Op/Ed: Africa: The gold medal avoidance

Edmond W. Davis The Olympic Games, often celebrated as the epitome of global unity and athletic excellence, have a darker legacy that is rarely discussed — a legacy that traces back to the 1904 St. Louis, Mo., Olympics, marred by overt racism, exploitation and gross disorganization. African marathoners Jan Mashiani and Len Taunyane were South African athletes who were dehumanized and forced to participate...

Trump is a racist; if you support him, are you?

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa The truth has a mighty power to bring itself to the forefront, making it impossible to ignore. The shootings in Wisconsin this week again shone a light on what might be the mightiest truth in our country right now: we still have a racism problem. As in too many of us white folks are pretty freakin’ racist. Still. Still. Here in Chester County, one of...

COVID-19 Update, April 7: Pa. deaths spike; Wolf denounces racism

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Deaths related to COVID-19 spiked sharply Monday, as the state Department of Health reported 78 new fatalities caused by the virus in the state, as additional positive tests grew by 1,579. So, far, according to DOH, 240 Pennsylvanians have died in the pandemic and more than 12,000 Americans have died, according to Centers for Disease Control. DOH reports 14,449 total...

Kennett Sq. Council to vote on resolution condemning Trump over racial comments

KENNETT SQUARE — The Kennett Square Borough Council will take up a resolution, Tuesday night, to condemn President Donald Trump for racially inflammatory comments. The meeting, at Monroe Nute Room of the Kennett Volunteer Fire Building, starts at 7 p.m. The resolution reads as follows:    Send article as PDF   

The Stupid Kabuki of the statewide political races

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times My daughter is an aspiring musician/singer and as such, she often considers possible future band names — it’s a bit of a running joke between us these days. Which is, of course, why I nominate Stupid Kabuki as both a possible addition to her list and a perfect description of Pennsylvania’s two statewide races this fall. To be clear, Republican Scott Wagner trails...

Letter: Faults GOP officials for failing to call out racist groups

To The Editor, The silence has been deafening. We are now at the events of Charlottesville + 1 month.  I am represented by 4 Republicans – Representative Barrar and Senator Killion at the state level, and Congressman Smucker and Senator Toomey at the federal level. I get regular e-mail newsletters from all. Only one, Senator Toomey, has spoken out about Charlottesville.  It took him 11 days to...

Sheriff under fire over ‘like’ of FB post defending KKK, neo-Nazi groups

Updated, 4:00 p.m. With expanded comments from Caln Commissioner Josh Young By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh The Sheriff of Chester County is under fire from county Democrats, local elected officials and social media users after liking a Facebook post that suggested Klan members, Neo-Nazi’s and White Supremacists offer less of threat to property...

The shame of silence

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Sunday night people in West Chester, Kennett Square and numerous other locations around Chester County came together to do what our president could not bring himself to do: condemn the terrorism of White Nationalists, including the attack on demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday. Instead, President Donald Trump has a new ad out attacking the media as “enemies”...

Impact of Trump election begins to shake up local politics

New president will cast a deep shadow over 2017 elections and area schools By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Things boiled over and got a bit testy Monday night, as a simmering feud between two Unionville-Chadds Ford School District Board of Education Members Michael Rock and Jeff Hellrung erupted during the board’s work session, Monday night. The dispute was putatively over issues related to the...