Delaware County Daily, "Casino has brought jobs into Chester"
December 23, 2008
Before Harrah’s Casino and Racetrack opened on the Chester riverfront, Angela Anderson drove 20 minutes from Chester to Philadelphia every day to clean houses. When she heard the casino was moving into her area, she jumped at a chance to work closer to her two children. She signed up for a 12-week job training course and was quickly hired as a customer-service representative for the casino’s Total Rewards program.
Delaware County Daily Times, "No tax increase in Chester in 2009"
December 19, 2008
Chester City Council unanimously approved the final reading of next year’s $41.2 million budget Wednesday, which holds the line on real estate tax and lowers earned income taxes and business privilege taxes. Real estate taxes will hold steady at 29.792 mills, which equals about $536 in taxes on the average Chester home assessed at $18,000. The resident earned income tax rate will drop from 2.35 percent last year to 2.25 percent next year, and from 1.35 percent to 1.25 percent for nonresidents. Business privilege taxes will drop from 0.288 percent to 0.2736 percent for wholesalers and from 0.384 percent to 0.3648 percent for retailers and service businesses.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester Plugs into FiOS TV"
December 19, 2008
A city contract approved Wednesday paves the way for some residents to begin signing up for Verizon fiber-optic FiOS TV as early as the end of this month. The contract allows Verizon to begin offering service in a market that was previously controlled by Comcast. The company said it plans to begin offering FiOS this month to more than 3,600 households, beginning in areas south of Interstate 95 and west of the Commodore Barry Bridge.
Delaware County Daily Times, "7-Eleven is coming to University Crossings"
November 25, 2008
City residents will soon be able to quell their late-night cravings at a new 7-Eleven convenience store, which Widener University announced Monday will be moving into the new retail development on Providence Avenue. The store is the most recent business to come into the $50 million University Crossings revitalization project at 15th Street and Providence Avenue, nicknamed “The Hub.” It also houses a Best Western Hotel and residential apartments, with more businesses and a Chester Police substation to follow.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester honors 21 officers for actions in line of duty"
November 19, 2008
As each of 21 police officers stepped up to the podium to receive a recognition at Tuesday morning’s Chester Police Award Ceremony, a commanding officer briefly described the harrowing circumstances that led them there. Some had responded to shootings, car chases or even helped rescue a hostage while under fire. “Your actions brought credit to yourself and the entire Chester Police Department,” Maj. Joseph Bail told them while handing out awards with Chief Floyd Lewis.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Some assembly required: A peek inside where dinos are made"
November 17, 2008
From the outside, it could be any one of the dozens of bleak, dusty warehouses that speckle Chester’s West End. The heavy door takes an extra shove to open, and visitors need a minute or two to adjust to the dim lights before they suddenly spot the big, toothy Tyrannosaurus Rex grin peering over a stack of crates. Over the past several years, “Dino Don” Lessem has turned the unremarkable Chester building into a sort of prehistoric halfway house, stuffed top to bottom with a jumble of dinosaur heads, torsos and limbs on their way to, or from, museums across the country.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Excitement brewing as stadium groundbreaking nears"
November 17, 2008
With the announcement of next month’s groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed soccer stadium at the Chester waterfront, Major League Soccer’s arrival in the city is one step closer to reality. “(The groundbreaking) is the one thing I think makes everyone feel real comfortable that they’re going to start building it and something visible will be in place,” James said. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at the stadium site on the Chester, 2501 Seaport Drive in Chester.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Upgrade plans for 322-95 interchange reviewed"
November 4, 2008
More than 100 local residents attended an informational session held recently at the City Hall Community Room to hear details of proposed designs intended to improve the interchange of Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 322. Those in attendance were taken on a personal tour by representatives of the project management team, the Philadelphia-based engineering firm of DMJM Harris. Representatives of PennDOT were also on hand to answer questions.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Ramp construction to start in Chester"
New traffic patterns are scheduled to begin today on Flower Street, Fourth Street and Second Street in Chester as part of PennDOT’s $71 million project to construct two new ramps off the Commodore Barry Bridge. PennDOT said the project will provide direct access between I-95 and Route 291 (Second Street). Construction is scheduled to finish in 2011.
Chester Spirit, "Police, clergy join forces to help city"
October 22, 2008
Chester city and police officials have been joined by members of the city's clergy to form a new crime-fighting and community-healing alliance called the Chester Police Chaplains Corps (CPCC). The CPCC will be a resource available to police, crime victims and their families and the community-at-large in times of calm and crisis. The goal of the Corps is to recruit, train and develop a core group of professional, ordained ministers or vowed men and women in religious communities from all faiths to volunteer their time and talents to the City of Chester.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Stadium to bring diversity"
October 16, 2008
As ground is moved along the Chester waterfront to make way for a professional soccer stadium, the local business community is being courted. The Widener University Small Business Development Center is hosting a seminar Oct. 23, starting at 8:30 a.m., targeting minority- and women-owned businesses and how they can get a piece of the action. The whole purpose of the event is to increase the business benefits to the local community. At the end of the stadium project, Fredrick A. Clark asked, “How much Chester business is there?”
Clark is president and CEO of Clark Resources, the firm retained at the recommendation of state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester and Chester Mayor Wendell Butler solely for the purpose of assisting minority, women and local businesses to obtain contracts and participate on the financial benefits of the soccer stadium project.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Soccer Stadium project on fast track"
October 2, 2008
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced Wednesday it will fast-track the environmental remediation needed at the Major League Soccer stadium site on the Chester waterfront. DEP designated the development as a Brownfield Action Team project, which will expedite review and cleanup on the former industrial site. Wednesday it also issued a permit to developers, the Bucinni/Pollin Group, to begin preliminary construction.
6 ABC Action News, "Program boosts Chester housing prices"
August 3, 2008
Harrah's Casino was among the first major companies to bet that Chester, Pennsylvania would be a good investment, and so did the backers of the soon to be built professional soccer complex. But who would have guessed that dilapidated homes, once just a part of the landscape there, would suddenly become a hot commodity? It seems while housing prices have slumped just about everywhere else, they're up 14.6-percent in Chester.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Crozer-Keystone, Widener team up to give Chester lift"
July 31, 2008
Two of Chester's biggest employers are teaming up to offer workers a forgivable $5,000 loan toward local homeownership. Crozer-Keystone Health System and Widener University are rolling out a "Walk to Work" program this month that provides an attractive chunk of change to employees buying homes in Chester and Upland.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Home sales in Chester bucking trend"
July 31, 2008
While housing prices continue to plummet in Delaware County and across the country, the city of Chester has posted a remarkable 14.6 percent increase in home prices this year, according to a market report from Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors. "We have definitely had high values lately," said Lisa Gaffney, housing director for the Chester Economic Development Authority (CEDA). "I think it's a great time to buy."
Chester Spirit, "Chester PAL gears up for city's first-ever Soap Box Derby"
July 23, 2008
Chester will host its first ever Soap Box Derby car race on July 26th on the high hill of Lamokin Street. What promises to be an exciting racing event will feature eight, motorless race cars and eight young drivers (between 10-14 years old) picked from the Chester YWCA, Calvary Baptist Church and Chester PAL. The Chester PAL enlisted the help of the Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS), headquartered in Philadelphia, to assemble the cars and offer guidance to the drivers, all of whom will be wearing helmets.
Delaware County Daily Times, "Mobley's message: Idolize real heroes"
July 14, 2008
As part of his opening speech for the first John Mobley/Kevin Jones Football Camp, sponsored by the Chester Police Activities League, former All-Pro linebacker Mobley asked the 47 kids in attendance who they idolize. The answers shocked him. "Only one of the kids said they idolized their parents," Mobley said. "Everyone else said it was an athlete or a rapper. It was amazing to me how jaded they were." Like the character Sonny in the movie "A Bronx Tale," who chastised the grade-school-aged protagonist for putting New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle on a pedestal, Mobley quickly let the campers know they had their priorities out of whack. "I told them you have to stop idolizing these athletes and singers, and start idolizing people you can touch, like your parents or your pastor," Mobley said.
Chester Spirit, "Chester Homebuyer Fair draws hundreds"
June 25, 2008
There are dozens of songs that extol the virtues of homeownership and remind us as a culture that owning a home is still an essential component of “the American Dream.” But nowhere was that sentiment more evident than Chester’s City Hall last Saturday as hundreds flocked to the city’s 10th Annual Homebuyer Fair. The event was also held during National Homeownership Month.
They came as renters looking for help and information to become first-time homebuyers. They came as homeowners from other places looking to move into Chester and many came as current Chester homeowners looking for information from a number of workshops and seminars.
Delaware County Daily Times, "RiverWalk is another step forward for Chester"
May 23, 2008
Those looking to run, bike, or just take a leisurely stroll along the Delaware River can now comfortably do so following Friday’s official unveiling of the Chester RiverWalk. The nearly one-mile track — part of the city’s ongoing revitalization initiative and the brainchild of city planner Bill Payne — involved numerous engineers, designers, easements, community members and contractors in pushing the project forward.
