Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 157, No. 44
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
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Lucas, Muller vie for seat on Kennett Township board By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer With the election or appointment of every new supervisor or staffer, Kennett Township continues to distance itself from the horrific chaos surrounding the investigation of former manager Lisa Moore for embezzling more than $3.2 million from township funds – and her conviction in 2021. Dotted among its new policies and its revamped checks and balance system of accounting are new faces that have tightened the once
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dangling chord of a municipality, and in early January of next year, yet another new face will join the fold. Republican Steve Lucas and Democrat Pat Muller are campaigning for the right to serve a six-year term on the Board of Supervisors as a replacement for Scudder Stevens, who announced earlier this year that he would not pursue a possible third term on the board. While Muller campaigns for the board with experience on township commissions, Lucas is a newcomer to township government.
Recently, the Chester County Press conducted separate interviews with the two candidates to hear their opinions on three key issues: why they wish to serve on the board; pressing issues facing the township; and how they will continue to restore residents’ faith and confidence in their local government. (Note: Responses have been edited for space.) Why do you want to serve on the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors? Lucas: I have never been in politics before and never
run for an office, but what’s happening is that my wife and I love living in Kennett Township, and I want to help with whatever I can with my finance and engineering background so that the township can use my expertise on the board. I’ve been in finance for 18 years, and I work with individuals all the time balancing budgets – making sure the costs are justified in spending. As an owner of a company, I am responsible for everything, and I need to make sure that what I do is profitable and makes sense for my clients,
Medic 94 celebrate 40 years of saving lives By Chris Barber Contributing Writer
Southern Chester County EMS Medic 94 celebrated 40 years of saving lives at The Bookhouse Hotel a picnic on Saturday afteropens in Kennett noon. Scores of alumni Square...1B from the service joined at Penn Township Park for reminiscing, reuniting and honoring the founders. Medic 94 is the advanced life support system on wheels that responds to life-threatening injuries and sudden illnesses in the 17 southwestern townships of the county. Medic 94 CEO Bob Hotchkiss, who joined the organization in 1991 and became executive director Clocks fall back at 2 a.m. in 1998, orchestrated the celebratory event and was on Sunday, Nov. 5. master of ceremonies in the park’s pavilion. There was
abundant refreshment and a food truck. The atmosphere was casual and upbeat. Hotchkiss said proudly that of the original staff members who worked for Medic 94 at the beginning, all of them came to the picnic with the exception of Don Neff, who died in the intervening years. Included in his accolades were honors for founder Larry Spaid, 40-year member Donnie Keith and Emergency Room Director Jim Goss. Hotchkiss said Spaid deserves much of the credit for establishing a strong and effective organization. Spaid, the former CEO of Southern Chester County Medical Center (the hospital), said that in the 1980s the idea of bringing an
and I can do that for the township, as well. Numbers make sense to me and if they don’t make sense, I am going to ask questions until they do. Muller: I’ve done a lot of work for the township and in the area for a long time, and I have gotten to know this area on a deep level and know the people who have been instrumental. I think that I am uniquely qualified for the place on the board and that my breadth of experience gives me a point of view that my opponent doesn’t have. As an outside
consultant with the township while Lisa Moore was manager, I saw that whole debacle unfold and have seen it rebuild itself like a phoenix from the ashes. I believe in the township’s overriding message of creating livable communities of neighbors, and I think we’re losing some of that in our harsher political discourse. I would like to keep that focus and that collegiality, and hopefully expand upon it to help when we can, to keep Continued on Page 2A
FROM OUR LENS Beneath the autumn leaves
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Members of the Kennett Middle School field hockey team enjoyed a beautiful fall afternoon on Oct. 26 in their game against visiting Stetson.
Continued on Page 3A
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Chandler Mill Greenway Project receives groundbreaking
© 2007 The Chester County Press
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The Kennett Greenway is about to add another valuable link to its 14-mile-long vision of creating a multipurpose trail loop throughout Kennett Borough, Kennett Township, New Garden Township and northern Delaware. On Oct. 23, representatives from the project held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Chandler Mill
Trail, which will be constructed by JVI Group, Inc., a York, Pa.-based construction company, and will include paved pathways, a scenic overlook and streambank remediation. The project received final approval on Oct. 4, when the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors awarded the construction contract to JVI Group, Inc. at a price of $2,774,385. The company will soon begin work Continued on Page 4A
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Pictured at the Oct. 23 Chandler Mill Trail groundbreaking are, from left to right: Christina Norland of the Kennett Trail Alliance; Kennett Township Supervisor Richard Leff; Kennett Township Manager Eden Ratliff; State Rep. Christina Sappey; Kennett Township Supervisor Scudder Stevens; Natalia Santiago of the Kennett Trail Alliance; and Steve Grabicki, director of operations for Sen. John Kane.
In Oxford, the fight against human trafficking continues By Betsy Brewer Brantner hall. It was sponsored by Contributing Writer a group of associates and sisters of the School Sisters In 2012, a group known of Notre Dame, a member as ACE, Advocating, of the Maryland Task Force Collaborating, Educating, came to educate the comAnti-Human Trafficking munity about the horrific Alliance of Oxford was crimes that were just beginformed. At that time, most ning to be spoken about in people in Oxford simply public. At the end of the didn’t believe human traf- very informative morning, ficking happened here in the audience asked what this idyllic small town. they could do next. The first gathering of ACE All these years later, was held in September 2012 the group is still meeting at the Union Fire Company regularly. They try to meet
the third Saturday of the month at the Oxford Senior Center. The recent meeting on Oct. 14 featured Carol Hart Metzker, who has been an anti-human trafficking activist for years, working in the states and globally. The battle against human trafficking continues, and fortunately the efforts to educate everyone about the horrific crimes involved with human trafficking have paid off. Metzker explained that
major hotel chains have been sued in the U.S. for enabling and profiting from sex trafficking. Hotels such as Red Roof, Best Western, and Intercontinental were among the 12 chains named in a suit filed in 2019. Twelve hotel chains were named and accused of knowing and ignoring warning signs that women and children were sold as sex slaves on their premises, according to the filing, a consolidation of 13 existing
cases, in U.S. federal court in Columbus, Ohio. That filing marked the first time the hotel industry — which has long been accused of serving as a breeding ground for sexual exploitation of women and children — faced action as a group. Most recently, the owners of a Days Inn on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia were ordered to pay millions of dollars Continued on Page 4A