CHESTER, Pennsylvania

Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester residents air their concerns"

September 3, 2009

The New Jerusalem Church echoed with the sounds of intense brainstorming sessions Wednesday night as local residents gathered to discuss the future of the neighborhood directly across from the Major League Soccer stadium.


6abc Action News "Lending a hand in Chester"

August 29, 2009

The city of Chester is looking good tonight because of the hard work of a lot of residents who rolled up their sleeves and went to work today. Volunteers and Chester residents pitched in side by side to rid their neighborhood of blight.  A man who lived in one house died last week after 85 years of accumulating the things that made him and the children of the neighborhood happy. His family would never have been able to do it alone, so that is where the neighborhood came in.


Delaware County Daily Times, "TD Bank will become first bank in 15 years to set up shop in Chester"

August 28, 2009

In what officials hope is another sign of economic turnaround in Chester, TD Bank announced this week it will build a new full-service branch at the University Crossings development on Providence Avenue. The first new bank to open in the city in 15 years, TD Bank will join the Best Western Hotel, a 7-Eleven convenience store and the Chester police substation at the new retail center.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Affordable new homes keep families in City"

August 23, 2009

New twin homes are starting to pop up in two parts of the city as the Wellington Heights development gets under way to give homeowners a nice product to call their own and to give communities some inspirational metamorphosis. Penrose Properties has developed eight twins on West Sixth Street by the Commodore Barry Bridge and plans to have 42 other homes built in the Highland Gardens section as part of this project.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Youth Entrepreneur Program a huge success in Chester"

August 16, 2009

Nineteen-year-old DeJuana Mosley put her lessons to action as she used her catering business to feed attendees at the Chester Youth Entrepreneur Program graduation Friday. Mosley was one of the program’s participants and had established her business, Carefull Catering, during the 12 weeks of the course that focused on teaching entrepreneurial skills to young people, 16 to 22 years old. The program was a combined effort of the Chester Microenterprise Partnership, the Chester Education Foundation and the Chester Youth Collaborative.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Stadium starts to rise in Chester"

June 3, 2009

Despite a faltering economy and a soggy summer, Philadelphia Union officials insist the game is on for a 2010 opening of Major League Soccer along the riverfront here. “We’re playing there in 2010,” said Thomas Veit, president of Keystone Sports & Entertainment LLC, ownership group of the Philadelphia Union, adding that he expects the first kickoff to be in the spring. “We’re committed to the project.”

Delaware County Daily Times, "Futbolito proves to be a hit as soccer invades Chester"

June 28, 2009

Major League Soccer and the Philadelphia Union brought MLS Futbolito to the city Saturday with a fast-paced soccer tournament. The official MLS 4-v-4 tournament, one of the country’s most successful soccer initiatives and the largest touring Hispanic-focused grassroots event hosted by a U.S. professional sports league, was held at Showalter Middle School for players of all ages.

MyPHL17, Chester Homeownership Fair


Delaware County Daily Times, "Homebuyer Fair set for Saturday in Chester"

June 17, 2009

Prospective homeowners can get all of their questions answered at Chester City’s 11th Annual Homebuyer Fair, held in partnership with Delaware County. Residents can learn the ABCs of home buying, from mortgages to how to manage a contractor. One of the sessions will be held in Spanish. The fair is free and open to the public. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Chester City Hall, 1 Fourth St., Chester, with registration beginning at 9:30 a.m.


6abc Action News, Chester groundbreaking for Boys & Girls Club

June 15, 2009

Delaware County Daily Times, "New kids' club finally a reality in Chester"

June 12, 2009

The long-awaited groundbreaking for the new Chester Boys and Girls Club at Seventh and Madison streets was an emotional and very personal event for many in attendance. On Thursday afternoon Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. christened the new facility as the George E. Carter Center, in honor of the current executive director who has served the club for more than 52 years. Carter, 74, who was once the club’s athletic director and a former Chester Upland basketball coach, is now wheelchair-bound, but still takes an active role in directing the organization.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester grads, city celebrates"

June 12, 2009

This year Chester High School graduates got a double-dose of partying, with a post-graduation event hosted by the city outside city hall. “The mayor and council wanted to put together a place for the graduates to celebrate to be safe, and we would provide food and entertainment,” said Councilwoman Marrea Walker-Smith, director of the city parks and recreation department.



NBC 10, "Philly Gets Unionized"

May 11, 2009

It's official the Philadelphia Union will bring Major League Soccer to the area.


Delaware County Daily Times, "First Tee lands spot in Chester"

April 24, 2009

There was a time when children crossed a footbridge from Ninth Street over Chester Creek to exercise their lungs at the YMCA in a part of the city known as Eyre Park.That was before a massive flood wiped out the neighborhood in September 1971, claiming 10 lives and destroying about 200 homes. The decomposing bridge, a reinforced levee and a nearby memorial to the dead are the only reminders that the lumpy patch of land that sits a couple hundred yards to the east of Chester High School was once a destination. With limited development options in a flood plain, city, county and state officials agreed to build character instead, making Eyre Park the new home for The First Tee of Suburban Philadelphia.


6abc Action News, "Job seekers search in Chester"

April 16, 2009

From the moment the doors opened, job-seekers filed into City Hall for Chester's career fair. Each person stepped into the room seeking employment. "Basically, I'm hoping that one of these companies here will pick me up," Dwayne Gardner said. The job applicants varied. Some were underemployed. Some were laid off from companies they thought they'd retire from.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Hundreds seek jobs in Chester"

April 16, 2009

A line of people that formed outside the door of the city’s career fair quickly became a flood Wednesday afternoon, swamping vendors with resumes and snapping up every available job application form. “There’s a lot more than we expected,” said Barbara Sykes, a representative from General Marine and Industrial Services in Chester. Sykes looked shocked when she checked her watch and realized the company had run out of the 100 application forms it brought just 45 minutes into the fair.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester hands over 7 keys to honorees"

March 29, 2009

An Eagles wide receiver and an Olympic track star. A television anchor and a doctor who is soon to become one of only six black women to be a board-certified cardiac-thoracic surgeon. A basketball star who founded a nonprofit youth organization, an accomplished academic and educator and a bright Temple graduate launching a mentoring program for young men. What do they all have in common? All were born and raised in Chester, and all were presented with the community’s highest honor on Wednesday: Keys to the City.


6abc Action News, "New soccer stadium taking shape"

March 17, 2009

The new soccer stadium is beginning to take shape along Chester's waterfront. The stadium is being built just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge. In a city long plagued by blight there's a blueprint for change in Chester and the driving force behind it is soccer fans who have been waiting years to see a construction crew breaking ground on a professional soccer complex.

Delaware County Daily Times, "Stadium springs to life on Chester waterfront"

March 17, 2009

For the die-hard soccer fans who have been pilgrimaging to the site of the planned Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium in Chester on weekends to watch construction get under way, a big milestone came last week when contractors drove the first large, weight-bearing wood piles into the ground. “It’s exciting stuff,” said Bryan James, co-founder and president of the Philadelphia soccer team support club the Sons of Ben. James admitted that while seeing the large poles go in probably wouldn’t give most people a thrill, it holds a special meaning for the fans who have spent more than two years lobbying for a local team.


Philadelphia Inquirer, "Amtrak to get $63 million for work in Chester"

March 14, 2009

At the height of the morning rush hour, the power outage stopped 112 trains in their tracks, from Maryland to New York.  Eventually, an electrical substation in the City of Chester's west end was identified as a critical link in the chain of events on May 25, 2006, that led to the worst rush-hour jam-up in Amtrak's history. Yesterday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) announced that Amtrak would be getting $63 million to build new frequency converters at the Lamokin Street station as part of the federal stimulus package.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester police get major grant bump"

March 10, 2009

An annual grant for Chester police will increase about 15-fold next year, thanks to money from the recently passed federal stimulus bill, officials announced Monday. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., met with city and police officials to announce that a grant secured through the Bureau of Justice Assistance will increase to $590,483 next year, up from $37,494 in 2008.



Delaware County Daily Times, "After long wait, Chester woman can finally be called homeowner"

February 26, 2009

For more than a decade, Ruby Benson has thought about, planned for and saved to purchase her own house. For several years, she participated in a rent-to-buy program that, in the end, didn’t pan out. She returned to paying by the month. But finally, this week, Benson will be signing on the dotted line and moving into her long-awaited new home in the 400 block of East 20th Street in the city.

Her closing also marks a milestone for Chester’s Homebuyer Assistance Program (HAP), which has now helped 200 eligible city residents come up with down payments and settlement costs since it began in 1997.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Mayor sees Chester is on its way"

February 16, 2009

In presenting his State of the City address Friday morning, Chester City Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. looked at changes in the city between his first address in 2003 and today. At the time of his initial speech, there was no Wharf at Rivertown or Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack. No University Crossing. No Route 291 widening. No Crozer Hills. No Barry Bridge Park. No river walk. No Riverfront Ramble. “So much has happened in such a short time,” the mayor told the 100 community and business leaders at Widener University’s Lathem Hall.


Delaware County Daily Times, February 13, 2009  "Chester PAL Father/Daughter Dance Video"


Delaware County Daily Times, "Students offered new help"

January 28, 2009

As Cynthia Jetter stepped up in front of an applauding crowd to help cut the ribbon of the new College Access Center near Widener University, she became so overcome with feeling that she could barely speak. “This is so emotional for me in many ways. I remember growing up as a kid in Chester and we weren’t even allowed on this side of town,” said Jetter on Tuesday morning, recalling a time when segregation and poverty constrained her to a Chester housing development.

Now working for the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility at Swarthmore College, her alma mater, Jetter has helped take the lead on a project to benefit young people in her hometown. The new center is the result of Jetter’s efforts and the cooperation of presidents at six local colleges and universities, who have teamed up to support students and adults on a path toward higher learning.


Delaware County Daily Times, "Unity shown through art"

January 20, 2009

As the muted sunlight of the snowy Monday afternoon streamed into Widener University’s Latham Hall, Tiana Lawson knelt and dipped her paintbrush into a plastic cup filled with peach paint. She was brushing the finishing touches on a profile of a smiling, gray-haired man holding a glowing candle. “I think it’s a grandfather,” said the Archbishop Prendergast High School sophomore. The scene was a piece of a larger artwork, a mural of Martin Luther King Jr. leading a candlelit sermon, which will adorn the side of Calvary Baptist Church in Chester.

Latham Hall was filled with children and adult volunteers working on the mural during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The work will be pieced together in the spring on the church where King served while studying at the old Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland from 1948-1951


Delaware County Daily Times, "Chester High senior wins DCIU essay contest"

January 17, 2009

A senior at Chester High School has won the 2008 “Fall for a Book” essay contest sponsored by the Delaware County Intermediate Unit’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Ronnisha Green won a $100 prize for her essay titled, “The Corruption of the American Dream.” The essay competition coincided with the Delaware County Library System’s “Fall for a Book” campaign focusing on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”


MLSPhilly2010.com   "MLSPhilly2010 kicks off 'fan vote' campaign"

January 17, 2009

Major League Soccer (MLS) Philadelphia 2010 today announced a Fan Vote campaign in partnership with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com, providing every fan with an opportunity to select their favorite team name. Voting will officially begin at MLSPhilly2010.com and philly.com on Monday, January 19th, ending Friday, February 6th. Fans will be presented with several team name options and will also have the ability to nominate an alternative team name of their choosing via a write-in vote. The official team name will be revealed, along with team colors and primary word mark, approximately 30-45 days after the completion of the campaign.