All in Chester Matters
Poll workers at the Hayes Senior Center in Chester seemed upbeat and cheerful about the prospect of assisting voters. As expected, early morning turnout was slow, but it picked up toward noon. Some voters had detailed questions about the candidates: For example, they wanted to know more about Stefan Roots: What is he proposing to do about the high incidence of gun violence in their community? What about the recent disturbances at Chester High School—how can they be avoided in the future?
Recently, I’ve been learning about the impact that environmental racism has on children, by reading Harriet A. Washington’s 2019 book, A Terrible Thing to Waste. I expect that Zulene and Harriet Washington would really hit it off.
Contributor Stafan Roots offers an opinion piece about Covanta’s Chester trash incinerator plant, and how Covanta’s talking points are not passing his smell test any longer.
Stefan Roots wonders if now that Juneteenth is a national holiday, will it ever be the same?
Stefan Roots’ thoughts on James McBride’s 2020 novel, Deacon King Kong.
Columnist Stefan Roots wonders why the Chester County Sheriff's Office can speed up the processing of license-to-carry applications when lines at the DMV and the post office remain long.
Engineer and contributing opinion writer Stefan Roots highlights the dismal state of education in Chester, and muses on why his writing skills are currently more in demand than his engineer’s credentials.
I came across a plain ole ridiculous article on Chester’s reigning NBA Slam Dunk Champion, Derrick Jones, of the NBA Portland Trail Blazers — formerly of the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns, from NBC Sports Northwest. I was going to let it slide until I spent some time with an 11th-grade Philly high school football player this weekend. We talked sports, and life, and somehow I remembered this crazy article about Derrick Jones. I showed it to him as a lesson on how you have to own your own story and watch what you say to reporters, because they don’t always do their homework.
Calvary Baptist Church, at 1616 W. Second Street in Chester, could still be the nucleus of contemporary Chester pride. But there’s no vision coming out of the church or the community. The building still looks great. But, like with so many other churches, the membership is dwindling down to nothing, and the church is struggling to find the finances to stay alive.
I imagine there are extreme situations where breaking down a door with no warning to gain entry to a home is justified. But as long as no-knock warrants are executed, mistakes will be made and people will get hurt. Occasionally, a bad guy will get caught. But the police could probably have caught them by just waiting for them to come out the house. Say Her Name!
Several years ago, I dipped my toe into reporting youth sports by covering Chester Panther youth football. Back then, there was one 8-year-old on the Chester Panthers peewee team who stood out. Every game this kid played, he was the highlight reel. As he grew up and moved into the upper divisions of the football program, he continued to dominate. He kept growing, and he kept getting better. I was looking forward to seeing him play this fall as a 13-year-old. And then I got the text that this 13-year-old boy was shot in the head. He died the next day.
It was first reported in the Delaware County Daily Times that The Larimer Beer Company was almost open and you’d think no one in Chester saw the article. About a month after the Daily Times ran their article, the brewery had opened and I stuck my head in early one evening to see what was going on inside. I met the owners, had a couple great beers, and created a blog post to simply say I stopped in and we’re going to do an interview for this issue.
Out of curiosity, I drove down Engle Street to take a peek at the brewery with the intent of driving by and polishing off a hoagie in the car at the waterfront when I saw a couple cars parked on the side of Larimer Beer Company, and the lights on inside. I tried the door and it opened.
