on March 19, 2023 by carla

NBC 10 Philadelphia’s Deanna Durante has done the most comprehensive reporting to date on what looks like an 18th century painting of an unknown man which quite literally walked OUT of a FedEx location in Exton. I am guessing the one on Creamery Way since they said not normally open to street traffic? Anyway the news says “FedEx Ground location” and it’s West Whiteland Police asking for the public’s help, so I am guessing this is the location still?

CBS 3 Philadelphia also covered this, MyChesco, Patch, and well me.

art theft in chester county from fedex ground location!

So Downingtown Auction House? I know it’s got to be whom I am thinking of and they are wonderful and this is not them. They have been around, and do lots of American and portraits. This painting was shipped from Beverly Hills, CA I am told by a woman who used auctioneers in the past. That makes me wonder if she is an ex-Chester County native? An ex-pat so to speak? That is what I hypothesize, right or wrong.

Things that strike me as odd include: do we know the subject of the portrait or the painter? NBC 10 Reporter Deanna Durante’s report indicated other authorities perhaps getting involved who deal in art theft? And possibly being listed on a website called Art Loss Registry.

I do not pretend to know much about 18th century portrait painters, but as far as auctioning something, often people will send stuff to auction where they think they have a market. So I wonder if that is in part why a Downingtown, PA auction house was chosen? Could this painting have regional historical interest? This is of course why my inner Nancy Drew wishes authorities would release more information on the painting. Perhaps if we knew more about the painting, we could know more about why it was stolen, unless it was just a crime of opportunity perhaps originating in California and now whomever is stuck with a hot potato? What are authorities in California saying, for example?

So West Whiteland PD says it shipped from Beverly Hills, CA? If you Google there are 3 active Beverly Hills FedEx locations, or so I discovered. Maybe I am wrong, I don’t know. I am not exactly an expert on Beverly Hills.

So, it was prepared by a business in California and shipped FedEx ground? You would need someone to expertly crate it and ship it, right? I know FedEx can do that, I have done that through the FedEx in Malvern. But one thing about the FedEx in Malvern. A couple of times I have missed a delivery and had to go there to pick it up. I have had to show ID and so forth, so I am still confused as to WHY the person at FedEx in Exton released the painting?

I will note, that I do NOT believe UPS will let you change where something is delivered to once it is shipped, but someone will have to verify that. No clue about USPS because I do not see them as an avenue of shipping for art, do you? Again, maybe I am wrong.

Deanna Durante’s report mentions the painting may have been re-frames and may have “L Parks” on the back of it. It was packed and shipped at a FedEx in Beverly Hills. Christie’s Auctions actually has an article about how the BACK of a painting can tell as much of a story as the subject and painter of a painting.

I am kind of fascinated that I can’t find any media in the Los Angeles area talking about this yet. Maybe it will end up just stealing for stealing, but maybe it is because of whomever painted the painting or whom the subject was?

Doesn’t it seem this is a total FedEx thing? After all, has FedEx piped up about this at all? So FedEx is this an “inside job” that started in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills?

Police say this painting was taken Friday, January 27, 2023 at 7:15 A.M. Since the public has only recently heard of this can we say the poor lady who owned it exhausted all avenues with FedEx? Yes, I know, I am becoming repetitive. I am just fascinated by this, as are lots of people.

If you see the painting, please call police. Or wouldn’t it be nice if the thief just RETURNED the painting?

what would george elliot have thought?

Posted on March 12, 2023 by carla

Quotes. People love putting quotes out there on social media. But part of the context of quotes is not the quote borrower, but the quote originator. Like George Elliot. But I am getting ahead of myself. First we need to consider the borrower of a George Elliot quote, a politician running for DASD school board named Professor Christopher Bressi formerly known as Christopher Bre on Facebook.

Dear Professor Politician changed his profile before running for DASD school board. As in his old profile was made to poof disappear.

He talks about censorship, yet he censors comments he doesn’t like and yet he’s a politician running for public office? Quite amusing, yes?

Above is something the learned professor candidate posted yesterday. Ironic statements are highlighted. Why? Again….because before he launched his public page he deleted his old profile so that none of his old comments could come back to haunt him. So yeah funny ironic that he talks about hiding and trust, etc?

In this post are some screenshots his old profile, Christopher Bre. See how he talks about censoring in the one, which is also ironic given that he picks and chooses the comments he allows to post on his public politician page, right? And why is it politicians think that they can censor and ban although case law now dictates otherwise? Have they met Montgomery County’s Joe Gale?

Gosh and check out above for that old post, a classic, right? And again, what could be said about nouveau politicians who delete their old profile immediately prior to launching a campaign for school board? Below screenshot on the left was taken prior to him deleting his old profile. The one on the right is from today. His comment is gone because he deleted his old profile and made an entirely new one before he launched.

Now my personal favorite about this political candidate for Downingtown’s school board isn’t just new profiles and censorship. It’s who he quotes at the top of his “group” which to me is an amusing conversation in and of itself.

George Elliot was prolific writer of the Victorian era. Only George was not a George, that is to say he was a she. Mary Ann Evans. George Elliot was her pen name or pseudonym. She was a writer and poet. Creator of 7 famous novels : Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, The Radical, Middlemarch ,and Daniel Deronda. A lot of these books have been movies or PBS series.

She was born on the estate where her father worked as a miller. She was born Mary Ann Evans but wrote as George Elliot? Was that merely because in Victorian times it was unseemly for a woman to be a writer?

Before she became a writer, amusingly Evans/Elliot was the editor of what was then a radical left wing periodical called the Westminster Review, which existed to promote political and social reform. She was born the same year as Queen Victoria, so this was definitely not the era of women of independent thought.

Now here’s why I find it interesting other than this school board candidate is quoting a Victorian author who was a woman but masqueraded under a male pseudonym. Evans/Elliot also did not adhere to the rules of the day with acceptable relationships.

Evans/Elliot actually created scandal in the accepted mores of society. Her first relationship was with a guy who contributed to that Westminster Journal named George Lewes. Mr. Lewes was in an open marriage with a woman named Agnes Jervis. It was Victorian England so open marriages? Most definitely NOT a thing. Lewes was not divorced and could not get a divorce because although he and wifey on paper hadn’t lived together for years, he condoned her adultery after a sense because he allowed all of her illegitimate children to have his name and have their birth certificates all have his name, not the actual baby daddy’s name.

Following? Ok so messy non-divorce means that Evans/Elliot lived in sin with Lewes until he died.

Evans/Elliot was a fascinating writer. She called out anti-semitism before it was talked about for example. That was evident in her novel Daniel Deronda. But she was a writer who hid her true self from the public at large because society would not have approved or accepted her truth, would they?

So is this why this political candidate for school board seemingly hides who he is? Perhaps he is not even what his Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism fan base thinks he is?

Color me amused that this guy quotes George Elliot. Because if you follow the pretzel logic of these people, one would expect that her books would be on a banned list and her lifestyle and life would not fit their narrative.

Truthfully I am not sure George Elliot books are in public school libraries any longer. By the time I hit high school she was mostly taught in private schools, and if George Elliot were alive today you would probably find her writing about topics that are part of why banned book lists are popular with certain segments of society, right? So yup, a politician pandering to extremist groups who represent some of the worst theories of bigotry and hatred is quoting George Elliot, a dead Victorian author who was a woman named Mary Ann Evans who lived a lifestyle they would not approve of along with her belief system and writing subject matter.

Food for thought. Food for thought.

take a look at her now because she has limited time left on earth

Posted on March 10, 2023 by carla

The long strange tale of a bed-and-breakfast inn located in Wayne, PA in Radnor Township is drawing to a close. The charming and impeccably restored B&B located at 211 Strafford Avenue in Wayne seems like she is to meet the wrecking ball.

This beautiful house, which was lovingly restored, getting bulldozed, is a waste, and it should be a crime. It’s so funny I remember quite clearly when they started discussing having a Wayne bed-and-breakfast. I remember all the meetings at Radnor Township, because some of the neighbors were so weird about it. They thought they would be bringing in criminals and lowlifes into town. They should be careful what they wish for because now they’re getting development.

When I went by this morning, there were big construction things in the backyard and it looks like they took down a whole bunch of trees which is yet another waste. And that contributes to the crappy environmental changes we all experience now.

*Remember the Wayne Bed and Breakfast Inn for the beauty at once was*

We can’t save every old house. I am a realist. But what totally gets to me is this place had been beautifully restored and could’ve been an adaptive reuse into a couple of condos within this new development. I don’t even think they’re saving the pool, which is so lovely. And the gardens. Half looked like they were bulldozed away today already.

I’m also somewhat appalled that it seems like the Radnor Historical Society said and did nothing. Makes you wonder why they gave them a historical marker a few years ago, right?

R. I.P. Wayne Bed and Breakfast Inn. 😢

gracious, it’s been forever since there was a NEW willistown issue…

Posted on March 9, 2023 by carla

Well, is it going to burble over again and Willistown like NOFIMBY (No Farm in My Back Yard) or bad septic and sewer? People say that there is an issue brewing over 8044 Goshen Rd. in Malvern. It’s a very windy and busy road. And now it seems a religious institution wants to turn this into some sort of religious institution property. I mean there?

No, I don’t quite get this whole thing. It’s not something I’ve paid attention to. I think it’s an extraordinarily unattractive house as it stands. It’s not exactly a house where I would say that it would be a crying shame to tear it down and start over, but is this an area where do you actually want other than residential and since it’s residential does that mean it needs a zoning exception? And was it really listed by a realtor in Jenkintown? Jenkintown is the other side of everywhere from here what do they know from Chester County?

This property at 8044 Goshen seems like it was a mention at a February Planning Meeting? And it is some sort of a zoning thing now or since, December, right? I’ve seen it mentioned on a few agendas, but what are they actually doing about it? Are they actually discussing it or are they afraid to discuss it?

Why does Willistown always seem to be growing zoning issues? Maybe they hire the wrong zoning officers for the township? And what about this new manager? Does she ever open her mouth about anything? Willistown is a wonderful area but it seems like it’s having growing pains or something?

Well, that’s also another plan in front of Willistown with this law firm, isn’t it? Aren’t they the Rock Hill Farm attorneys too? They’re good.

And this is yet another seeming zoning issue and land-use issue in front of Willistown? Willistown you’re beautiful, but maybe you need to up your legal game as a municipality, huh? And neighbors, it’s really great that you all been together, but banding together alone isn’t going to do it y’all better find yourselves good land-use lawyers, don’t you think? T-shirts and lawn signs and flyers are not going to solve these issues.

8044 Goshen Road is listed on the current zoning things on Willistown’s website .

And now the neighbors are also passing out flyers or something? I am glad they are doing that but they will need to be a little more vocal about this I think. I think it’s just a really odd location for an institutional use and it’s not going to be a passive institutional use is it? It could be pretty busy and how will that affect the neighbors?

I think it’s a weird location for a new institutional use, and I’m curious as to why this religious organization thought they were just going to be able to buy this property in a residential area and do this? There are plenty of religious institutions and churches, and what not that co-exist in residential areas but this road is kind of busy and I just wonder how this would work?

Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 7 PM is the next zoning hearing board meeting. And I have to be honest I think this is one of those issues where they might need more than the little Willistown board room don’t you? And that’s where it’s scheduled, that meeting.

It’s like a Catch 22 because it’s not another cram plan housing development, but it’s also contemplating a use of a property that would require a zoning change, right? So I guess my biggest question of all is because zoning doesn’t happen in a vacuum, what happens if you change the zoning here and this current project goes forward but doesn’t last and survive in this location? Then what would be next, what could be next?

I think this is something worth watching. And if other municipalities are smart, they will also pay attention to this. It’s interesting.

If the “concerned” neighbors are smart they would hire a lawyer who could handle this. I would actually suggest a lawyer other Willistown residents hired a while back, the same one I mentioned the other day. Philip Rosensweig. And no I am not getting anything for saying this, he’s a fabulous land use attorney. And he was a good commissioner for many years in Lower Merion Township even when we didn’t agree.

I think this is a really weird place for something like this because of the road, and how an institutional use will potentially affect this are is also a valid concern, isn’t it?

Get the popcorn ready in Willistown….

m.kaplan jail interiors next?

Posted on March 5, 2023 by carla

Goodness. M. Kaplan Interiors is back in the news. Quite the whopper of an article in the Daily Local. BOTH Kaplans have been charged: Vuitton toting over-priced car driving Margaret, and Matthew who apparently is in some hospital somewhere according to the article?

Chester County furniture store owners charged in fraud cases
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN | mrellahan@dailylocal.com |
PUBLISHED: March 4, 2023 at 10:15 a.m. | UPDATED: March 4, 2023 at 1:37 p.m.

….Matthew Kaplan, 54, of Abington, Montgomery County, is charged with 15 separate counts of deceptive business practices, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, theft by false impression, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. His wife Margaret Kaplan, 56, also of Abington, is charged with three counts each of the same offenses. All are felonies.

The couple has yet to be arraigned by Magisterial District Justice John Bailey of West Whiteland, Matthew Kaplan was arrested last month and charged in four cases, and was released on bail. The other alleged victims came forward after news of his arrest was reported.

A telephone message at the business on Friday stated that Matthew Kaplan had been admitted to a hospital in February. He could not be reached. He was represented in the first set of allegations by attorney James Bonner of Media.

M. Kaplan Interiors, located on Lancaster Avenue in the township’s Malvern section, began business in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia in 1922, with its founder, Morris Kaplan, providing parlor sets, appliances, and baby carriages, “at a time when business was done on a handshake,” according to its website….”Now in its 3rd generation, M. Kaplan continues to design and furnish homes throughout the United States and abroad,” the site proclaims, “Proudly, a small family-owned and operated business carrying on the family tradition.”

A proud family tradition is, however, not what those making complaints to East Whiteland police said they found, however.

Here are the dockets:

Apparently grifters make the world go round.

Below is the prior post. If you were a victim of this business, contact East Whiteland Police.

ruh roh: interior design firm from malvern (really frazer) outed by 6abc, police on their trail.

relevant/irrelevant tomayto/tomahto

Posted on March 4, 2023 by carla

Oh my, she’s discovered me. Shockers. Give me a minute.

So. First things first. I am nobody says the woman who arrived here and expected everyone to lap up her bougie B.S. (Note I said bougie not boujee.)

Alrighty then. To her I am nobody. That’s fine. I don’t know people who do things like what Radnor Police etc. have said what she did. (Refer to Savvy Main Line article.)

The swift rise and steep fall of a Wayne shopkeeper; Top-shelf shooting at Main Line Armory; Walk-in pet care; New Joey Chops & Thrillz adventure park; All-weather pickleball (!) & much more

Now the other day she had plenty to say about Caroline O’Halloran and someone else it seemed like. Maybe now it’s my turn, I suppose? Is she threatening me? Calling me out behind the gym? Why? Did I create her issues? It seems to me she’s a grown woman who made her current choices, oui?

Now she talks about 15 minutes of fame? Maybe just maybe that’s a little light projecting on a Saturday? You see I hypothesize that she wanted her 15 minutes of fame, but this wasn’t the 15 minutes of fame that she probably envisioned, right?

I wonder if she thought after leaving NYC, then going to Delaware, then Glen Mills, PA, that Wayne, PA was going to be the golden mile because it was the Main Line? I don’t know and none of us can get inside her head, but it seems a mite *crowded* hating on people, doesn’t it? Does hating everyone instead of owning her actions make it easier to deal with? Again don’t know, that would be a psychologist’s job.

The Main Line is a funny place. Even more today than it used to be. But one thing has never changed. You can’t just move there to belong. Much like any other affluent suburb. You have to be invited to belong, if you feel you need to sit at the ultimate popular girls table. This is a nuance that so many don’t get.

Hillary doll, I grew up on the Main Line. So I don’t need 15 minutes of anything, nor do I have to seek or do seek relevance. I am sure next you will vaguely or not so vaguely refer to me as, or call me a racist. Do you do that to everyone, I wonder? You seem to have patterns, and for a smart woman, you’re not being smart. And that is my opinion. Just like it is my opinion, that on some level this is a tragedy in many acts. You are a woman who is obviously extremely bright and attractive, so why is this the path?

And oh by the way, my blog doesn’t even have an Instagram presence. That was a fraudulent account God knows who created that was reported to Instagram a long time ago. So you probably should block it to be safe.

Also, the media and police are all watching your socials. And they read my blog. I am sorry for your troubles, but I didn’t cause them and neither did Caroline O’ Halloran.

details, details

Posted on February 27, 2023 by carla

Things that drive me crazy includes when incorrect dates are attributed to old houses. The City of Philadelphia in particular is the WORST. THE WORST.

Take for example, the house that counts as my birthplace in Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia has it listed as being built in 1860. It is a historic property that their own redevelopment authority dated to 1811! I have the sign when it was built in 1811 and for whom that hung on the house before my parents purchased it ! And a former Mayor of Philadelphia and Congressman J. Hampton Moore lived there. Documentable history.

Or my grandparents old house in North Philadelphia where my father was born. They give the rowhouse a date of being built in 1940. My father was born in 1935. There. Was daddy living in the wild, Philadelphia?

What started me on this today? One of my friends and I realized that one of her grandmother was born a few blocks from the house my great aunts and great uncle lived in at 1128 Ritner Street in South Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia lists the house as being built in 1940. Again, one issue: photos of my father as an infant out front with my grandfather, grandmother, great aunts, and great grandmother…..in 1935.

So then I went digging around. Found instances of when this house was for rent, for sale, needed domestic help in the early 20th century. 1897, 1908, 1912, 1919. So there goes that idea of 1940 Philadelphia.

This of course led me to all sorts of other notices. For my family. When my Great Aunt Rose and Uncle Carl got their marriage license. Death notices, executor and executrix notices. And one freaking amazing find I had never seen before: when my father’s maternal grandfather, Francesco Antonio Luca, my great grandfather became a naturalized U.S. Citizen. That gave me chills.

Of course this led me to sad records, including when my Aunt Josie’s house, now sold a few times since it was sold when she had to go into a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, went into a foreclosure in 2021. I feel sorry for whomever that was and I am guessing they may have been in part responsible for the bastardization of the inside of the house.

It also led me to photos of a more recent Realtor type vintage. I have so few photos of the inside of that house, and none are scanned. And I couldn’t find them when I was starting to write this post. Inside when I was little was an old fireplace with Mercer tiles around it and a white mantle. There was a vestibule, which meant you came inside the front door and there was a little area with tiles that you could drop wet shoes, an umbrella, etc. There was also a door that then led you inside the house. My great aunts had an ancient player piano. That was left when the house was sold while Aunt Josie was alive. I actually found a photo of it but it had been moved to near the front window when it was always in between the living room and dining room when I was growing up. At some point the living room and dining room were bastardized in the 2000s and no more fireplace or vestibule or curved arch kind of entry to dining room. Oh and there is a “roof terrace” (not finished) which trust me never excisted.

I have a lot of very specific memories of the house on Ritner Street because we spent a lot of time there. I have written about that before. When you walked inside the front doors, there was a vestibule with an additional door and transom window. The vestibule had tile as flooring. Not sure it was marble, but might have been. The fireplace was closed off and completely decorative by the time I was a child and I think hid pipes or something. But when it was for sale a few years ago, the beautiful mantle and Mercer tile surround and hearth was just gone and those floors were not the original hardwoods. And I am not sure where the front window came from because it was different from when I was little and even different from when my father was growing up.

And I am not sure when the house got so unattractive with the façade because originally it was brick and other stone. I remember the steps were blue-grey marble or granite originally and then at some point before I was born a home “improvement” contractor working the neighborhood convinced the residents of 1128 Ritner that the steps HAD to change. I imagine he probably re-sold the original slabs of stone and the way the steps were situated also changed.

Being so annoyed that the City of Philadelphia didn’t even have the right year the house was built also sent me to the census records for the Lucas. Why that was cool is I saw all the places they lived after emigrating. They came in through Alabama and PJ, my Uncle Pat (Pasquale) and Aunt Millie were born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. The others were born in Philadelphia. I found the houses prior to moving to Ritner Street – 966 Kimball and 1614 Iseminger.

I will remember Ritner street the way it was when I was growing up. I am sorry the interior details that were so pretty have been lost over time. Especially those Mercer tiles in the hearth and fireplace surround.

Except for their earliest residences, these immigrants I descend from owned their homes. And if you read the census data, there was only a limited education until my father’s generation. These people worked hard. These people are my people. When so many run from what they are from, I celebrate it.

I miss my old people of my growing up years. I miss that house. No one besides me probably cares that the year it was built is wrong, or the house I was born into is listed with the wrong building year. But details matter. Or they should. But it’s the City of Philadelphia which has seemingly stopped caring about pretty much everything.

say NO to data centers and a new power plant at exton park

Posted on February 25, 2023 by carla

These aren’t my words I am about to share, but I agree:

30 years ago residents of East and West Whiteland joined together to stop a “mini city” from being built on Church Farm School land. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of residents and the township and county elected leaders at the time, we have the 700 acre Exton Park on that land instead.

Their legacy is our treasure, for current and future generations.

But now developers and fossil fuel interests want to put a power plant and massive data center hub on the eastern edge of our beloved park bisected by the Chester Valley Trail. They have lobbied in Harrisburg and won state tax breaks for data centers and billion of dollars in subsidies for “dirty” hydrogen power plants sourced from methane, a false climate solution pushed by the industry to prolong fracking.

In order for their plan to proceed, West Whiteland’s zoning ordinance would have to be amended to allow power plants and data centers in this Laboratory/Office zone. The developer has asked for this amendment and a public hearing has been scheduled for Jan 25, 6:30pm at the West Whiteland Township Building.

🔴 Mark your calendars for Jan 25 and make a plan to attend the hearing. Residents from all over must join together again to protect this space. It’s no place for a power plant and potentially 3 million square feet of data center, up to sixty feet high.

🔴 Join the FB group No Power Plant/Data Center Hub in Exton! To stay up-to-date.

More on the billions in subsidies for blue and grey hydrogen: https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2022/10/the-hydrogen-bill-gifts-4-billion-to-the-fossil-fuel-industry-opinion.html

(Photo taken last weekend from Old Valley Rd, Exton looking east toward this tract of land beyond the row of trees).
~ Ginny Kerslake

Funny thing about history…does it repeat itself? All of the things going on in East Whiteland and West Whiteland West regarding this whole data center as the second coming of Christ projects and it makes you look back to the past doesn’t it? Because isn’t some of this land that’s in play now part of what riled people up with Willard rows in the 1980s and 90s? Anyway all these clippings are just a little history lesson. Because those who don’t look to the past are doomed to make the same mistakes in the present, right?

Look lively West Whiteland Township and East Whiteland Township. This whole area is at risk again. End, it actually starts down off of S. Bacton Hill Road in East Whiteland where they want the data center plant. And the people behind all this include a former investment banker, and when did an investment banker, become an expert on new forms of energy or is it just about the bottom line?