Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1918: Groups of pedestrians stood along the streets yesterday at noon watching the aeroplane which circled over Chester. The plane was first noticed when its loud, whizzing noise was heard directly above Market Street. It flew low which gave the spectators a good opportunity to view it and finally disappeared in the direction of Essington.
75 Years Ago – 1943: William Russo, Upper Chichester chief of police, has received word from state health authorities that a dog he sent to Harrisburg for testing has been found to be definitely infected with rabies. This dog is known to have bitten several others into the neighborhood. Russo warned all dog owners to watch their animals carefully and emphasized the fact that all stray dogs will be shot on sight in order to prevent a spread of the disease.
50 Years Ago – 1968: The Housing Development Corp. of Chester voted to buy six vacant homes in the West End – the first structures it will rehabilitate to provide low-income housing for city residents. Bought for about $550 each, the purchases came one month after the founding of the corporation which hopes to provide some “instant solutions” to Chester’s pressing housing problems.
25 Years Ago – 1993: The financially-strapped Chester Upland School District will be unable to meet its payroll by the end of this month. The district, running a deficit of $3.5 million, has informed the leadership of the Chester Upland Education Association that three of the five checks due to teachers by June 30 will not be paid. “The finances of the school district may compel the district to defer payment … into July or early August,” CU Solicitor Leo Hackett wrote in a June 10 letter to union President Kenneth Hunt. The school district hopes to revive a loan against expected tax revenue in early July.
10 Years Ago – 2008: Four people, ages 23-26, were jailed for drug violations after allegedly using an apartment on Marshall Road for a heroin house. “The residence was used strictly as a heroin shootup gallery for them and their friends,” Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. “Basically they would buy heroin on the streets in Philly or Upper Darby and go there because they felt safe. Obviously the neighbors saw the inordinate amount of traffic coming and going and complained to police.”