The voices continue to be raised in Chester.
Residents are sick and tired of being held captive inside their homes by the random gunfire that is becoming part and parcel of their daily lives.
I asked them to tell me what it's like, and they have not let me down.
"I won't even walk two blocks to the nearest store with my children," one person posted on a previous blog item.
And as for city officials who claim the city is in fact safe?
"They don't tell the truth," said one woman who has lived on Lamokin Street for 35 years and says she has never seen the kind of violence that is occurring in the city now.
So what is causing it? Drugs? Lack of jobs? A breakdown of the family structure? All of the above.
I want this newspaper to be part of the solution in Chester, not just reporting the latest shooting.
Tonight we'll use our live-stream Internet broadcast, 'Live From the Newsroom,' to talk about what is going on in the city, and how best to attack the problem.
Joining me will be longtime police chaplain the Rev. Rocky Brown III. This week he has made his feelings clear, calling for a lockdown similar to the one initiated by former Mayor Wendell Butler several years ago. Brown also would like to see more police on the streets, even if that means bringing in outside help.
Also on the show will be community activist and city liaison Jonathan Abdur-Rahim King. He know the streets, and the problems that lurk there. He's been active with the Brothers of Concern in attacking Chester's youth problems.
I'm also hoping to have Mayor John Linder and Commissioner Joe Bail on the show, but as of right now I have not heard back from them.
Do you have a question you'd like answered? Or maybe a possible solution. Email it to me at editor@delcotimes.com. Then tune in tonight at 7 on DelcoTimes.com when we go 'live' on the biggest issue in Chester: Is the city safe, and if not, what is causing it and what can be done about it.
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