Delco gets another little slice of Hollywood treatment
A look at the week that was, the issues and people who made headlines, and a few darts and laurels for those who deserve them.
LAUREL: To another little slice of Hollywood here in Delco. This week’s episode of “The Goldbergs” popular ABC sitcom about a suburban Philadelphia family had the gang doing a bachelor party at none other than Delco’s legendary nightspot Pulsations. The club was located on Baltimore Pike in what used to be the equally iconic Longhorn Ranch Restaurant.
DART: To the standoff between Upper Darby teachers and school board. The teachers’ union this week overwhelmingly rejected a tentative new deal offering teachers nearly a 3 percent pay hike over four years. Now both sides need to go back to the bargaining table in order to reach an agreement. Teachers have been working without a contract since their old deal expired in July.
DART: Speaking of Upper Darby schools, the school board is moving forward with getting a feel for what it might cost to build a new middle school in Clifton Heights. Well, for starters, it might cost them any sense of neighborly concern. Residents remain outraged that the board is mulling the use of the longtime borough athletic field for the new school.
LAUREL: To a little extra jingle in your pocket this year. Delaware County Council held a public hearing Wednesday night on the 2019 budget plan, including a tax cut that will amount to about $25 bucks for most residents.
LAUREL: To Sheriff Jerry Sanders. He was at the hearing asking for more money for his sheriff deputies. They deserve a raise.
LAUREL: To a moving ceremony this week as the nation bid farewell to the man known simply as “41.” George Herbert Walker Bush was a patriot and statesman who offered a lifetime of service to his country.
DART: The president’s passing reminds us of just how crass and ugly today’s political climate has become. For one day on Wednesday much of that was put aside. Let’s hope it continues. It also should be noted that the senior Bush specifically wanted President Trump to be present despite the hard feelings emanating from Trump’s comments about the Bush family during the 2016 campaign. Let’s hope that spirit takes root.
LAUREL: To the Secret Santa who paid off $29,000 in layaway accounts at the Walmart out in Kennett Square. Now that’s what we call the spirit of the season.
DART: To the discord that could mean the end of the line for the Millbourne Fire Co. The company has been designated as “Out of Service” for months in a dispute with borough council over staffing and use of the fire house building. Now it could start to cost the borough. Upper Darby has indicated that as of Jan. 1, they will bill the borough for fire calls responded to by township personnel.
LAUREL: To Jim Gray: The longtime stalwart who manned the counter at the Yeadon Post Office has called it a career, but not before marking 32 years as the solo person running the counter. People like Gray become part of the fiber of our communities. We salute him on a great career.
LAUREL: To the students at Widener University who took it upon themselves to revive the library at Stetser Elementary School in Chester.
DART: To the knowledge that so many things that most schools and students take for granted, a library for example, are not always a given in some of our less well-to-do districts.
LAUREL: To Angels Rise. That’s a new mentoring program taking root in Chester. More than 200 people filled a local ballroom recently to get the details. It’s the latest push to offer a positive experience to young people in the city.
LAUREL: To the two different ways of interpreting the risk assessment study Delaware County Council had done on the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. The study downplayed any danger, saying residents had at least as much chance of being killed in car crash of house fire. Meanwhile, opponents of the massive Sunoco project say it only underscores their concern about the dangers involved in putting that kind of pipeline carrying these volatile materials in densely populated neighborhoods.
LAUREL: To all those who are contributing to our annual Merry Christmas Fund, which benefits the work of the Salvation Army in Chester. As always, Delco opens its heart - and wallets - to those in need.
DART: Another grim reminder this week of just how bad the opioid crisis is in the county and region. A mother and father from Upper Darby now face thirddegree murder charges in the accidental overdose death of their 10-monthold daughter. So sad.
LAUREL: To Gov. Wolf and county officials. They are teaming up to give out free doses of the opioid drug Naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an overdose and literally bring a victim back from death’s door. Good idea. LAUREL: Beer & Coffee? It has to be Wawa. The iconic Delco convenience store is teaming with the folks at 2SP Brewing in Aston for a special coffee-flavored stout beer. A couple hundred people lines up outside the Wawa on Naamans Creek Road in Concord this week to be first to get a taste of the special holiday brew.
LAUREL: Now we know that Gritty has arrived. The Flyers’ new mascot is getting his own bobblehead. Just in time for Christmas, no doubt.
LAUREL: To the Eagles. They did something Monday night they had not done all year. That would be win two games in a row. Now they face another must win in an epic showdown late Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
DART: To the Markelle Fultz saga. The one-time No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft is back on the shelf again. This time doctors in New York have diagnosed him with something inflammation in his upper chest. This story can’t get any weirder.
LAUREL: To another season of All-Delco school selections, headed by AllDelco Football Player of the Year Kennedy Poles of Penn Wood High School. Kudos to all those who earned All-Delco accolades this year.