tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90081544988180344962024-02-20T21:13:07.127-05:00The Heron's NestHeron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.comBlogger10498125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-21400567617410462292020-05-05T07:39:00.001-04:002020-05-05T08:54:39.110-04:00The retired lifeThey say timing is everything. </p>
Tell me about it.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM51XjIFtE-_i2UjCUVc7g5urlGdHDuyMO6UWQ5rahKboHqZuqq0b4O92lBMgcLDHvnNlHXb-arGnD4uDID1bUQzlotaVp3ArAbs-TcorIBhCiOmQQIKa7G_wQXZclpnt8kw02qqS65RXC/s1600/Phil-Adirondacks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM51XjIFtE-_i2UjCUVc7g5urlGdHDuyMO6UWQ5rahKboHqZuqq0b4O92lBMgcLDHvnNlHXb-arGnD4uDID1bUQzlotaVp3ArAbs-TcorIBhCiOmQQIKa7G_wQXZclpnt8kw02qqS65RXC/s320/Phil-Adirondacks.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div>
Only I would retire when you can't do anything.</p>
OK, the timing was not mine, but the decision was. I am not looking back. I am just looking forward to being able to do the normal, routine things that you take for granted.</p>
Like holding my twin grandsons.</p>
I have not seen them in person for more than two months.</p>
Then there is the weather.</p>
Yes, the weekend was nice, but if the forecast is to be believed, we're looking at another week of cold, wet weather.</p>
On the upside, for most of my life - except for the days when the Philadelphia Eagles were playing - I always dreaded Sunday afternoon.</p>
I would feel it coming on right after lunch, the distinct feeling that Monday - and another week - was looming in the background.</p>
I can report that without question that is one of the best things about retirement - that every day is like Saturday.</p>
If you're looking at me I'll be in the back yard. Soaking up the sun.</p>
I guess I will eventually tire of that.</p>
I'll let you know when that happens.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-91803091165215798392020-04-30T17:02:00.003-04:002020-04-30T17:03:20.357-04:00Memories of Woodstock - & a much deserved honor for Peg DeGrassa In 38 years at the Daily Times, this was one of my favorite stories. </p>
I wanted to track down people who were at Woodstock to tie into the 50th anniversary of "four days of peace, love and music."</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaskGi8aKEu1DkBmiZHbdcV-1rw9Rd5hVoy6g3pRLaaIFkXh5CbPVuffOV0wzyXc3Us8yjgxWR87rioOPc9zyRSTeFhPy-pYGuCTbmK6bS34q9R7akxerD0U9bZn3F0lAG04OvA7-SpQ5R/s1600/Woodstock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaskGi8aKEu1DkBmiZHbdcV-1rw9Rd5hVoy6g3pRLaaIFkXh5CbPVuffOV0wzyXc3Us8yjgxWR87rioOPc9zyRSTeFhPy-pYGuCTbmK6bS34q9R7akxerD0U9bZn3F0lAG04OvA7-SpQ5R/s320/Woodstock.JPG" width="320" height="269" data-original-width="555" data-original-height="466" /></a></div>
Not only did Peg DeGrassa do that, she managed to come up with something I never expected.</p>
Peg made contact with Janet Saunders. Not only was the Springfield woman at Woodstock, she still had the cut-off blue jeans shorts she wore that weekend in August 1969 to prove it.</p>
And those shorts appeared on our front page. It's the kind of thing you can never expect, but which makes a story literally jump off the page. </p>
Also featured in that story was Chip Roberts of Media, who just happens to be married to longtime WMGK DJ Debbie Calton.</p>
Peg's story on Woodstock memories was honored with a Keystone Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.</p>
They'll get no argument from me.</p>
From a guy who always lamented the fact that he was born a few years too late to get to Woodstock, I loved that story.</p>
A few summers ago, while my son was doing a summer as a counselor at Ramapo in upstate New York, my wife, myself and her brother made a side trip to Bethel to visit the site of the festival.</p>
You walk down a long path and suddenly it opens up on a hill looking down into the bowl where the concerts was held.</p>
It was one of those moments where the hair stands up on the back of your neck. The amazing thing is how small it seemed in person. I have no idea how they jammed all those people into that space.</p>
At any rate, kudos to Peg, who not only delivered exactly what I wanted in that story, she reminded me of a very, very special memory.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/50-years-later-4-delco-residents-recount-their-experiences-at-woodstock/article_0cc84a5c-c065-11e9-a010-0f72688ee3ea.html">You can read the story here.</a>
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-51565940475795519102020-04-24T10:58:00.000-04:002020-04-24T10:58:31.837-04:00I'm still aliveYes, I'm still here. </p>
But I have to tell you this is a little different experience.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtOdErzRZkaBFsVWS0xW6jmMuEfpbJbhcR_6ff2zJitPxRgYZ_WJllHxjvgsk0ieW-HvrhiZH668T7Uti6DSQWPtnOMQuze009L44NVKr5uCrRzf0_9ApN6qbjz0dLviYEBL-AipLR34L/s1600/Heron-Phil-ThisOne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtOdErzRZkaBFsVWS0xW6jmMuEfpbJbhcR_6ff2zJitPxRgYZ_WJllHxjvgsk0ieW-HvrhiZH668T7Uti6DSQWPtnOMQuze009L44NVKr5uCrRzf0_9ApN6qbjz0dLviYEBL-AipLR34L/s320/Heron-Phil-ThisOne.JPG" width="204" height="320" data-original-width="127" data-original-height="199" /></a></div>
First, I had to get used to not staring at my laptop 24 hours a day.</p>
I can't tell you how nice it was to simply enjoy a glass of wine and a Saturday night dinner without the pressing need to jump on the damn laptop. </p>
Don't believe me? Ask my wife.</p>
Then there is the matter of sleep.</p>
Ahhhhhhh!!!!!</p>
Sleeping in is without question the best part of this new life, especially someone who got up every day at 4 a.m. Don't ask. It's a long story.</p>
At this point I'm not sure how often I am going to write. But I will be around.</p>
See you in The Heron's Nest. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-61063215957736377692020-04-17T05:58:00.000-04:002020-04-17T05:58:21.048-04:00The last word: A letter from the editor('s wife)I've always said I'm the second-best writer in the family. </p>
This proves it.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rg5l_fMGJENkQUCZkD1tqICmkdJMGlqTWQzWgsJXYwJxE8xSsjYgZI8FdFpHDbat9CKkcLspFKqHfYjnvJ8rryXIKhu_OY2XvFDFfWodG2gHfYVU0OMKBDEbSf9bjKIT-ukpMvETipGG/s1600/Phil-Patty-MemDayWeekend2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rg5l_fMGJENkQUCZkD1tqICmkdJMGlqTWQzWgsJXYwJxE8xSsjYgZI8FdFpHDbat9CKkcLspFKqHfYjnvJ8rryXIKhu_OY2XvFDFfWodG2gHfYVU0OMKBDEbSf9bjKIT-ukpMvETipGG/s320/Phil-Patty-MemDayWeekend2015.JPG" width="291" height="320" data-original-width="445" data-original-height="490" /></a></div>
If I was honest (yes, I can hear all the critics offering a firm thumb's up at that comment), I would admit I now might come in fourth, behind my bride, as well as my son and daughter.</p>
The one constant in these past 38 years has been my penchant for putting the Daily Times in front of everything, including my wife. No wonder she often referred to the Daily Times as my mistress.</p>
So today, my last day at the newspaper, I feel it only right to allow her to have the last word.</p>
Thus, this is a letter from the editor's wife:</p>
* * *</p>
There's a thin line between love and hate - that's what they say.</p>
And they would be right.</p>
At least, that's been my relationship with the Daily Times.</p>
You see, I'm the editor's wife.</p>
One one hand, I love it. </p>
It's given me a comfortable home, food on the table, great educations for our daughter and son ... and a chance for my husband to be something he's always wanted to be - a journalist. No, make that a "newspaper guy."</p>
But...here comes the hate part.</p>
Oh, I don't hate the Daily Times, I hate what it's taken from me - time.</p>
So many Christmases that Phil rushed out the door as soon as the kids opened their presents.</p>
So many Thanksgiving dinners celebrated on Friday because Phil had to work on the holiday.</p>
Then there was that New Year's Eve before the millennium that the kids and I celebrated alone because Phil just had to be in the office to make sure a dreaded Y2K catastrophe wouldn't occur. And way, way too many dinners alone to count.</p>
I have always referred to the Daily Times as Phil's mistress. </p>
I was powerless to stop it because he was powerless under her spell - he was smitten.</p>
I've never seen anyone more dedicated to his craft than Phil.</p>
He gave the Daily Times everything he had. </p>
It was his life for nearly four decades.</p>
He greatly respected and admired his colleagues over the years.</p>
And he was always grateful to you, the readers.</p>
He labored to create something special each day with each issue...and practically around the clock with the online edition.
Now, how's a girl gonna compete with that?</p>
I really didn't mind sharing him, though.</p>
I had gotten used to it.</p>
But then some things happened.</p>
We've each had our health issues and, blessedly, we became grandparents to twin boys.</p>
Tears still come to my eyes when he gave our son, the twins' father, a piece of sound advice.</p>
He told him to enjoy every minute of raising his children ... not to put anything ahead of that.</p>
I think Phil took a look at his life and decided it was time to come home.</p>
Daily Times ... you were well-loved.</p>
And you and Phil will always have Primos (and Swarthmore).</p>
As for me ... I'll be waiting for him when he gets home just like I have for the past 37 years.</p>
Phil ... welcome to your new edition!Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-50412073984586102692020-04-16T06:59:00.000-04:002020-04-16T09:26:30.367-04:00An ode to the editor's wifeSince I announced earlier this week that my 'time' at the Daily Times was coming to an end, I've been humbled by the outpouring of support and kind messages. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg898JxSmx9ab8s_mvjyckYurL0A_UJ3SntVPj32y0YuxYPyp3fE-OosIIi5pJ6L_YecvSaL4-UPHQld2TfcX4zmP5hBNb7bKY0ZehRImicalCyCNWbMtvR1Jdwy0WtJfJgCa0iO7pWGgIG/s1600/Phil-Patty-DC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg898JxSmx9ab8s_mvjyckYurL0A_UJ3SntVPj32y0YuxYPyp3fE-OosIIi5pJ6L_YecvSaL4-UPHQld2TfcX4zmP5hBNb7bKY0ZehRImicalCyCNWbMtvR1Jdwy0WtJfJgCa0iO7pWGgIG/s320/Phil-Patty-DC.JPG" width="244" height="320" data-original-width="303" data-original-height="397" /></a></div>
Readers flooded my email, Twitter and Facebook accounts with kind words. Many of them noted how the job has changed and the many circumstances in the last few years that have made the job even more difficult.</p>
Well, they were right about that.</p>
But it's not the toughest job.</p>
They should try being married to me.</p>
I arrived at the Daily Times on June 14, 1982. Flag Day. In a few weeks that would have 38 years.</p>
One year and four days later, I tied the knot with Patty Perley, a Downingtown girl.</p>
She has been beside me every step of the way since. Actually, even longer than that.</p>
We met in 1978 at The Record, a daily newspaper in Coatesville that shares a dubious distinction with too many newspapers. It no longer exists.</p>
She worked in advertising. I was a new hire in the newsroom. She always says that the first time I strode through the advertising department on my way to the composing room - no doubt resplendent in my spongy green pants and yellow ban-lon top - she knew she was going to marry me.</p>
Thus started what I refer to as an 'extended' dating period. OK, it took me four years to propose, and then mostly because she was tired of waiting.</p>
I didn't have a dime to my name. Had an apartment in West Chester I could not afford. Only ate because I went to dinner at her house every Thursday night, and her Italian mother would load me up with enough groceries to get me through the week. </p>
The first time my wife opened the refrigerator in that old apartment, she was confronted with two things - hot dogs with a mysterious white slime on them, and beer. She has not trusted my food choices or preparation since.</p>
If you want to know what it's like being married to a newspaper editor, I highly encourage you to ask her. She'll be more than willing to detail what it involves.</p>
She likely did not know when she said 'I Do,' she was marrying not just me, but the newspaper as well.</p>
It was tolerable years ago when our daily focus was that beloved print product.</p>
In recent years, with the advent of the internet and the 24-hour news cycle, it has morphed into something else altogether.
In a word, it has a tendency to be overwhelming.</p>
Working nights, weekends and holidays was one thing.</p>
A menage a trois - her, me, and my laptop - probably was not what she had in mind.</p>
I think it finally hit home with me what she has been dealing with back on Aug. 13. We were sitting in the waiting room of a Virginia hospital, awaiting the birth of our first grandchildren. </p>
She was nervously peering at the window waiting for our son to appear with word of the arrival of twin boys.</p>
I was staring at my laptop.</p>
Yes, you could say my priorities were a little mixed up.</p>
That's about to change.</p>
I'll likely never repay her for all the years she spent playing second fiddle to 'my mistress,' the newspaper.
Now it's her time.</p>
I wonder how long it will take her to get tired of having me around? Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-84145612580152377292020-04-16T06:05:00.001-04:002020-04-16T06:05:37.187-04:00It's now mandatory: Getting groceries? Wear a maskFirst we were told it wasn't necessary. </p>
Then it became a suggestion, albeit a strong one.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yC3ScpMUHiHsGztCuQCNEB23og_EUCmLRBjUfgcyjn5vMhupkmYVDUSKj_8Ns-F1cOG7iBokMCClYmymzbsNIcWktTo2q8AgasgjEgJF62emmcm1jMFyKjwmtkpVfVw1xH8RLw8d2BIA/s1600/Mask2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yC3ScpMUHiHsGztCuQCNEB23og_EUCmLRBjUfgcyjn5vMhupkmYVDUSKj_8Ns-F1cOG7iBokMCClYmymzbsNIcWktTo2q8AgasgjEgJF62emmcm1jMFyKjwmtkpVfVw1xH8RLw8d2BIA/s320/Mask2.jpg" width="320" height="264" data-original-width="1586" data-original-height="1307" /></a></div>
It started with the governor. Eventually Delaware County Council chimed in, adding their voices to the effort.</p>
It's no longer a suggestion.</p>
On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf and his Secretary of Health Rachel Levine made it mandatory. If you are venturing into a store, you must wear a mask or some other type of face covering. That means you won't be able to enter Commonwealth grocery stores without a mask. </p>
This is not necessarily to protect you, but instead to protect others, specifically those crucial workers who are stocking the shelves and checkout counters, putting themselves in harm's way as they come in contact with the public each day.</p>
Same goes for those trips to the pharmacy.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/wolf-mandates-everyone-wear-masks-if-entering-commercial-buildings/article_81ae3e80-2aa8-5557-9d4c-f86dedabc2dc.html">You can get all the details here. </a>
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-47047463959566135822020-04-15T07:40:00.002-04:002020-04-15T07:49:22.357-04:00About headlines - & a belated apology to all those reportersOne of the things I feel compelled to do in my final days in the editor's desk is offer an apology to the many reporters who have toiled for me over the years. </p>
And why would that be?</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47Owb9JcP1wqS-LeF5od2q19JRlNXkxMzZQktFEeuaVPv32P-_hZqtWrLZ7ydJy81XIZw4Dtrj5ab3YEAaOQBTUNDOdJWsq1zGOK_48zveySxRn71yif2oBF8E3bxGp2HPphCjqdznb3D/s1600/Live+Aid+Front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47Owb9JcP1wqS-LeF5od2q19JRlNXkxMzZQktFEeuaVPv32P-_hZqtWrLZ7ydJy81XIZw4Dtrj5ab3YEAaOQBTUNDOdJWsq1zGOK_48zveySxRn71yif2oBF8E3bxGp2HPphCjqdznb3D/s320/Live+Aid+Front.JPG" width="214" height="320" data-original-width="552" data-original-height="826" /></a></div>
Well, it's not for my at times volcanic temper, though for the most part that was usually aimed at the technology we did battle with every day, not a human target.</p>
So what's the deal?</p>
Well, let's once again pull back the drapes on this great mystery known as journalism, in particular as it pertains to the print version.
In other words, that beautiful print edition many of you continue to hold in your hands each day.</p>
Ironically, this does not apply to this blog, which appears online.</p>
Every day, we run dozens of stories, all of which are written by reporters.</p>
But there is one thing that the reporters don't write.</p>
That would be the headline that appears on those stories.</p>
Headlines are written by editors who process that copy.</p>
At one time - yes, I think I can still remember those days - nearly every newspaper had something called a copy desk. It is where editors pored over stories looking for mistakes, checking facts, and reviewing spelling and grammar.</p>
It's where the print edition was actually laid out each night, sent to the composing room where it was manually built - or 'pasted up' - as we used to refer to it.</p>
Both the copy desk and the composing room are long gone - victims to a changing industry and budget cuts.</p>
But one thing that has not changed is that reporters do not write the headlines that appear on their stories.</p>
Unfortunately, it's their name on the story. The editor who wrote the headline is for the most part anonymous.</p>
That includes the headline that appears on the front page.</p>
I guess I have written a thousands of headlines over the years. And I am quite sure I am responsible for many angry calls to reporters, usually from the subject of a story who wanted to complain about the headline, either the one on the story or the one that graced our front page. The story most likely was fine, but it was the headline that really set the reader off. </p>
That usually fell in my lap.</p>
As I already admitted once this week, there is some truth in the complaints I have fielded over the years that the front page treatment of a story was meant only to sensationalize a story and sell newspapers.</p>
Guilty as charged.</p>
Yes, we want to sell as many newspapers as we can each day. It's part of the job. Not the only part and certainly not the most important part of the job, but absolutely a part of it.</p>
Remember that this is part of the art of a tabloid newspaper. That front page is meant to lure in customers.</p>
Writing headlines - especially when it comes to tabloid newspapers - is a fast-disappearing art form. There is a fine line that we walk every day. The fact is that the headlines that appear online have a different function than those that appear in print. Online headlines increasingly are meant to appeal to the algorithms that rule the online world. But it makes for boring headlines. It wants us to use full names, such as Philadelphia Phillies in sports stories, something we would never do in print. </p>
For that print edition, we routinely take the most complicated story you can imagine and try to boil it down to three or four words that both explain the story and lure in the readers.</p>
So when the community decides to raise their voice against a proposal for a topless bar in their neighborhood, as happened a few decades back in Ridley Township, they storm the commissioners meeting and demand their elected leaders use local zoning laws to thwart the plan.</p>
The headline that appeared on the front page of the next morning's Daily Times:</p>
EROGENOUS ZONING.</p>
Yeah, I'm going to miss this job. </p>
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-12452332462740287822020-04-15T07:11:00.000-04:002020-04-15T07:11:36.614-04:00Some fitting salutes in the battle against coronavirusThe coronavirus and COVID-19 continues to take a horrific toll. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeNc2JYsFqKYl9bFzbo9Ea8YCjrQBXUV3yPehFPIJ9XtdsQWuEPObEP8KJAhNuC5jPbugR7YJcEI99RIPWjvLNYgZtlg9NQY6c13i8OR28U9SFsl20_y8JjEJquJ6U7ObraJKRPcsk3rZ/s1600/WedFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeNc2JYsFqKYl9bFzbo9Ea8YCjrQBXUV3yPehFPIJ9XtdsQWuEPObEP8KJAhNuC5jPbugR7YJcEI99RIPWjvLNYgZtlg9NQY6c13i8OR28U9SFsl20_y8JjEJquJ6U7ObraJKRPcsk3rZ/s320/WedFront.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="750" data-original-height="563" /></a></div>
This week it claimed a paramedic based at Mercy Fitzgerald in Darby Borough. </p>
O<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/editorial-the-heroes-who-work-among-us/article_89eeda40-7e48-11ea-97c6-238a9895e122.html">n today's editorial page,</a> we honor Kevin Bundy for his service. </p>
Yesterday afternoon, his fellow <a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/fitz-hospital-staff-first-responders-salute-fallen-paramedic/article_b92c7388-7e77-11ea-90e4-3b08f55dc2bd.html">first responders gathered</a> to honor their fallen brother as well. </p>
And last night, <a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/clappy-hour-salutes-riddle-hospital-staff/article_7653b91c-7e8c-11ea-af49-07a049e931dc.html">first responders gathered during a shift change at Riddle Hospital</a> to honor those who continue to man the front lines - nurses and doctors doing hand-to-hand combat against the coronavirus. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-1186024808235307272020-04-15T06:23:00.000-04:002020-04-15T06:23:10.700-04:00Time for another season of All-DelcosNow that we've determined the 'mythical' best boys and girls high school basketball teams in Delaware County history, that can mean only one thing. </p>
It's back to reality.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0i2u_II5LAt2zSCAWZSpbM0bI_ZujAcgImJ7EqsGbVGrzWeymujc4J3qpBYpRVo939HkxKT3t2HkXmXJxwDgbmUPjwiq-db79rFlhaHZCCOoeTNIwzbYSDPuGyXhx_4e5eEzq0wapZXF/s1600/Catka.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0i2u_II5LAt2zSCAWZSpbM0bI_ZujAcgImJ7EqsGbVGrzWeymujc4J3qpBYpRVo939HkxKT3t2HkXmXJxwDgbmUPjwiq-db79rFlhaHZCCOoeTNIwzbYSDPuGyXhx_4e5eEzq0wapZXF/s320/Catka.JPG" width="320" height="244" data-original-width="532" data-original-height="405" /></a></div>
And for us, that means honoring the best high school athletes. </p>
In this neck of the woods, that means another round of All-Delco athletes.</p>
Luckily, we're kicking off the winter sports All-Delco selections with wrestling. And the choice as the top wrestler in Delaware County is unquestioned.</p>
We can use one word to describe Hunter Catka, from Sun Valley High: Dominant.</p>
Catka rolled to his second consecutive PIAA title at 185 pounds. The state wrestling tourney actually wrapped up before the PIAA halted all other post-season tournaments, including the hoops brackets. Spring sports also have been halted.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/sports/all-delco-wrestler-of-the-year-catka-concluded-career-in-dominant-fashion/article_d62ce8b2-7906-11ea-b79b-9fbb1b5a7885.html">You can read about Catka's reign here. </a>Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-45502893894979863882020-04-14T07:00:00.000-04:002020-04-14T07:00:30.553-04:00A lifetime of front pages Well, if I had known it was going to spark that kind of reaction, I would have announced I was leaving the Daily Times years ago.
Honestly, what happened yesterday after I noted in my weekly print column that this would be my last week after 38 years at the Daily Times was a bit overwhelming. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSH9Xi10eGCk-2xi7ugKlaOPgKls5Z0WaYSwmuqCX6ZTb0OZ2bDgg-HsyRuE4XJDWs3uMAA19fay2hD4s3PELFp7hgt6-SvXj2bamiwN3BcBRrkO81MH7FbVRiVUP_kybTqXZi7BwR3V1/s1600/Phinally.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSH9Xi10eGCk-2xi7ugKlaOPgKls5Z0WaYSwmuqCX6ZTb0OZ2bDgg-HsyRuE4XJDWs3uMAA19fay2hD4s3PELFp7hgt6-SvXj2bamiwN3BcBRrkO81MH7FbVRiVUP_kybTqXZi7BwR3V1/s320/Phinally.JPG" width="320" height="288" data-original-width="761" data-original-height="685" /></a></div>
It's one of the old adages of the news business. We're supposed to cover the story. We're not supposed to be the story.</p>
My deepest thanks for all of you who reached out with voicemails and emails, while also flooding Twitter and Facebook.</p>
It's a humbling experience.</p>
I have said any number of times in the last 20-plus years that the newspaper really belong to the readers. That remains true today. I am just the steward. The Daily Times will still be here after I'm gone. As well it should. Newspapers are needed now more than ever.
I'll have more to say about that later this week.</p>
For now, forgive me if I'm a bit awash in memories.</p>
The other constant in doing this job for this long has been that other small task that I have overseen every day.</p>
I call it the most valuable piece of real estate in Delaware County, although I'm guess some local Realtors might not back me up on that.
And it measures all of one square foot.</p>
It's our front page.</p>
Every day, the most important decision I make - even in these days of online news - is what image and story will dominate our front page.
I could not even guess at how many front pages I have made up during my tenure at the Daily Times.</p>
And yes, there are more than a few I would probably do differently if I had such a thing as a 'do-over.'</p>
As I've told any number of reporter for years now, there is no such thing. Print is forever.</p>
Over the years, I have been accused on any number of occasions of putting a certain story or photo on our front page just to "sensationalize the story and sell newspapers."</p>
They invariably offer one more flair, always referring to that "rag" of a newspaper.</p>
It's a badge I wear proudly. That "rag" has been my life.</p>
When I speak to various groups, I always talk about the importance of our front page and the vital role it has always played in the paper. </p>Then I do something people don't always expect. I tell them there is some truth to the critics' claims. Yes, part of this job - not the most important part or the only part - but an important part nonetheless, is to sell as many newspapers every day as possible.</p>
That's where that front page comes in.</p>
Its job is to stop people in their tracks - as they prepare to board the train, or when they duck into the Wawa for their morning up of Joe.
If a person stops, that front page is starting to do its job. If they lean in and look at the image in the window of that vending rack, we're getting warm. If they put their money in and snag a paper, it's a sale. Of course, if they take out three papers, we kind of frown on that.
All of which gets me to something I'm asked all the time, and it has popped up again in these last few days.</p>
What is the favorite front page you've ever done.</p>
That one is easy.</p>
After all, I waited my whole life to do it.</p>
This is the front page that graced Delaware County on Monday, Feb. 5., the morning after the Eagles won the first Super Bowl championship in team history.</p>
As usual, I played around with the words, zeroing in on the eternal wait for lifelong Eagles fans, and the notion that Philly was finally on top.</p>
I did it with one word: Phinally!</p>
Ironically, I guess I could break that one out again this week, my last week at the Daily Times.</p>
Phil is Phinally Phinished.</p>
I think my wife would agree.Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-71797647487085376342020-04-14T06:23:00.001-04:002020-04-14T06:23:27.735-04:00Meet the best boys hoops team in Delco historyThe games are over. </p>
I'm pretty sure the debate is not.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5myBOke0VEw3EeYNU2SPLhCqXcRNPM2o8yjDvrvDpJDKpUyJFxC_ifJlCoQPXyq3IToARXcCa3qk9pEHyUPUMH73Cc0kVtZ_n533PxWuwUYf8N1KFScZZKrW2TN-yRDOrmKrbNBWuiu4/s1600/DelcoMadness.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5myBOke0VEw3EeYNU2SPLhCqXcRNPM2o8yjDvrvDpJDKpUyJFxC_ifJlCoQPXyq3IToARXcCa3qk9pEHyUPUMH73Cc0kVtZ_n533PxWuwUYf8N1KFScZZKrW2TN-yRDOrmKrbNBWuiu4/s320/DelcoMadness.JPG" width="320" height="307" data-original-width="493" data-original-height="473" /></a></div>
And the best boys basketball team in Delco history is ... the 1983 Chester Clippers.</p>
That's the outcome from our mythical Delco Madness hoops tourney, in which we sought to determine bragging rights for the best boys and girls squads to ever hit the hardwood.</p>
The '83 Chester Clippers now join Muffet McGraw's 1979 Archbishop Carroll girls team.</p>
The snag the crown, the '83 Chester Clipper had to do battle with another great Chester squad, the great 2012 Clippers.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/sports/delco-madness-intimidating-1983-clippers-win-all-time-bragging-rights/article_15065f80-7dd7-11ea-838b-cfd133db7546.html">Jack McCaffery gives you the play-by-play.</a></p>
So let the arguments commence. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-23268518466330784012020-04-14T06:00:00.003-04:002020-04-14T06:00:45.630-04:00A fitting farewell to a gentleman political leaderIn this job, I'm not supposed to play favorites. </p>
Don't believe it.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNShpVQdcu7ySVGsE4TLogWO8-YWq5QNW9ZFXIvQlZE9iqq4sJ-Cxu3PkUO_3gUTR5J070o5ywbFvKtTY8vsBfRhJVjSZNvjCEJLKiin4ka3dntPIU4XoI3rBZMcFB5TwLC4Gd7G6Nn-DK/s1600/TomJudge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNShpVQdcu7ySVGsE4TLogWO8-YWq5QNW9ZFXIvQlZE9iqq4sJ-Cxu3PkUO_3gUTR5J070o5ywbFvKtTY8vsBfRhJVjSZNvjCEJLKiin4ka3dntPIU4XoI3rBZMcFB5TwLC4Gd7G6Nn-DK/s320/TomJudge.jpg" width="320" height="294" data-original-width="200" data-original-height="184" /></a></div>
Especially today.</p>
My critics will tell you that I have leaned to the left for years - and taken the Daily Times with me. These social media warriors usually flood our website, Twitter and Facebook to rage against what they perceive as my inability to simply report, to not take sides, and for the liberal spin they insist I have placed on the paper during my more than two decades in the editor's chair.</p>
Today they just might be right.</p>
Today I am playing favorites.</p>
Today I offer a final salute to one of my favorite people in Delco politics.</p>
You might say Tom Judge Sr. was old school.</p>
Me? I'll just say he was a good, decent man.</p>
Of course, as usual, I have a slightly bigger megaphone than most people.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/editorial-farewell-to-a-true-gentleman-tom-judge-sr/article_1231efba-7d99-11ea-bf4e-03448ab0dd5b.html">It's on today's editorial page. </a>
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-33556625084799163262020-04-13T06:50:00.000-04:002020-04-13T06:50:04.986-04:00RIP Tom Judge Sr., a gentleman and class actI could use many words for the people I have encountered in Delaware County political circles over the last nearly four decades. </p>
But there is only one word I would ever consider using about Tom Judge Sr.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivF-YNdnIi8l74ER7I6856igeb-P_uMLQQyCYx1sYCH5AWOvPQjpkal83fs0pvHwUyXRoS4tZDU5tt1gRg97xKUbjm_a_31BprHaTo-yC0AwTxfeXHP4GOVSOFxuxblYDcd6Sxbg_MdEXN/s1600/TomJudge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivF-YNdnIi8l74ER7I6856igeb-P_uMLQQyCYx1sYCH5AWOvPQjpkal83fs0pvHwUyXRoS4tZDU5tt1gRg97xKUbjm_a_31BprHaTo-yC0AwTxfeXHP4GOVSOFxuxblYDcd6Sxbg_MdEXN/s320/TomJudge.jpg" width="320" height="294" data-original-width="200" data-original-height="184" /></a></div>
Gentleman.</p>
I wrote that back in 2009, when the longtime leader of the Delaware County Republican Party retired.</p>
Delaware County has lost one of its icons. Tom Judge Sr. passed away over the weekend.</p>
Judge led the party during much of its glory years, when the party ruled the county, routinely dominating local elections. A lot of people recoiled when I would refer to the local GOP as a 'machine,' but that's what it was. A very well-oiled, effective machine.</p>
At its heart was a simple, unassuming, decent man.</p>
Of course over the years we had occasion to share the room many times. Perhaps on election night, or during a special dinner. Inevitably, Judge would do several things that always stayed with me all these years.</p>
Inevitably, Judge would seek me out, not the other way around.</p>
Then he would extend his hand - and a smile.</p>
And he would always ask me how the family was doing.</p>
Tom Judge Sr. was a class act.</p>
He will be greatly missed.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-69398810345976674022020-04-13T06:03:00.000-04:002020-04-13T06:03:24.931-04:00After 38 years, reaching the end of the roadIf you missed the note I tacked on to the bottom of today's<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/letter-from-the-editor-its-enough-to-drive-a-person-to-drink/article_915aa4e0-7cad-11ea-9998-53cc0274ffe2.html"> Letter From the Editor,</a> allow me to make a personal note. </p>
It's the column I always dreaded writing. </p>
Because it's the last one. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzSs9UL2bwHBLkH0KMfrugpoR6yoMKrusngmrssVU52UVU4CF_z3UUKHO4OeecUd8OcezC1ot2I8gAAPueTZ_jq7XdIaUpu-b1cH7fBr5WWG273IY-e90ssgF-VfO1518ZovbLcO7RP2n/s1600/Phil-34Years.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzSs9UL2bwHBLkH0KMfrugpoR6yoMKrusngmrssVU52UVU4CF_z3UUKHO4OeecUd8OcezC1ot2I8gAAPueTZ_jq7XdIaUpu-b1cH7fBr5WWG273IY-e90ssgF-VfO1518ZovbLcO7RP2n/s320/Phil-34Years.JPG" width="320" height="243" data-original-width="1104" data-original-height="837" /></a></div>
After nearly 38 years, this will be my last week at the Daily Times. I started in 1982. June 14, Flag Day, to be exact. </p>
I will write more about it later this week, but since the word was leaking out there already, I figured I would get ahead of the curve and formally announce here in The Heron's Nest as well. </p>
This is my decision, at least in part. It's probably not the way I envisioned it, but it is time. </p>
I'm not quite sure how to wrap up 38 years, but above all else what I will remember is the people - both those I worked with every day, and those loyal readers who picked up the newspaper every day, or who now visit the website. </p>
Yes, that includes those legions who were critical of my work, and that of the newspaper. </p>
As I've written many times, that is the glory of being a newspaper editor. I am an equal opportunity publicist. </p>
Know that I will miss all of you, but also know this. </p>
What this newspaper does every day is vitally important. Please support it and help us keep that mission alive. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-86489337038266118152020-04-13T05:52:00.000-04:002020-04-13T05:52:03.829-04:00Weather today will match our moodGo ahead, pull the covers up over your head. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYMCZtyTdCcBJrCB6D1aMSs5RjowJzUV8DgnQeeDQWafJSVzT3auvh_NekR4e6u9CQE5JLgItNEVAsmWyxObFEtPHe_P5mLCNE2CAsju1h6rwIa4N6acgPSATrQTIVbm6yjdMitgJhhzD/s1600/radar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYMCZtyTdCcBJrCB6D1aMSs5RjowJzUV8DgnQeeDQWafJSVzT3auvh_NekR4e6u9CQE5JLgItNEVAsmWyxObFEtPHe_P5mLCNE2CAsju1h6rwIa4N6acgPSATrQTIVbm6yjdMitgJhhzD/s320/radar.JPG" width="320" height="126" data-original-width="738" data-original-height="291" /></a></div>
The weather outside today will match our mood as we hunker down for still another week of staying home amidst life in the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
It's raining already and it will continue to do so - heavy at times - for most of the morning.</p>
And that's not the worst part.</p>
The rain will be accompanied by high winds, gusting to 50 mph, along with the possibility of thunderstorms. The National Weather Service has issued a high-wind warning for the entire region until 7 p.m. Monday. The agency warns the gusts could bring down trees and power lines.
They indicate travel will be difficult, especially for big rigs and high-profile vehicles.
The strongest winds are expected to hit later this morning and into early afternoon, accompanied by thunderstorms.
The Weather Service suggests people avoid being outside - as if we needed another reason - and be especially careful in forested areas such as nature trails.
</p>
Brace yourself for the possibility of downed trees and power outages. Might be a good idea to power your devices now.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/weather/">You can get the full forecast here. </a>Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-63759130401996418012020-04-10T06:53:00.000-04:002020-04-10T06:58:49.077-04:00The perils of buying booze in Pa. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is down, but not out. </p>
Unfortunately.</p>
The people who run the state's archaic system of selling alcohol have, as we all know, closed their doors under orders of Gov. Tom Wolf, as the state continues to try to corral the novel coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging the state and nation.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsW9qEPLKqb8XyKK8hNWxDpbjHXgNMqT4_50J95yHp2sg7r_LcVs_6-E_Ly6YNWRLjReMXCcCzMWG6kH4GPE46MBDvKNdH-nVcipnkSTBMJNWEyd128B4Dfx6ZfOjEKVtNjOTW67z1Y_8/s1600/StateStore3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsW9qEPLKqb8XyKK8hNWxDpbjHXgNMqT4_50J95yHp2sg7r_LcVs_6-E_Ly6YNWRLjReMXCcCzMWG6kH4GPE46MBDvKNdH-nVcipnkSTBMJNWEyd128B4Dfx6ZfOjEKVtNjOTW67z1Y_8/s320/StateStore3.JPG" width="320" height="157" data-original-width="598" data-original-height="293" /></a></div>
Wolf announced his decision to shut down what we now refer to as Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores - c'mon, admit it, you still call them state stores - late on a Saturday afternoon, when it became obvious most of the state was ignoring his call to avoid social gatherings and shut down non-essential business.</p>
I will leave it to others to argue the definition of what is essential or non-essential, let alone "life-sustaining," as the governor later qualified his shutdown order.</p>
The order of course touched off a run on the state stores, where long lines formed minutes after the governor's order was announced.
No problem, right. The state could merely switch to online sales.</p>
Uh, not exactly. Have you tried the PLCB web site? If you've been able to get through, you're one of the lucky ones. The site has been a mess since the brick-and-mortar stores shut down.</p>
Why was I not surprised that a state that for years mandated different trips for booze - one trip to the state store for wine and alcohol, one trip to the beer distributor for a case of beer, a third to a deli or tavern if you wanted only a six-pack. That's right, for years beer distributors could not sell anything but cases of beer. You figure out. I gave up long ago.</p>
In recent years, as calls increase in the Legislature to get the state out of the booze business - spurred on I hope by one newspaper editor who became the foremost proponent of blowing up the state store system and privatizing the sale of alcohol in the state - a few cosmetic changes were made.</p>
You can now buy beer and wine in the supermarket.</p>
Of course, you have to do it in a different part of the store. And, for the most part, you have to do it there. </p>
Visitors to Pennsylvania, or residents who have had the benefit of living in other parts of the country, are mystified at the way this state handles these sales.</p>
They are used to simply tossing a six-pack or case of beer, or perhaps a bottle of wine for dinner, in their cart and paying for it along with the rest of their groceries at the checkout line.</p>
Not in Pennsylvania.</p>
Which makes something that happened this week all the more puzzling.</p>
Several supermarket chains that now offer sales of beer and wine backed a move by PLCB Board Member Mike Negra to allow customers to pay for both at any cash register.</p>
Their argument was a sound one: They were looking to avoid long lines, thus encouraging the kind of social distancing we are all supposed to be practicing these days.</p>
Their request was rejected by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.</p>
Ironically, the PLCB largely cited the same reasons - the belief that such a move would actually have just the opposite effect. Board member Negra was pushing for the change. Two other board members opposed it. </p>
A spokesperson for Giant supermarkets said the move would reduce social distancing and reduce the time customers spent standing in line.
Alex Baloga, president and CEO of Pennsylvania’s Food Merchants Association, concurred.</p>
“It’s a safety issue. It’s a health issue. You are forcing people to funnel into one particular area to buy these products and it’s much more difficult to do that in a smaller space like the beer and wine section of a grocery store than it is to spread it out across the entire store,” said Baloga. “It’s a pretty common sense thing to do especially in a crisis.”</p>
Then there is the notion of limits placed on how much you can purchase in any one visit. Customers in supermarkets are limited to buying 192 ounces of beer and three liters of wine per transaction. That means people buying a limited quantity of wine and beer, taking that to the car, then going back into the store to repeat the process, which is perfectly legal.</p>
Only in Pennsylvania.</p>
As you can imagine, the situation in Pennsylvania has sparked sales in nearby states, including the ever-popular liquor super stores just a stone's throw over the border in Delaware. But it turns out Delaware doesn't exactly want the extra business. With orders in place for visitors to the state to self-quarantine, state troopers have been dispatched to some roads, checking cars with out-of-state plates, and turning some motorists around.</p>
All of this is giving way to talk that the idea of privatizing the entire system could be revisited by the Legislature.</p>
State House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, and his GOP colleagues have been pushing to blow up the system for years, and even managed to get some legislation passed, only to have it vetoed by Gov. Wolf, a proponent of changing the system, but not doing away with it.
The problems that have been evident since Wolf shut down the state stores could give the entire movement new energy.</p>
I'll drink to that.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-17825254981444604702020-04-10T05:57:00.001-04:002020-04-10T06:59:09.065-04:00A different kind of Good FridayWhen I was a kid, my parents ran a small soda shop. It was right down the street from the high school and quickly became a popular after-school hangout. </p>
Pretty popping place.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidE1yGtHXOMGweVnb-ftGOGCkcKU_Uox7vvPCdIST2oguncqswdMFkBhMi7SXnYaxyAoLUfyw-mOK0mOPCg-xvKb-Tu_Zbz1_aVjPS0Y_Rj1vDhA4mq1B4qaIJrQG-lYUtmI-8x1mxKml0/s1600/Good+Frfiday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidE1yGtHXOMGweVnb-ftGOGCkcKU_Uox7vvPCdIST2oguncqswdMFkBhMi7SXnYaxyAoLUfyw-mOK0mOPCg-xvKb-Tu_Zbz1_aVjPS0Y_Rj1vDhA4mq1B4qaIJrQG-lYUtmI-8x1mxKml0/s320/Good+Frfiday.jpg" width="320" height="213" data-original-width="275" data-original-height="183" /></a></div>
But not on one specific Friday each spring.</p>
On that day, my mom would close the store at noon, cover her head, and then walk around the block to the tiny Catholic church.
Welcome to Good Friday, the most solemn day on the Christian calendar, the day when we mark the crucifixion of Christ.</p>
But this year, Good Friday, as with all the days of Holy Week leading up to the celebration of Easter, and as Jews mark Passover in the same week, we are celebrating differently.</p>
We don't have to worry about shutting down businesses. The novel coronavirus and COVID-19 already has done that, and it looks like Gov. Tom Wolf's order shutting down all non-life-sustaining businesses is not going away soon.</p>
The Easter holiday just got a lot longer for Pennsylvania schoolkids. On Thursday, Wolf announced all state K-12 schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year. See you in September.</p>
Churches will be empty today, just as they were last night for the traditional celebration of Holy Thursday. There will be no Good Friday services today at most churches. The same holds true for the Easter vigil and Easter Sunday services.</p>
Sunrise services won't see the light of day.</p>
That's because we are continuing to observe social distancing, avoiding social gatherings.</p>
That does not mean we are not celebrating and practicing our faith.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/passover-holy-week-celebrants-embrace-virtual-services/article_edcaa0aa-7a9f-11ea-98f9-8fd0c506c88e.html">Many families are utilizing social media apps </a>such as Zoom to hold their traditional holiday gatherings, including the Passover Seder dinner.</p>
Officials at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will live-stream many of the services of the holiest three days on their calendar. Archbishop <a href="http://archphila.org/archbishop-nelson-j-perez-calls-on-faithful-from-the-archdiocese-of-philadelphia-to-join-in-national-moment-of-prayer-on-good-friday/">Nelson Perez is urging Catholics to take part in a National Day of Prayer today to mark Good Friday.</a></p>
But it won't be done in the stark churches I remember from my youth, with the altar laid bare for the most solemnn day on the calendar. </p>
I'm not sure mom would understand.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-55864978914803074652020-04-09T06:54:00.002-04:002020-04-09T06:57:22.967-04:00Uncharted waters - faith includedWe are in uncharted territory these days - on so many levels. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJc4yg6oXdts9H-F5-b2GI3ovFlSxpGu7clQZWLh3lXKQbMhMQ_hGZyxRiSf6nmjuqmzdtAIyv-PBwBP13lClAHLRITEUcYfyGP50Vt4TjxVUQlpOKj6WIZxlttHWhGvV1C3rkzvTIzBJ/s1600/Seder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJc4yg6oXdts9H-F5-b2GI3ovFlSxpGu7clQZWLh3lXKQbMhMQ_hGZyxRiSf6nmjuqmzdtAIyv-PBwBP13lClAHLRITEUcYfyGP50Vt4TjxVUQlpOKj6WIZxlttHWhGvV1C3rkzvTIzBJ/s320/Seder.jpg" width="313" height="320" data-original-width="222" data-original-height="227" /></a></div>
That includes our faith, and a very special week on religious calendars.</p>
For Christians, it is Holy Week, the most reverent week on the liturgical calendar.</p>
This week the Jewish faith celebrate Passover, which started Wednesday night with the tradition of the Seder, the ceremonial dinner that marks the beginning of the Passover celebration.</p>
Today on our op-ed page, we are indeed lucky to offer the thoughts of Rabbi Barry Blum, head of the Congregation Beth El-Ner Tamid in Marple.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/guest-column-some-novel-ideas-for-celebrating-passover-in-time-of-coronavirus/article_ec28358c-79dc-11ea-9081-bffbb4df50f1.html">You can read it here.</a> Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-12243101982265370512020-04-09T06:33:00.000-04:002020-04-09T06:33:45.666-04:00SEPTA puts 'lifeline service schedule' in placeSome people don't have a choice in these days of coronavirus. </p>
They have to get out and they have to get around.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H7yVA8qv_79RRCUxhEx5PMkhPgYeJ7pOV8I1MdMG25Rfka6OAkfpJBK6B7-MIjRtmNXdK6qU6CNuKyy45PwkjVBrEapV-frgV01uv8AJ9klGTvDLxn117TuZQ2z5G0t1AXF-NKpqUon/s1600/SEPTA+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H7yVA8qv_79RRCUxhEx5PMkhPgYeJ7pOV8I1MdMG25Rfka6OAkfpJBK6B7-MIjRtmNXdK6qU6CNuKyy45PwkjVBrEapV-frgV01uv8AJ9klGTvDLxn117TuZQ2z5G0t1AXF-NKpqUon/s320/SEPTA+logo.jpg" width="320" height="184" data-original-width="940" data-original-height="540" /></a></div>
If you're one of them and you depend on SEPTA, there are some new changes you need to be aware of.</p>
With ridership way down, and out of concern for the safety of both riders and their employees, SEPTA is again reducing service across the system.</p>
Several key Delco routes will be affected, including the Market-Frankford El, where the Millbourne Station is one of nearly a dozen that will be shut down, and regional rail lines also will start limited service.</p>
They are calling this a 'lifeline service schedule.'</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/septa-cutting-lines-schedules-today/article_5972b552-79df-11ea-b60a-37fbb6e4069d.html">You can get the details here</a>.</p>
And something else - if you are planning to use SEPTA, plan on wearing a mask. You won't be allowed to board any SEPTA vehicle without one.</p>
Here are the highlights of the SEPTA plan:</p>
<b>Market-Frankford Line: </b>Ten stations will be closed, while 18 others remain open. Closures include Millbourne, along with Church, Tioga, Somerset, York-Dauphin, 2nd Street, 5th Street, 13th Street, 56th Street, and 63rd Street. </p>
</p>
<b>Buses and Trolleys:</b> Service will be limited to approximately 60 core routes. Routes are being prioritized for ties to essential services and connections to the Broad Street, Market-Frankford Lines and Regional Rail. The Route 101 Trolley will continue to operate with bus service, and the Route 102 remains suspended.</p>
<b>Norristown High-Speed Line:</b> No new changes.</p>
<b>Regional Rail:</b> Service on six lines will be suspended and two others shortened. No service on the Chestnut Hill East, Chestnut Hill West, Cynwyd, Manayunk/Norristown, West Trenton and Wilmington Newark Lines.</p>
On the Paoli/Thorndale line, service only between Center City and Malvern.
</p>
Airport Line service will be reduced from hourly trips to every two hours.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-21276195043640983472020-04-08T07:04:00.000-04:002020-04-08T07:04:26.369-04:00Signs of hope amid grim new numbersThere was a bit of a mixed message in our daily battle against the coronavirus pandemic yesterday. </p>
While deaths surged, with new one-day highs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, there also were some glimmers that maybe - just maybe - things could be starting to turn around.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMvsaJCqKbUtt-TfTDzwzAxhE0nl8UKQzmu6Pqtc0fiS3hsOY9lLWtOwtHfd5MC9JTakBBMeKl8_OE8K3e6keptHer1jByxekfvKK94rWZMnppcvAqlVe9Fafx2lq3xRbSZWBTeGwWqoy/s1600/WedFront.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMvsaJCqKbUtt-TfTDzwzAxhE0nl8UKQzmu6Pqtc0fiS3hsOY9lLWtOwtHfd5MC9JTakBBMeKl8_OE8K3e6keptHer1jByxekfvKK94rWZMnppcvAqlVe9Fafx2lq3xRbSZWBTeGwWqoy/s320/WedFront.JPG" width="320" height="274" data-original-width="442" data-original-height="378" /></a></div>
Even at that, no one should expect a return to normal anytime soon.</p>
In fact, I'm beginning to wonder just what is normal anymore, and more importantly what normal will be like when COVID-19 finally passes.</p>
The stark news from Pennsylvania yesterday included word that the Keystone State had recorded another 78 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus. That shattered the previous one-day record. </p>
The state reported another 1,600 more cases of COVID-19, with infections now reported in all of the state's 67 counties.</p>
The previous single-day high death toll was 34. The state death toll now stands at 240.</p>
Here in Delaware County, the numbers were equally grim. The county now has 898 positive cases of COVID-19, and the death toll stands at 20.</p>
To reinforce that issue, Delaware County Council yesterday urged all residents to wear a protective mask when and if they leave their house.</p>
“The statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect and wearing a mask should not be considered an alternative,” Delaware County Council Chairman Brian Zidek said. “Travel outside of the home should still be limited to essential tasks such as work, a trip to the grocery store or pharmacy.”</p>
During the order, residents can go outside, Zidek added, as long as they adhere to the guidelines of social distancing and wear a mask.
“When using a trail, at a park or walking in your neighborhood, stay at least 6 feet away from others and wear a cloth or homemade mask,” he said. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-57459608728493696622020-04-08T06:27:00.003-04:002020-04-08T06:27:55.866-04:00Memories of a favorite Eagles - Timmy BrownSometimes, all it takes is a number. </p>
No. 22.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfuKe_ZQiFgE3rRb4cM_geAIl3IICq5Ufq4u-G4zw2r0v89YJAd6p0k-HDIrFjnUOwktCyPW4-eel_7OnD3YSZkTvzc42jKFh_SiOgC20z0RW4qGM8RlpxWEdmnAIyI6pv_WoCMfGNy5v/s1600/Brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfuKe_ZQiFgE3rRb4cM_geAIl3IICq5Ufq4u-G4zw2r0v89YJAd6p0k-HDIrFjnUOwktCyPW4-eel_7OnD3YSZkTvzc42jKFh_SiOgC20z0RW4qGM8RlpxWEdmnAIyI6pv_WoCMfGNy5v/s320/Brown.jpg" width="320" height="179" data-original-width="300" data-original-height="168" /></a></div>
Without question, Timmy Brown was my favorite Eagle when I was a kid.</p>
What? You're surprised it's not Norm Snead? No, not Pete Liske, Jack Concannon or any other of a largely non-descript bunch of teams I followed with a passion as a kid.</p>
But there are a couple things about him I didn't know. He wasn't drafted by the Eagles; he was actually selected late in the 1959 draft by the Green Bay Packers. </p>
My memory of Tim Brown is as the best player - an All-Pro - on a collection of very bad Eagles teams. What I did not realize was the Brown also was a member of the Eagles' 1960 NFL championship team.</p>
Even in that there is a bit of irony. Brown was drafted by Packers' icon Vince Lombardi, but only played one game in Green Bay before joining the Eagles.</p>
A year later, he was part of the team that beat the Packers in the NFL title game, the only playoff blemish on Lombardi's legendary career.</p>
Brown starred as a kick returner for the Birds. In fact, he still holds the team record for return yards, as well as most touchdown returns - five.</p>
It was in that role that he forever etched a special place in my memory when he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns as the lowly Eagles beat Tom Landry's vaunted Dallas Cowboys, 24-23, on November 6, 1966.</p>
There is one other memory of Brown, and again it's tied to the Cowboys, and part of the immense dislike Eagles fans have for those guys with the stars on their helmets.</p>
During a game in 1967, Cowboys' linebacker caught Brown with what most consider a cheap shot, laying out the Eagles running back and breaking four of his teeth. </p>
Any Eagles fan will tell you that's what fueled one of the most passionate rivalries in sports that continues to this day.
en we really started.</p>
Brown stands sixth on the Eagles' all-time list for touchdowns (62), seventh in total yards from scrimmage (7,049), eighth in rushing (3,703 yards) and seventh in TDs rushing (29).</p>
His total of 4,483 kickoff return yards is still a Birds' record, so is his five kickoff returns for touchdowns.</p>
After retiring, Brown enjoyed an acting career, appearing in movies such as "MASH."</p>
Brown was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1996.</p>
He was Hall of Fame in this young fan's heart long before that. Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-16862683498304287842020-04-08T05:57:00.000-04:002020-04-08T05:57:30.262-04:00What time do the locusts get here?Well, I guess we can expect the locusts any minute now. </p>
That kind of explains the last 24 hours on the weather front. Just what we did not need in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic was for Mother Nature to go haywire.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwUwKkzgnwefID_e_r9bTCKx8zZsCJR-XTjGlUXkLj36WWLdbxosk5eTCbtSSh8LpjWL-o4TGy3f4qc2hf-IeIzDwdkBxyeYoqud4d_OB1ZfWg_Q70lZhBg7O5ohM9dtvquZXi0rqpMn5/s1600/Moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwUwKkzgnwefID_e_r9bTCKx8zZsCJR-XTjGlUXkLj36WWLdbxosk5eTCbtSSh8LpjWL-o4TGy3f4qc2hf-IeIzDwdkBxyeYoqud4d_OB1ZfWg_Q70lZhBg7O5ohM9dtvquZXi0rqpMn5/s320/Moon.jpg" width="320" height="179" data-original-width="300" data-original-height="168" /></a></div>
That's what I was thinking to myself as I bolted upright in bed about 2 a.m. to the sound of hail clanging off the siding on the house.
It didn't last long, but it was furious, accompanied by howling winds, thunder and lightning.</p>
It was a bizarre 24 hours. A nice afternoon, with enough sunshine to lure me out of the house, was followed by what seemed like a tranquil night.</p>
Just before I climbed into bed, I glanced out the window - and was immediately lured outside again.</p>
Did you see it. I actually forced my wife out onto the front porch to gaze up at a gorgeous full moon. They are calling it a "super pink moon.'</p>
Things went downhill from there.</p>
The rain, thunder and lightning - and even some hail - arrived right on cue, as if this was a mid-summer August night, not the first few weeks of spring.</p>
Well, I guess if we've all been knocked off our schedules, why should we expect Mother Nature to be any different?</p>
The showers are expected to linger this morning, before things clear off and temperatures zoom into the mid-70s this afternoon.
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-25011241336447663522020-04-07T07:03:00.000-04:002020-04-07T07:03:22.630-04:00That other pandemic - gun violence in Chester - claims a 7-year-oldThe coronavirus pandemic arrived in Delaware County on March 7. </p>
Our front page heralded this new menace with two simple words: It's Here.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2atgodFWIxxtjZuRIRWpsdp8pptt0lFlbmB8Ri308uCL1H1jTzxeDPHhaYRS3sfpBxSlFhCekyacfHZrs98gL9cvT681lLq_1fMtd_Mchvb3HXw7ii4JrKI4qjRkt1Gtx-s73JEsfvWn/s1600/Itshere.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2atgodFWIxxtjZuRIRWpsdp8pptt0lFlbmB8Ri308uCL1H1jTzxeDPHhaYRS3sfpBxSlFhCekyacfHZrs98gL9cvT681lLq_1fMtd_Mchvb3HXw7ii4JrKI4qjRkt1Gtx-s73JEsfvWn/s320/Itshere.JPG" width="316" height="320" data-original-width="443" data-original-height="448" /></a></div>
Since then it has been our lead story - dominating our front page - every day for the past 31 days.</p>
But not today.</p>
Today we again turn our focus to the city of Chester, and the senseless death of a 7-year-old boy.</p>
Sinsir Parker was the innocent victim of a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. He marks the city's 14th homicide of 2020. Ironically, just a few hours before we had chronicled how many police officials, including those in Chester, were noting that police calls were down since we all were ordered to stay at home by Gov. Tom Wolf.</p>
That ended tragically when gunfire - at least 15 shots - rang out on Swarts Street in the city Sunday night. It was actually the second shooting in a matter of hours. Two men were wounded in an earlier shooting. They both are expected to recover.</p>
Now the city is taking action.</p>
Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland and police brass held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce new measures - including a tougher stance on social gatherings - in attempts to quell street violence, as well as protect citizens from the coronavirus.</p>
The mayor said the city is fighting on two fronts - against the pandemic, and the scourge of random gun violence. To that end he is taking the tough stance of shutting down all city public basketball courts. He's also directing police to step up vehicle stops, in particular cars with more than two occupants.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj975uvoEimkGl2UzGHzHMh_gYJQCupNyY4XcFDeOOtDBF9AbsMvwCFZpaimLsryNNyKw7MLMgHEt9xOh3KhBdZ6hyjY36Xztw5p1qq_m6CnqHmEL5grPA6TrzjS2H-iflP3I72ZbtWHfO-/s1600/Tuesfront-0407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj975uvoEimkGl2UzGHzHMh_gYJQCupNyY4XcFDeOOtDBF9AbsMvwCFZpaimLsryNNyKw7MLMgHEt9xOh3KhBdZ6hyjY36Xztw5p1qq_m6CnqHmEL5grPA6TrzjS2H-iflP3I72ZbtWHfO-/s320/Tuesfront-0407.JPG" width="320" height="316" data-original-width="445" data-original-height="439" /></a></div>
The city also is imploring public leaders - including county council, the district attorney, and even Congresswoman May Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, to do ride alongs with city police to see first-hand what they are battling on city streets.</p>
Kirkland said the city is working with corporate partners to raise $50,000 in a reward fund seeking information on the shooting of Sinsir Parker as well as other crimes. </p>
"These young people don’t just wake up with guns in their hands,” Kirkland said. “Somebody, some persons, are providing these guns to our young people. And, quite frankly, many of these young people are even better equipped with their weapons than our law enforcement personnel. These are weapons of war in the hands of babies.”</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/chester-police-continue-investigation-after-boy-7-killed-in-drive-by-shooting/article_9198c0b0-77ba-11ea-a654-1f969361940d.html">Get all the details here. </a>
Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-72907148721336909142020-04-06T06:47:00.000-04:002020-04-06T06:50:06.999-04:00Gunshots interrupt coronavirus dip in crime<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/coronavirus/officials-say-coronavirus-pandemic-also-doing-number-on-crime/article_2a4c9998-75f0-11ea-a5a0-5bcecd719d88.html">On Sunday we detailed the belief </a>of many Delaware County law enforcement officials of a potential silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic - a dip in crime. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61RYCp9CA5Y9ZONRSv1_MBcWJVLA40HPRiiMhDz2w-nbSXFMxAyubibTotz4ceNfmIhf3gaOywGYStfU2PrX0HLwMc40MNbcNj8QAQznlBQ5c6SQiUUYmEcY25piQ99kPhQArXdXPR3nh/s1600/ChesterShooting-0406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61RYCp9CA5Y9ZONRSv1_MBcWJVLA40HPRiiMhDz2w-nbSXFMxAyubibTotz4ceNfmIhf3gaOywGYStfU2PrX0HLwMc40MNbcNj8QAQznlBQ5c6SQiUUYmEcY25piQ99kPhQArXdXPR3nh/s320/ChesterShooting-0406.jpg" width="320" height="218" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="817" /></a></div>
Most chiefs we talked to said their calls were down as the county spent much of their time hunkered down under the 'stay-at-home' edict from Gov. Tom Wolf.</p>
There was one notable exception, that being calls for domestic violence. That's one of the downsides to being cooped up inside.</p>
Then a few hours later, gunshots rang out on Chester streets.</p>
Twice actually.</p>
The first shooting happened just after 7 o'clock. Two victims were wounded.</p>
Then, a couple of hours later, another shooting incident. This time the victim - a 7-year-old boy - was not so lucky.</p>
Police believe the youth was caught in a drive-by shooting, struck by a stray bullet.</p>
Shot in the face, he died at the scene.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/news/boy-7-shot-in-head-killed-in-chester-drive-by-shooting/article_9198c0b0-77ba-11ea-a654-1f969361940d.html">You can get the details here. </a>Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008154498818034496.post-32219503487615105262020-04-06T06:35:00.002-04:002020-04-06T06:35:27.637-04:00Delco Madness: Here is your Final FourOn a weekend when the Phillies remained a rumor, and the Masters - my own personal harbinger of spring - was just one more event on the scrap heap of sports, I was desperately in need of a sports fix. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSe1FMKyvLqfCm8ZPQItO4ecQbEP-uz5iXYDG42Qqj4QIvN3n2o35YNO8Dl1TjjNZ-CuPX-JQxJgQJFxCsJet77xUIQpwZNVZTEvfKEuNiLT_19LbkoU4dCFSTfy2MLMAtIuMr2DDHyUU/s1600/DelcoMadness.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSe1FMKyvLqfCm8ZPQItO4ecQbEP-uz5iXYDG42Qqj4QIvN3n2o35YNO8Dl1TjjNZ-CuPX-JQxJgQJFxCsJet77xUIQpwZNVZTEvfKEuNiLT_19LbkoU4dCFSTfy2MLMAtIuMr2DDHyUU/s320/DelcoMadness.JPG" width="320" height="307" data-original-width="493" data-original-height="473" /></a></div>
Luckily for me - and readers of the Daily Times - our sports department has come up with the perfect antidote.</p>
We are calling it 'March Madness' - probably the perfect title, for a lot of reasons. It is our hunt for the best boys and girls high school hoops teams in Delaware County history.</p>
Yes, the mythical tournament has touched off some serious debate.</p>
The latest "games" are detailed today. It's not a big surprise that Chester High, with perhaps an unmatched record of excellence in the state when it comes to high school hoops, is dominating our Final Four.</p>
Three Chester High teams are joined by a very good Penn Wood squad in our Final Four.</p>
<a href="https://www.delcotimes.com/sports/delco-madness-penn-wood-takes-rightful-place-in-chester-dominated-final-four/article_515beb72-7796-11ea-a611-7fc55f02da1f.html">Get all the details here.
</a>Heron's Nesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660975576038978211noreply@blogger.com0