Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 149, No. 45
60 Cents
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
INSIDE U-CF school board member Gregg Lindner blasts
political maneuvering in recent election
By John Chambless Staff Writer
A wrap-up of local elections of note…...8A
The election may be over, but the bad blood between some members of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board is just beginning. At the Nov. 9 school board meeting, Gregg Lindner – who was re-elected, along
with Carolyn Daniels and John Murphy from the team that had run against him, read a statement strongly criticizing board member Jeff Hellrung, who was sitting next to him. “During the 2013 reorganization meeting, I was nominated to be the vice president of the school board, as was Mr. Hellrung,”
Lindner said. “The head of the Republican Party of Chadds Ford showed up at our meeting for the only time in my four-year tenure to watch the Region C board member vote for Mr. Hellrung. Her attendance lasted 90 seconds. Now let’s move to the recent election. If Mr. Hellrung or any other board mem-
ber wants to get involved in an election outside their region, that’s their right. But to torture the truth in order to get people elected is not OK. At least not OK for a school board election. And Mr. Hellrung did all those things in an editorial in [local online media]. Mr. Hellrung, among other things, said our political
team was composed of political operatives. If that is the case, Kathy Do, Bev Brookes and I are a sad team of political operatives, because we had no party machinery, and a political committee that included only the three of us.” In an Oct. 30 letter sent to local media, Hellrung Continued on Page 5A
A salute to veterans in Kennett Square Aide to President Reagan recalls years in White House
The Melton Brothers will be making more music........................1B
Lighthouse Youth Center holds annual dinner and auction...3A
Photo by John Chambless
The Patton Middle School Choir performs a medley of songs of the Armed Forces on Nov. 6.
By John Chambless Staff Writer
Unionville wins Ches-Mont American Division title.............3B
INDEX Calendar of Events......2B Opinion........................7A Obituaries...................6A Classified....................7B
There’s always a capacity crowd at the Kennett Area Senior Center for the Veterans Luncheon, and the Nov. 6 program was packed
with veterans of several wars, as well as their family members. During the presentation, Anita O’Connor, the executive director of the senior center, told the audience, “We are so lucky to live in this
country, but we know that it’s not just luck. It’s because of having a strong military that we are free today. We like to show our gratitude and celebrate Veterans Day, and that’s why we celebrate with you. Thank you for your
service.” State Rep. Stephen Barrar, who is also a veteran, said, “I am the luckiest guy in the world because I get to walk up the steps of the Capitol and participate in the Democratic process.”
Continued on Page 2A
Election Day debacle
Some Oxford Republican Committee leaders were observed at the polls encouraging voters to support write-in candidates instead of the candidates who won the Republican Primary Election By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Shelley McLeod and Estace Walters would seem to be the kind of candidates that the local Republican Committee could easily support. Walters is a longtime supervisor in Elk Township who works hard and volunteers his own time to keep the township’s operating expenses to a minimum. McLeod holds a degree in political science, has
experience working on ballots that were differ- Raffa. According to various several different political ent from the ballots that sources, Ladley was seen campaigns, and comes from were supposed to be dis- working the polls in East a local famNottingham ily that is Township and well-known directing peofor its serple to pick up vice to the a sample bal~ Estace Walters, lot that had community. Yet, on Elk Township supervisor Raffa’s name Election listed as a Day, these two can- tributed. Jane Ladley, the write-in selection. Instead didates saw several chairperson of the Area of handing these sample different Republican 19 Republican Committee ballots to voters as they Committee members that serves the Oxford area, walked in, Ladley would actively working against apparently supported the point to a stack of the balthem by handing out sample write-in campaign of Joe lots on the table.
“ It’s a free-for-all, and it makes the party look bad.”
London Grove citizens, supervisors address local odor issue By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
There are just under a million veterans in Pennsylvania, Barrar said, “and I’m here to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is the veteran, not the politician, who secures the rights we
In order to best address the increasing concerns of London Grove Township residents that call for the eradication of odor caused by a local mushroom composting business, Supervisor David Connors recommended that a town hall meeting be held sometime in the next few months that would bring elected officials and environmental watchdogs together, in order to find solutions. During his presentation at the township’s Nov. 4 supervisors meeting, Connors was
joined by over 50 concerned township residents in targeting Nutra-Soils, Inc. on 324 Old Baltimore Pike, for what those in attendance claim is a regular and odorous emission of hydrogen sulfide into the environment, which includes not only the air but nearby streams and waterways. Connors said that over the last several years, Nutra-Soils has committed 15 violations of Department of Environmental Protection laws, during inspection reports. In April 2014, Connors said that an inspection by the DEP of Nutra-Soils documented a clear violation of the Clean
Water Act; specifically, noting hand-dug channels from a million-gallon retention basin that were filled with spent mushroom substrate water. The DEP report documented that the basin was overflowing into nearby creeks. The nearly hour-long discussion between supervisors and residents was first spurred on by two recent letters sent by township residents to the [DEP], and one letter to the township, complaining about the excessive odor coming from the direction of Nutra-Soils. More complaints will likely lead to more action, Connors
said. “I know it seems that it feels like it’s going on deaf ears, but the real impact of that is that when enough people go online and enough people complain, the DEP will see a spike and go out and do a site inspection,” he said. About a year ago, the township purchased two water monitors from the Stroud Water Research Center, as a means of analyzing salinity levels in township streams. The results of recent reports document that downstream, there are spikes in salinity levels in streams near the Continued on Page 4A
More than a week after the Nov. 3 election, McLeod still doesn’t understand why Republican Committee members would abandon their own candidates—and ignore the will of the Republican voters who nominated her in the Primary Election. “It’s definitely disappointing,” McLeod admitted in an interview on Monday. “The Republican voters had their say in the Primary Election. It was very Continued on Page 2A
Development group needs big funding lift By Uncle Irvin The Route 1 Economic Development Initiative keeps plugging along, searching for companies that want to expand along the Route 1 corridor in southern Chester County. But these volunteers are lacking adequate funding to entice a clean, well-run enterprise with Continued on Page 5A