Tag Archives: chester county

the east whiteland data center documents post.

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Current Beast of a Plan.

In order to help residents understand how ODD the whole data center process has been in East Whiteland, I will load in documents taken off of the township website.

So back before COVID when data center stuff started being floated, it was a smaller plan. Much smaller like 78,000 square feet and it was going to have a solar field to assist self-sufficiency.

I didn’t rust that then. Why? Because the name we always hear with Green Fig the most, Charles Lyddane, was a financial services professional for decades prior to this. Research indicates he started at Xerox and moved onto financial services at Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason. Translation: that background = money driven, fees and commission driven, correct?

And then all of these Democrats think he’s wunderbar? Do they know how he ran as an endorsed Republican School Board candidate circa 2013? Allow me to quote and old Patch almost press release post as in not a regular article:

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/malvern/bp–charles-lyddane-endorsed-for-school-board

Charles Lyddane endorsed for School Board
EastWhitelandGOP,Neighbor
Posted Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 6:50 pm ET
Updated Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 9:20 pm ET

Local Republican Committees Jointly Endorse GVSD School Board Candidate Charles Lyddane

Great Valley – On March 9, 2013 Republican committee people representing Republican voters living in Great Valley’s School Board Region II (parts of Republican Areas 9 and 10) endorsed Charlie Lyddane for School Board…After an open process soliciting community input and prominently posting a notice in Malvern Patch seeking interested and qualified candidates for Great Valley School Board, the committee representing Republican voters in Region II met the candidates and caucused, endorsing Charlie Lyddane by a two -thirds vote.

 According to Bill Tickner, Committee member and Willistown community leader, “Charlie Lyddane is the businessman we need to represent the Great Valley School community on the School Board. I am proud and pleased that Charlie a pro-education Great Valley parent with a strong background in finance and business development has stepped up to put those skills to work on our behalf. We need someone like Charlie who’s willing to steward scarce taxpayer resources into classroom education first..Mr. Lyddane has lived in Great Valley School District for 15 years and has graduated two children from the District. A graduate of Union College in Schenectady, NY, Mr. Lyddane has a BA in History and also attended the Business School at Union. He started his career at Xerox. He was Vice President of Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason in West Chester for 23 years. As a real estate developer and investor in Chester County for the past 9 years, Mr. Lyddane has significant experience in budget development and implementation, as well as achieving strategic goals in a timely and cost efficient manner. He also has significant experience in Property Management.

 According to Mr. Lyddane, “When you are managing shareholder’s money, you must produce a product that is beneficial to those shareholders. 

Boom there it is – “you must produce a product that is beneficial to those shareholders.”

That tells you what you need to know, doesn’t it? It’s not about community, or the environment or anything altruistic, just good old fashioned green backs right?

Before I go back to the data center of it all, one more article from his life before Green Fig which makes you wonder is this just like another stock pick? Is this why all of the back and forth?

https://www.wealthmanagement.com/wealth-management-industry-trends/acting-on-his-own

Acting on His Own
Some brokers almost cringe at the term “stock-picker.” It can conjure up visions of reps with frayed nerves and churned accounts.Not Charlie Lyddane.”I’m not ashamed to admit that I pick stocks,” says Lyddane, a soloist at Legg Mason in West Chester, Pa. “It’s what a broker is supposed to do. My clients like that kind of help.”Apparently so. Lyddane reports $1 million in production and $120 million

Charlie Lyddane
December 1, 2000

…Some brokers almost cringe at the term “stock-picker.” It can conjure up visions of reps with frayed nerves and churned accounts.

Not Charlie Lyddane.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I pick stocks,” says Lyddane, a soloist at Legg Mason in West Chester, Pa. “It’s what a broker is supposed to do. My clients like that kind of help.”…Apparently so. Lyddane reports $1 million in production and $120 million under management. He’s been a broker for 19 years and has never been part of a team.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to have or need a partnership,” Lyddane says. “Besides, I like doing things on my own. No one will care about my clients like I do.”

He thinks it’s wrong to hand off client service. “My clients pay to deal with me,” Lyddane says. “I craft stock portfolios of blue chips with a bent toward technology. I’m their single source, and I like being responsible.”

He is responsible – literally.

With 400 clients and 1,000 accounts, Lyddane uses discretionary account management as a time-saving technique….Although he does his own thing, Lyddane appreciates the help he gets from the firm. “Legg Mason supports a number of teams, but I’ve found them to be very supportive of what I do. I have a great arrangement.”

Anyway, the solar field idea disappeared and then they wanted these box things they called pods. Then I think those disappeared because of maybe crypto currency concerns?

I heard a while back that PECO said something like that data center would be like the second largest site next to the City of Philadelphia and if so, how crazy is that?

Someone I know wrote today:

The Limerick Nuclear plant generates about 2300 MWH (megawatt hours) of electricity per day (with two reactors) enough for 2 million homes

The new proposed data center in town is expected to use about 100-600 MWH.

Or 8% to as much as 48% of the ENTIRE OUTPUT of a single reactor. For one data center. The equivalent of 500,000 homes.

It could actually be MORE than the energy equivalent of 500,000 homes, couldn’t it be?

We have a weak and problematic power grid already – when we have outages they will be first served (residents will get pushed down the grid) and all those diesel generators right? And then you just have to wonder HOW MANY TIMES IS EAST WHITELAND GOING TO LET THIS GUY TRY TO TWEAK A PLAN THAT ALWAYS SEEMS TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WHICH MEANS WHY NOT AN ENTIRE NEW SUBMISSION?

When the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an article about this in 2023, I was interviewed. What I said was:

I’m not against responsible development, But when you’re talking about new kinds of technology and new kinds of factories, basically, you need the most updated [municipal] codes available, and our current codes are out of date…We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past.

The past I was in part thinking of is the lithium contamination etc. that was Foote Mineral. Foote was an EPA site. There was a review of the site in 2024, but well, the whole data center of it all wasn’t supposed to be that ginormous yet was it?

https://semspub.epa.gov/work/03/2399721.pdf

To quote the 2024 site review:

After ceasing operations in 1991, the Site owner at the time, Cyprus Foote Mineral Company, arranged for the removal of equipment and for demolition of remaining buildings down to their foundations. In 1998, Frazer Exton Development, LP (FED) purchased the original Property (Parcel 42-3-130) and assumed responsibility for cleaning up the Site. FED also installed a single cap over both the North Quarry and South Quarry as part of cleanup activities. In December 2016, Whiteland Holdings, LP (WH), the holder of the first mortgage on the Property, foreclosed and acquired the Property from FED. In a deed recorded on August 15, 2019, WH sold parcel 42-3-130.2 to Green Fig Land LLC, and on January 31, 2022, WH sold parcel 42-3-130 to Green Fig 11.33 LLC2. At the time of this FYR’s October 2023 Site inspection, the 42-3-130 and 42-3-130.2 parcel owner had, on several occasions, permitted a local electric company to use some uncapped areas of the Site as a laydown space to store lumber. The area is not in constant use. The current 42-3-130 and 42-3-130.2 parcel owner intends to redevelop parcel 42-3-130.2 as the location for a data farm facility. In 2024, construction activities for the data farm facility were initiated on parcel 42-3-130.2.

(2For clarity purposes, Green Fig Land LLC and Green Fig 11.33 LLC are owned by the same individual.)

https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0301103

100+ Acres of Chester County to be Transformed Into a 150MW Data Center Hub
October 2022
$6 billion data center proposed for East Whiteland
January 2023

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/commercial/data-centers-proposed-suburban-chester-county-pennsylvania-20230119.html

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/1547-csr-planning-2-million-sq-ft-150mw-campus-outside-philadelphia-pennsylvania

https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/southeastern-pa/data-center-company-to-develop-up-to-2m-square-feet-of-space-in-chester-county/article_46cf3574-2932-11ed-ac4d-ebeb3896d54e.html

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2021/08/03/new-pa-tax-exemption-development-jobs.html

Not Everyone Is Sold on the Benefits of Amazon’s Data Center Coming to Falls Township
Not Everyone Is Sold on the Benefits of Amazon’s Data Center
Coming to Falls Township – August 2025

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220830005696/en/fifteenfortyseven-Critical-Systems-Realty-Adds-over-100-Acres-and-150-Megawatts-in-Pennsylvania-for-Massive-Data-Center-Expansion

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/9/7080

And of course there is a sneaky bill getting fast tracked through Harrisburg as we speak. HB5121. If you google it before reading it, benignly it is described as “which aims to assist Pennsylvania municipalities in regulating data centers through a model zoning ordinance.”

BULLSHIT. This is that thing they talked about in 2025 that would remove rights from municipalities rendering them helpless in certain zoning situation. It does a band aid slither into the municipalities planning code so there is zoning on data centers. Data Centers can pop up anywhere. It arrives just in time for the Governor to announce his re-election bid. Essentially Johnny Frackenstein (AKA Governor Josh Shapiro) wants to remove local control for communities to reject this. State run and controlled everything and aren’t we experiencing enough of that at present in Washington DC in general? This is a bad bill that has data center developers and operators all wet at the prospect (sorry, yes that’s gross but true.)

Anyway, it’s up to people to turn out in East Whiteland until this thing is for the people and not at the expense of the people. And if you care, look up who is on HB 5121 and give them a ringy dingy and say WTF (just politely.)

https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb2151

east whiteland needs to say NO to supersizing/upsizing the data center still being constructed!
meeting alerts: green fig wants to make east whiteland data center being built BIGGER!

Here’s the hot mess of East Whiteland. Obviously not everything, but enough to make your head spin:

Waiver Request Letter 2021Download
Solar_20Field_20Grading_20Plan_2010.pdf 2021Download
Revised Data Center Fiscal Impact Analysis 2025Download
PCSM_20Report.pdf 2025Download
Landscape_Overall_20Schematic_20Landscape_20Plan.pdf 2021Download
Data_20Centers_20LD_20Plans.pdf 2025Download
August 201 EW PCDownload
Amended Waiver Request Letter 2025Download
Amended Project Narrative 2025Download
Acoustic Study Report 2025Download

(How do you have an acoustic study when something is not live in an area? Is it like those traffic studies which are you get what you pay for?)

3_2024-0531 PCSM Report updated 2024Download
1_Land_20Development_20App_20-_20Final.pdf 2024 end dateDownload
2025-0-HB2151P2778Download

east whiteland needs to say NO to supersizing/upsizing the data center still being constructed!

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This is a Ginny Kerslake photo, originally.

Let’s be clear about the data center here. What was originally approved and allowed by East Whiteland you’re not going to cancel that BUT given the size and the expansion they want to do on something that is not yet open and proves it needs. It is like a whole other plan and shoukd be treated as such, right??

Now the data center developer wants to upgrade some technology and move some stuff around. If that is hypothetically beneficial to his plan and would be beneficial to the residents that’s one thing but that does NOT mean the developer should just get a gimme supersizing prize of a half built project not up and running, does it?

And I hear that East Whiteland is putting a live stream on for this very heated topic. Their reticence with that is they don’t want to be hacked again (happened with Zoom) and have to see porn but you know what? how many other municipalities still do Zoom every week? Maybe their Internet safety protocol isn’t strong enough? The planning commission is but the opening salvo here.

Anyway as per East Whiteland’s website:

The Applicant for the proposed Data Center on Swedesford Road will attend the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 7:00pm (Livestream Available via Link Below)

The Applicant for the proposed Data Center on Swedesford Road will attend the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 7:00pm to present an Amended Plan for the project. In addition to in-person attendance, the meeting will be available to Livestream via the Township Website using the link below. Public comment may be submitted via email to bcarosello@eastwhiteland.org. Please submit comments by 4:00pm on Wednesday.

LIVE STREAM

People need to make sure that they tell every single supervisor and Township staff (politely) if they don’t want this. And they can’t just do it on social media. You have to zoom into the meetings, go to the meetings, send emails. Call media you know to cover it. Residents and those concerned need to make the time, not excuses.

If residents had paid more attention around 2022 when this whole thing was going through initial approval process, maybe we wouldn’t be here today but we will never know as that ship sailed. What hasn’t sailed is the developer does not have the Divine Right of Kings to make his project bigger, does he? That wasn’t what was approved, and it has to go through a whole new planning process from top to the bottom or it should right? I mean a 629,830 square foot increase is not smidge larger is it? “1,026,800 s.f. to 1,656,630 s.f. (along with related increases in building coverage and impervious coverage)” is quite a bit larger, yes?

And people from East Whiteland are contacting East Whiteland about the 55+ development that was approved years ago unavoidably in West Whiteland. Again, that ship sailed. I told people here and people told people other places about all those meetings, and the residents did not pay attention. And the problem with that project is under the Municipalities Planning Code so it was approved. And until that weighty outdated tome in Harrisburg is comprehensively updated to protect our communities, they are going to be targeted by developers for whatever is going to make them the most money in that minute and that is the truth isn’t it?

Also to be noted is there are many many West Whiteland residents who are concerned about the potential supersizing of this data center. They had to deal with this developer when he wanted to put a hydrogen hub right next to their park right in the same area. And that didn’t happen because the residents and supervisors stood up and took action.

In my humble opinion, the supervisors in East Whiteland need to be on the same page as the residents when it comes to data centers. If that developer wants to improve technology, that is mutually beneficial to all or tweak design on plan size approved, that is one thing, and it’s something they should want to do for their bottom line in the future, right? But we are already seeing changes in our power grid from data centers. We run the risk of having well water polluted by these data centers. There are other ways it is harmful to the environment and then there is the sheer noise. So East Whiteland approved a data center and it’s not up and running yet so there is no actual proof that is supersizing is needed at this juncture, is there? It is a developer want, it is not a developer need in my opinion and I’m allowed to have that.

I also of the opinion that we cannot depend on the planning commission to say no to this. I don’t think they have the knowledge necessary to do anything other than pass it along with a rubber stamp. In my opinion, I think they are all going to say unless people turn out and protest that “oh it’s OK. It’s better for people. It’ll bring lots of business and tax revenue” or whatever platitudes get blown up people’s rear ends and there’s no proof that it will do any of those things, but that’s what they’re told isn’t it?

This is who is on the planning commission:

Deborah Abel, Chair
Todd Asousa, Vice Chair
Bob Logan
Bill Wrabley
John Laumer
Tim Kelly
Jaime Damiani

Go to https://www.eastwhiteland.org/ for more information on this project and for telephone numbers and email addresses, etc.

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/report-links-data-center-to-rare-cancers-raising-questions-about-central-ohioans-safety

This was a superfund site – EPA- Foote Mineral. The planning commission should know that you can’t just come in with a resubmission like this- it has to start the clock again with a resubmission- where is the impact study? What is the complete feasibility? Planning needs to restart the clock if the developer wishes to expand, isn’t that a truism? Who inspects? Who is the monitoring agency? So many variables.

As Ginny Kerslake said TWO days ago:

I just saw this photo (minus the X) posted elsewhere. I feel compelled to address it because it’s the kind of messaging that is counterproductive to protecting our communities and the environment.

It’s the kind of messaging we get from some politicians talking out both sides of their mouth, and from the industry itself, giving false assurance that they won’t pollute or deplete our resources because there are strict environmental regulations in place.

It’s false.

We don’t HAVE anywhere close to adequate rules in place to protect our air and water from this buildout of AI data centers and power plants to fuel them – not to mention protect climate and communities.

Workers? These hyper scale data centers create very few jobs once built – and the intent is to eliminate workers.

And we have a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that has a history of turning a blind eye to violations by certain industries. And it’s led by a Secretary who has been engaged in backroom dealmaking with these corporations and has promised to deliver Amazon with the “highest level of service, accountability and urgency to meet their project needs”. (See letter in comments obtained through a RTK request.

Let’s not pretend the situation in Pennsylvania is anything different.

And what Ginny said was similarly said by a dear friend today who keeps asking Harrisburg WHO is responsible for watching Data Centers? WHO is the monitoring agency? I mean those who live with the PA DEPs inconsistency in their communities know this is a problem. WHO watches and who watchdogs the entities who are supposed to watch?

Also from Ginny:

Oh, and my opinions are bought to me by the First Amendment. They haven’t repealed that yet as far as I know.

Other things I found:

https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/superior-court/2024/968-eda-2023.html

From the other day:

meeting alerts: green fig wants to make east whiteland data center being built BIGGER!

meeting alerts: green fig wants to make east whiteland data center being built BIGGER!

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This is a Ginny Kerslake photo originally

Ok residents, the weekend surprise is essentially the data center developer building in East Whiteland wants to make it BIGGER.

We have a proverbial foot in the door scenario, and IMHO East Whiteland never should have allowed the foot to get there in the first place and I am allowed to have this opinion under the First Amendment.

To QUOTE the township:

📌The Applicant for the proposed Data Center on Swedesford Road will attend the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 to present an Amended Plan for the project. The Amended Plan differs from the Previously Approved Plan as follows:

  • total building square footage has increased from 1,026,800 s.f. to 1,656,630 s.f. (along with related increases in building coverage and impervious coverage)
  • cooling equipment has been redesigned and relocated from the ground immediately adjacent to the buildings (water-consuming cooling towers) to the rooftop (waterless rooftop chillers) along with corresponding sound mitigation barriers
  • emergency back-up generators have been relocated from the basement of the buildings to the ground immediately adjacent to the buildings along with corresponding sound mitigation barriers
  • office uses and loading facilities have been relocated from the southern side of the buildings to the northern side of the buildings facing Swedesford Road
  • additional trees and landscaping have been proposed on the former sewer lagoons located between the development site and Swedesford Road
  • design and location of stormwater management facilities, parking lots, and internal circulation areas have been modified
  • previously proposed microwave towers, antenna yards, and ground-mounted cooling towers have been removed

The Amended Plans can be found on the Subdivision & Land Development Applications page of the Township Website (refer to 2025-08-ALD Green Fig).📌

East Whiteland Township needs to say NO and they need to enable Zoom capability for ALL meetings where this is concerned given the weather and number of residents and neighbors who will be interested.

Again… the weekend surprise is essentially the data center developer for the East Whiteland Data Center on Swedesford next to West Whiteland park land, wants to make it BIGGER.

East Whiteland Township needs to say NO and they need to enable Zoom capability for ALL meetings where this is concerned given the weather and number of residents and neighbors who will be interested.

When we (myself and others) posted about this data center first happening a few years ago, very few people were interested. It was the chorus of crickets.

Recently, some people seemed like they were interested in this again and people wondered where they were a couple of years ago. This is the same developer that West Whiteland turned down for the hydrogen plant.

Once upon a time, I think this developer was like a stock broker or a money manager, but then he saw the dollar signs here didn’t he? So that’s fine if this is his chosen career path, but he shouldn’t detrimentally affect residents in multiple municipalities should he?

I make no secret of the fact that I always thought this was too big a plan for Swedesford Road. And at the time I couldn’t believe the people in developments across the road didn’t seem bothered by this.

Here are some interesting comments so far:

If you Google the project, here’s what comes up (in part):

Key Project Details

  • Location: 760 Swedesford Road, Malvern, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
  • Capacity: Planned for 290 MW of power, with significant capacity for 2 million square feet of development.
  • Partnership: A joint venture between Green Fig Land Company and 1547 Critical Systems Realty.
  • lol Features: Designed for hyperscale users with potential rooftop solar (up to 7 MW) and high-density, interconnected capabilities. 

Sorry, not sorry but residents and residents of neighboring municipalities had better wake up this time around.

The bell on the original data center being built, can’t be on wrong, but residents should have a say and be able to say no to making it bigger.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BytbBQCvU/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Google Louden County, Virginia and check out Ginny Kerslake’s Facebook page about her recent visit to Louden County, Virginia.

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/eastwhitelandtownshippa/Documents/Government/Departments/Planning%20And%20Development/Land%20Developments%20Applications/2025/Amended%20Waiver%20Request%20Letter.pdf?t=202512081126160&t=202512081126160

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/eastwhitelandtownshippa/Documents/Government/Departments/Planning%20And%20Development/Land%20Developments%20Applications/2025/Acoustic%20Study%20Report.pdf?t=202512081123450&t=202512081123450

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/eastwhitelandtownshippa/Documents/Government/Departments/Planning%20And%20Development/Land%20Developments%20Applications/2025/Data%20Centers%20LD%20Plans.pdf?t=202512081127020&t=202512081127020

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/eastwhitelandtownshippa/Documents/Government/Departments/Planning%20And%20Development/Land%20Developments%20Applications/2025/Amended%20Project%20Narrative.pdf?t=202512081125330&t=202512081125330

Address: 209 Conestoga Road Frazer, Pa. 19355
Phone: 610-648-0600

Here are email addresses if you wish to contact East Whiteland and ask them to enable Zoom for all meetings where this will be discussed:

bcarosello@eastwhiteland.org

sbrown@eastwhiteland.org

pfixler@eastwhiteland.org

slambert@eastwhiteland.org

csmith@eastwhiteland.org

https://www.eastwhiteland.org/news_detail_T2_R136.php

Old articles and other links:

$6 billion data center proposed for East Whiteland

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/1547-csr-planning-2-million-sq-ft-150mw-campus-outside-philadelphia-pennsylvania/

and now an (official) word from east whiteland about data centers…and the media coverage (thus far)

https://baxtel.com/data-center/1547-chester-county-pa

https://www.commercialsearch.com/news/2-msf-philly-data-center-project-moves-forward/

Excerpt from 2024:

A neighboring site offers an additional 5 million square feet of development potential.

fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty and Green Fig Land Co. have unveiled the latest advancements at their 100-acre hyperscale data center developmentoutside Philadelphia that could eventually comprise up to 2 million square feet of space. Lease options are now available for build-to-suit, powered shell and turnkey data center space.

Located about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia in East Whiteland Township, Pa., the site was acquired by GFLC and 1547 in 2022. The development firm had previously received the local authorities’ approval to construct two data centers of about 1 million square feet each. An adjacent property is available for the development of data center buildings totaling up to 5 million square feet.

https://vista.today/2024/01/data-center-in-chester-county/

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/commercial/data-centers-proposed-suburban-chester-county-pennsylvania-20230119.html

https://baxtel.com/data-center/1547-chester-county-pa

https://www.lightwaveonline.com/data-center/article/14282043/fifteenfortyseven-green-fig-land-co-partner-for-new-pennsylvania-data-center-campus

(Articles may have pay walls, if so not my job to unlock them, sorry)

malvern is the new minnesota?

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Malvern is the new Minnesota. This happened yesterday at The Yards apartments in Malvern.

Yes ‘The Yards’ on Lancaster Avenue in Malvern, East Whiteland Township, Chester County, PA.

I have been told that they followed this poor guy from Wawa (corner of Planebrook and Lancaster Avenue) and he was apparently a contractor coming to install carpet. Day jobber laborers have shown up outside that Wawa for as long as it has been there. Apparently there were other people according to the post I borrowed the video from, but it seems like they got away since you only see that one terrified man?

Again, this happened earlier on Friday 1/23/2026. We know nothing about this person. Only now yet another community in this country is feeling terrorized like so many other communities.

And I can tell you, I had people blowing up my phone yesterday morning, driving by, etc. who saw this all unfold. I figured eventually video would show up and it did.

Tell me again this isn’t like 1930s Germany with social media?

I found a video on social media and I took it and added it to a couple other things I found on this event from yesterday. No one is or was impeding law enforcement, or whatever you want to call ICE. I am not impeding anything.

I can tell you this sent chills down my spine.

I can tell you it makes us all afraid to go out within our communities because of the chaos that happens when these people are showing up pulling people out of communities.

I have friends who are US citizens or who are first generation born of immigrant parents who are U.S. citizens who walk around with there passports now because they’re afraid that ICE will pick them up.

And don’t tell me that we have nothing to fear from these people, as we’ve seen they kind of just do what they want, which kind of defeats the purpose of an civilized society with actual law enforcement, doesn’t it?

You will also notice in this video that there was absolutely no, as in zero, local law-enforcement involved.

I’m just grateful that no one bearing witness to this yesterday was killed or injured. I know nothing about whoever it was they took.

The point is and I am allowed this opinion whether anyone likes it or not, is this is reminiscent of 1930s Germany. This isn’t any different than soldiers knocking on people’s doors in Berlin or wherever and taking people away.

We are a nation founded upon immigrants, literally.

This is not America.

the obligatory pre-storm post.

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Park Avenue, New York City, Blizzard of 2010

So who knows what we are getting, but we are getting a storm. It is just one of those winters.

I do not have photos that are digital of the “Blizzard of 1996” or “The Blizzard of 1978.” But I remember both.

I was turning 14 the spring following the 1978 snow. I remember I built a snow igloo at the edge of my parents’ driveway. It was fun and I could fit inside….but we were not allowed to linger inside because my parents were worried what would happen if it collapsed. It had a bench made of snow inside.

The 1996 snow I also remember. Back then I had an English Springer Spaniel we had to dig a potty path for that was like shoulder high to me on either side. I remember everyone scrambling to find snow plow people, because that was a storm that snow plow guys didn’t show up for. I remember my parents’ then usual people saying “Sorry, just too much snow.“

During 1996 finding snow plow people became like a vision quest and no one wanted to share who they used for fear they would not get plowed out. The other thing about 1996 is I remember people scrambling to get snow away from houses when the thaw started because people were having their basements flood and basement windows cave in from snow. Friends of my parents had a total disaster on their hands because they were downhill from other properties and the snow melting and moving literally did blow lower level windows in. That surpassed the crazy snow of 1987 which no one talks about any longer.

Now 2010 I remember. First Snowmageddon and Snowpocalypse of February, 2010. I was living on the Main Line still and we had an indoor fundraiser planned for First Friday Main Line that first February Friday that we had to cancel. That was February 5, 2010.

I remember it was starting to snow when I went out to dinner with friends and a bad past relationship. We went to a restaurant called “Auspicious” on Cricket Ave in Ardmore. That was the night the first blizzard of 2010 began and also the night my entire life changed. We decided to have a snow night dinner in Ardmore with two other couples. It was a “How bad could it get so fast, let’s have dinner” thing.

It had started to snow when we went to Ardmore, and we stopped first at the state store for a bottle of wine. The restaurant was a BYOB. It’s weird what you remember, but I remember of all the weird things that former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil was in the Ardmore Wine & Spirits store doing a wine tasting of his vineyard’s wines. That was the first time I remember seeing him promoting his vineyard. I saw people I knew in the store, including people I had worked on the now-postponed event along with a woman who worked in my friend’s shop.

I remember dinner being nice, and going outside and the snow was coming down fast and furious. There was already a few inches on the ground when we exited the restaurant. What I remember next is the contrast of the quiet whooshy sound of falling snow and my ex flipping out on me in the parking lot because I had accidentally opened the car window of his car while he was cleaning snow off the car. (Mind you he drove a Mazda, not a Benz.)

“You will ruin the motors of my windows!” he screamed at me.

There was already like 5″ of snow on the ground if not more. Dinner was not that long, so it was amazing how fast snow was falling. I remember the lights of Lancaster Avenue blinking like it was past midnight (I do not believe it was even 9:30 PM), and the falling snow and cars sliding all over as we drove home. We kept fishtailing, and not a little, a lot.

February, 2010

As we drove home, my ex screamed at me most of the way home and I remember the combination of all of that being actually rather frightening. I also remember a passing thought of “I can’t do this anymore. If I get home safely, this is over.”

February, 2010

I got out of the car in my driveway, and as I shut the car door he took off. It was in that blizzard I was literally abandoned with his dying dog with me. It was sort of a Lifetime TV moment. Only it was my life and slightly surreal when it happened. It was an odd and hard thing to have happen, but what do you do? You change the locks and move on. And you honor the last few months of a very old dog’s life who was so truly sweet. Months later a friend said to me that God had done a lift out. She was so right. And the truth was, I was never super upset. What happened, happened for the betterment of my life.

February, 2010
February, 2010
February, 2010
February, 2010

Life goes on and you move forward. And lots of snow, once again, got dumped in the river.

Then came December, 2010. My brother in law died on December 22, 2010 of peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer of the abdominal lining. He had been diagnosed barely 3 1/2 weeks earlier. My sister was suddenly a young widow with two kids.

In the midst of planning the funeral came the blizzard of December, 2010 that crippled New York City. I remember walking up Park Avenue on the Upper East Side the morning the snow stopped. Instead of being filled with multiple lanes of cars on both sides, Park Avenue was snow filled, not plowed and people like myself walked in the middle of a temporarily car and bus deserted New York City street. And it was quiet. New York City was so silent in the snow.

New York City, December, 2010

It was the craziest feeling being able to stroll in the middle of a snow clogged Park Avenue . The weird juxtaposition of knowing you were on one of the busiest streets of one of the most populated cities, yet there I was strolling like it was a country road. I remember looking up at all the snow-laden buildings that create that multi-billion dollar canyon of Park Avenue. The buildings are so large, and humans so small. It’s funny but for a moment I felt like that little child I once was being pulled on a sled by my mother.

Then we all have the memory of the ice storm of 2014. February. No power for close to 10 days. We didn’t move for days. By the time we were into the week mark without power it was a little like Little House on the Prairie around here. You take a lot of things for granted when you don’t have power.

Cheers went up when the Calvary (PECO) got to us to restore power in 2014. My husband decided during that storm I was too much of a “city girl.” I probably still am. But there were moments after that ice storm that were just breathtaking in the majesty of Mother Nature.

February, 2014

It appears to be another very snowy winter for this winter. I will admit that the thought of another big snow and ice storm is not my favorite idea for the weekend. Stay safe this weekend.

2014 Ice Storm
2014 Ice Storm
2014 Ice Storm

….and now a word from “head karen in charge”

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So last week, I told you all how one of the penultimate Chester County Maga Hags (that’s #MAGAHAGS to you) was trying to raise her profile by gaslighting and literally lying about me. I am very amused that there is like this convention of one trick ponies and Klanned Karenhood yakking about me. I mean seriously ME? One woman? Lordy they are limited. And yes, one of them called me “Head Karen in Charge” because you know, when all else fails call a woman a slut, bitch, C word, or a Karen.

(Well honey, I did not grow up in your gutter, but been here a spell. You calling me hideous is consider the source/high praise indeed.)

And then there is the Mensa (heavy sarcasm) who literally spent a couple of years trying to friend me or follow me everywhere she could. Like whackamole, every time she pops up, I block her. She gave herself away…again and WHO WRITES OUT LAUGH OUT LOUD??? And “girls”? Mmmkay maybe mostly with a side of menopause.

ahh yes the sweet smell of gaslighting from human dumpster fires.

Then there are the rest of them, including the tutu queen of the Downingtown laundromat who decided my husband must be on dating apps being married to me. Now you see doll, I didn’t have to hunt my husband like big game so…. jelly much? And all I ever did with regard to you and your ilk was defend myself. But keep waving your bible, it makes a fan and a billy-club, right?

And here are some others including the woman all had hoped had moved to the Netherlands by now, but apparently they closed the borders or something? I mean it would surprise me given her choice of “King”:

And not everyone is a fan of these #MAGAHAGS:

Oh and speaking of kings, not so #AnonymousAda posted this yesterday:

You see, I have a theory about not so #AnonymousAda the QAnon Princess. She needs me and others to raise her profile. She’s a failed politician, vice chair of West Goshen Republicans (not saying much), was a Hispanic mom when running for school board, now she is a revolutionary patriot descendant. (That’s pretty funny) She is sometimes on some fakakta radio show that is I am sure a delightful potpourri of fake news and amateur hour gaslighting. This week she is spicing it up with the Chair of the West Goshen Republicans, Felice Drama Queen Fein. Remember Felice form their election day AR-15 raffle a few years ago?

Allow me to refresh your memories:

West Goshen Republicans to raffle off AR-15-style rifle

Of course we all know how that raffle ended…but I digress.

So Ada wants to raise her profile? Well here are some of her greatest hits and more recent foibles:

As a daughter of the American revolution is she now trying to be a WASP? She no longer identifies as Hispanic? I mean it really doesn’t matter, but she did make a big deal out of it when running for office. Also, we all come from something.

But there is something serious I must discuss along with this latest stupidity from the #MAGAHAGS. What you ask? My opinion on what I see as a deliberate attempt to debase a non-profit radio station so they can attempt to wreak havoc again within their political party at a county level.

I am on WCHE in West Chester once in a while. I am on Barry Dee’s show All Politics Are Local to be specific. Sometimes I call in on the morning show. WCHE is Chester County’s only radio station and it is for everyone. These people are literally gaslighting me, the radio station, Chester County Republicans, and Barry when they say dumb ass sheit like they can believe a Republican platform lets me on the air.

“All Politics Are Local” and WCHE are NOT a Republican platform or Republican sponsored program! We do it as VOLUNTEERS. The point of the show is ALL as in ALL politics are local…that is all parties. It is also about the local news that matters to residents. Barry is a bright, articulate, and convivial host. They work hard on the show and yes I donate my time every couple of weeks too.

The Chester County Republican HQ has ZERO to do with how “All Politics Are Local” is run. Neither do the Chester County Democrats. This show is about local politics and local news, not run by political parties, so for the village idiot collective of #MAGAHAGS to say they can’t believe the Republicans are platforming me, I say stay away from the magic mushrooms and beer combo or whatever.

Also they like to call me a liberal. I am actually more of a moderate, not that this is their business. I was a life-long regular Republican until 2016. Then I went Independent. But when I had friends who were Democrats running for office I was a Democrat for a few years so I could vote for them in primaries. But when I realized how Grandma Charlotte and her crew were manipulating the primaries with their premature ejaculations…err endorsements, I realized where I belonged was as an Independent. That way I could continue as I always have: choosing my candidates on what they were about and who they were, not solely based upon a political persuasion. Also as a blogger and equal opportunity political offender THAT made more sense.

These people are destructive malcontents who want to run the world but would not know what to do if they got there. They like to try to make everyone else around them miserable, and every nasty thing they actually are, they attempt to project onto others. Much like the thug politics cabal of Honey Brook Township, right?

All of these people represent noise and static. Until this latest pathetic scene unfolded, I had honestly forgotten they existed. Why? Because they do not matter in the big picture of my life, or anyone else’s. But they need to, once again, take their bullshit to go.

So yeah, not so #AnonymousAda, I see you. I always have. And your ilk. And Chester Count is still not a “sanctuary county”, but Sanctuary A Witch’s Tale is a great series to stream. Bless your heart, and suck on your bible verses…TTFN

the big voter services investigation is out, so what will change? odds are, not much in my opinion.

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Yawn. The famous investigation of Chester County Voter Services is complete, but what will actually happen? Will it be like the famous Advaite investigation?

AND LET US REMAIN CLEAR: THIS WAS NO ELECTION CONSPIRACY THEORY OR WHACKADOODLE TINFOIL HAT BRIGADES THAT CAUSED THIS ELECTION 2025 DEBACLE, IT WAS HUMAN ERROR AND GOOD LEADERHIP SHOULD START WITH THE DEPARTMENT HEAD AND THAT AIN’T KAREN BARSOUM IS IT?

What are the odds on this?

Here is what the county has released below….I am not particularly excited because in my humble opinion, someone else will take the blame and Karen Barsoum will remain and I am a poet and didn’t even know it…

They SHOULD remove Karen Barsoum from her office…..but hey that would make to much sense, right?

#FIREKARENBARSOUM

Poll Book Report – Chester County 1-22Download
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all day ham and bean soup

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People seem to have their soup memories from growing up. I have a friend whose soup memories are chicken soup. A lot of mine involve ham and bean soup.

My late father was the soup maker growing up. My mother will tell you it was her, but it really wasn’t. Every winter he would make a ham and bean soup. It would have cabbage, ham, beans, sometimes he would even dice up a hard, Italian salami, and vegetables.

When my vegetable box came this week, there was a beautiful cabbage in it. I realized from my recent pork share order that I had a big smoked ham hock in the freezer. I also had some leftover ham that I had frozen when we had not eaten all of a ham for just this purpose.

Yesterday I started with the dried beans. I boiled water and poured it over the beans and a big mixing bowl with some herbs and spices and salt. I left the beans to soak overnight and this morning I began the soup.

First I sautéed garlic, onion, celery, and the ham hock and ham. Then I added, cut up baby carrots because that’s what I had in the refrigerator. After that had all cooked together for a few minutes I poured in the liquid the dried beans were soaking in. I also added a 14 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. (Mutti, my favorite tomato brand.)

After that cooked together for a bit, I added a container of bone broth, the cabbage I had gotten in my vegetable box all diced up, and water. Note when you dice the cabbage small for a soup it’s sort of melts away and it’s not obtrusive.

To this, I added herbs. I still have sage and thyme growing in some of the pots in my garden, believe it or not. I also added some Herbes de Provence, and a couple dashes of New Mexico chili powder. I also added a salt free pepper blend that I use called Pennsylvania pepper.

And two cheese rinds. I can’t forget that! I save them in little baggies in the freezer for sauces and soups, and things like macaroni and cheese.

I brought the soup up to a boil, then I turned it down to just above a simmer, and just kept checking on it throughout the day and giving it a stir. I did not do it with the lid completely off because I wanted the beans to cook properly. I used one of my little pot lid risers and had the lid on but up a smidge.

The soup because it has cooked low and slow all day has thickened and reduced and melded together beautifully.

You know you don’t really necessarily need a specific recipe for a lot of these soups. It’s what you have on hand.

Happy souping!

wtf in west vincent?

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Here is the verbiage from Kristina Casey:

Warning: it’s a long post! But it is what I asked about at last night’s BOS meeting.
——————————-

Cowan Investigations: $2,500; Invoice No. 1, “security check”, August 27, 2025

While looking for items in WVT’s bills lists that may pertain to the commercially-marketed-venue-in-my-residential-neighborhood, I found this one. It stood out as a new vendor and had a weird description (“security check”). It was also around the time my personal email and social media had gotten hacked.

Cowan Investigations is a NJ PI firm of ex-cops that promotes assisting with marital issues (cheating spouses, alimony, bug sweeps, etc.) with some “private sector” business thrown in (litigation support, background checks).

On August 6, 2025, my position was eliminated. Tom left the building that morning and had the treasurer and an attorney deliver the news. I was asked to sign a separation agreement, which I did not do; I said I wanted to have my attorney look at it (spoiler: I never signed it). I gave up keys and passwords for various accounts before I left that day, except for one. I was asked to turn over the username and password to the WVT FB page: a request for something that does not exist specific to that page.

Back in July, Tom had asked me for that same info, and I explained to him that there IS no username/password specific to that page; I was just an admin of the page through my personal FB account. I did not create the page. It was created many years ago by Erica, a former township manager (at least that was what I was told). Through the years, various folks had been added/removed as administrators of that page. However, those folks had to have active FB user accounts because that is who FB holds accountable for the postings. That July, Tom admitted he did not understand social media because he didn’t have accounts. However, he said his daughters did, and he would have them create an account for him. But he never did that before I left.

So, on my last day, I was asked for my PERSONAL username and password for FB. I declined, but I did offer to immediately add anyone else as an administrator to the township FB page before I left. The treasurer shook her head “no”, and the permit clerk said he didn’t use social media. There was no one else. I said to contact me later that day with an account to add. That day passed with no contact.

Three weeks later, after back-and-forth with the attorneys, the treasurer contacted me directly about the FB account and was told per my attorney that all communication was supposed to be through him.

I do not think the township liked that response because on September 23, I got a notification from Google that someone was accessing my personal email on a computer located at the township building during township hours. MY PERSONAL EMAIL. I clicked that it was “not me” but that person was already into my personal account.

That night, I saw notifications via my personal FB account that there was activity going on with the WVT FB page (which I had never accessed since the day I left). Namely, someone had gone in as me and re-activated Kathy Shillenn’s administration rights to that page (Kathy was the township secretary before me), and between the 2 accounts had deleted each and every post I had made on the Township FB page since I had started (a big no-no per Sunshine Law), AND they were attempting to post as Kathy… using HER personal FB account. I contacted Kathy… and it was not her. She asked me to get her off that page again. It took quite a while of interacting with the person posing as her to get it to stop. I believe it was around 11:30pm.

The next day, Kathy and I filed police reports with the WVTPD. I confirmed that accessing someone else’s personal email and social media is ILLEGAL even if you have access to the passwords.

But as you might have figured out, Tom apparently does what he wants regardless of the law… until he gets caught. So just like when he was told about having to send RTK requests electronically for electronic copies that already exist (not doing so is ILLEGAL), he was also told that he and/or his “people” had to stop ILLEGALLY going into our accounts. And it all stopped. And the deleted FB posts were restored (but not by the township).

The township administration is not technologically savvy. That was seen when it took months to remove my name from the township videos of the BOS meetings. And it took them until early January 2026 to reach out to my attorney with a new FB account to add as an administrator: Thomas Ryan (manager@westvincenttwp.org). On January 5, I sent an invitation to that account to be an administrator to the township FB page. My attorney got a response on January 15 that they needed a password to that page. THERE IS NO PASSWORD. But I sent the invitation AGAIN. I confirmed with Kathy that there was not a password needed when she originally added me. I have never been prompted for a password for that page EVER. The only password for FB is for my PERSONAL ACCOUNT.

Okay, so let’s jump back to Cowan Investigations. Their website talks about things like getting electronic items from “cheating spouses” and such. Maybe THIS company had something to do with illegally accessing my email and social media?? Because it doesn’t seem like the administration has the ability to figure these things out on their own.

So I asked about it last night at the meeting. The BOS was NOT surprised to hear that the township was involved in illegally accessing my personal accounts (good to know that they seem to be okay with that… watch how the chair turns to Tom to question if it was related to “something” and Tom quickly shuts her down… just like the RTK situation).

So the whole group refused to answer my question: WHAT EXACTLY WAS THIS $2500 “SECURITY CHECK” DONE BY THIS NJ PI COMPANY THAT OUR CURRENT SECURITY PROVIDERS AND/OR WVPD COULDN’T HAVE HANDLED?

Silence. I expected that because they are full of secrecy. So I will submit the RTKs for my questions. But it is another bad look for this township manager and the board that hired him.

——————

And on a side note, my neighbors got some of the info we requested on our RTK about the venue. SOME. Luckily, I had other feelers out and was able to get some missing emails…. Once the attorney finishes the paperwork, expect to see more… much more…

And on a final note, in case anyone wants to play the “disgruntled ex-employee” card… that is far from the case. I disclosed none of this on social media until the township decided to play fast and loose on the zoning in my neighborhood. If that never happened, you would not have heard from me. But having this issue of a “commercially advertised event venue in my residential neighborhood” be repeatedly ignored by the manager and the board made me decide to make some noise because people need to see just who is running our township. And it ain’t pretty…

retro cold night dinner

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So it is a cold night and I went old school. Casserole called essentially no peek chicken.

You cook boneless skinless breasts or thighs in uncooked rice broth Campbell’s condensed soup with vegetables and basically this is my own invention because I had sort of southwestern on the brain and I had cilantro to use.

I used a can of the diced chilies and tomatoes from Aldi, a can of the condensed Campbell’s cream of cheddar soup, one of those little small wheels of queso fresco, a small onion diced up, a small bag of thawed frozen corn, oregano, salt-free chili powder, 1 1/2 cups of dry rice, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, and four boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Basically you preheat your oven to 350°, and while you’re doing that you grease a rectangular baking dish and you put your chicken breasts in the bottom. I add a slight drizzle of olive oil to the chicken breasts.

Then, in a big mixing bowl, I put the dried rice, the onion, the can of chilies and tomatoes, the can of condensed soup a bunch of cilantro I had chopped up and the chicken broth and I mix it all together. I don’t add salt. I add oregano and sprinkle a little salt free chili powder.

I pour everything over the chicken breasts, add one of those little wheels of queso fresco all crumbled up and cover the pan tightly with nonstick foil.

You put it in your preheated oven for an 1 1/2 hours, maybe less depending upon your oven and you do not ever take the tinfoil off to peek, but as it’s getting close to done, you can stick a thermometer into the foil through one of the breast to check your temperature.

Yes it’s a little 1960s housewife but it tastes pretty good. Last time I did it with cream of mushroom soup and fresh mushrooms, etc.