Opinions Archive

Opinion writer Bob Foster highlights problems in the current recycling system and makes recommendations.

Annie Fox and Elizabeth Jenkins of Swarthmore’s Environmental Advisory Council share best practices when it comes to recycling.

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.

Columnist Stefan Roots on attitudes about Chester’s Covanta waste incinerator.

Henry Aaron died last month at the age of 86. He played his last game 45 years ago. There’s nothing named after him to keep his memory at the top of our minds. Why should anyone care about Hank Aaron?

Columnist Stefan Roots reflects on how much Black history was made in 2020 and recommends finding your own Black History Month icons.

Since they first closed schools last March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators have made changes and adjustments to schooling to keep students safe and healthy. How many of these adjustments are here to stay?

On Election Day, New Jersey voters legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. The next day, Delaware County Council unanimously approved making the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana a public health violation that could result in a $50 fine. The day after that, a group of guys in Chester were arrested, having been caught with a few pounds of weed (and some guns).

Almost 3,000 people died on 9/11, and the cry has been to “never forget.” On each anniversary, solemn ceremonies recall that tragedy. Bells ring and someone reads out the names of the dead. Fast forward to 2020. So far this year, we have had the equivalent of 10 9/11s each in March, April, May, June, July, and August. That makes 180,000 dead courtesy of COVID-19.

The topic of education has come up a lot in the past few weeks as decisions are being made about how schools will respond to the coronavirus this fall. Some colleges are going all online, and some are limiting their campuses to just freshman and sophomores. Local school districts are trying to decide whether to go fully open or to mix in-school and home-school learning. I know it’s not on the table, but maybe one day someone would consider allowing students from one Delco public school to use vouchers to attend school elsewhere in the county. Right now, Chester-Upland funding follows the student to a charter school. What if it also followed them to Strath Haven, Garnet Valley, Haverford, or Radnor? Opinion Piece

My husband has used a wheelchair since 2006. Despite this life-changing challenge, we are able to live our lives here in Swarthmore, where we are grateful to the schools, businesses, and libraries to which we have access. However, we can do these things in only a subset of places. There are many places where we still cannot participate in places of public activity. When it comes to compliance with accessibility requirements, complacent inaction is the norm. Why, in Swarthmore, is this most physical denial of civil rights perennially acceptable? Opinion Piece

Why do you call the police if someone falls asleep in their car at a fast food drive-thru? Couldn’t an employee or someone in one of the other cars tap on the window to see if he was okay? Have we already forgotten how cops kicked in the door and shot up Breonna in Louisville while she was under the sheets trying to sleep?

Phil was like my big brother in the newspaper business. I watched him run the Daily Times when I worked there, and it was clear to me Phil knew what he was doing and how to get the most out of his staff. I was one of the first let go in a wave of departures that has finally reached the top guy. I’ve often said, I don’t know how they put out a paper every day when they have less than 20% of the staff they had when I worked there. It’s only because of Phil they could pull it off.

Politics encourages party allegiances. Like most people, I’m registered to a particular party. But I’m far from partisan. As an individual, I can’t be bipartisan. So I’m adopting the term “dual-partisan” to describe my willingness to take the best of either major party and throw my support behind it.