Local officials blast Wolf Admin. over ‘shortchanging’ SE counties on COVID-19 vaccine

A Sunday meeting between local elected officials and officials from the state Department of Health (DOH) did little to convince officials from Chester, Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks county that DOH has not shortchanged the region when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine — and that the state will continue to shortchange the counties surrounding Philadelphia. The meeting — with county commissioners,...

Wolf loosens some COVID restrictions; Congress members call for better Pa. vaccine roll out

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa Gov. Tom Wolf announced some loosening of COVID-19 restrictions Monday — as members of Congress from the Philadelphia suburbs, including U.S. Chrissy Houlahan, called for Wolf to fix the state’s vaccine program. This all happened as the new weekly state COVID numbers showed another modest decline — and a similar drop in Chester County from the...

A tale of two political parties

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa With apologies to Charles Dickens, it is a tale of two political parties. In one party, a long-serving U.S. Senator is under attack for voting his conscience — the party rejecting the idea that said senator can hold a former President responsible for sparking an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The local county committee draws up a resolution condemning...

Hawley is a lying weasel when it comes to Pennsylvania’s election

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa New Year, same old lie. I really wanted to write something hopeful about 2021, about how it would be a better year and that maybe some of the people acting like felon-trainees in politics and the local business community would see the light and start acting like reasonable human beings again. Nope. New Year, same old @#$%. You may have seen Donald...

Not content with taking your vote away, apparently Republicans also want you to die

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa This was going to be a column about the non-trivial issue of politicians seeking to disenfranchise millions of voters literally because they didn’t like how the election went, but COVID-19, being COVID-19, the virus pushed itself back to front and center in the headlines again Thursday. With cases spiraling — especially in the central part of...

COVID-19 Update, Dec. 10: Gov. Wolf orders 3 week closure of indoor dining, gyms, school activities to slow virus surge

By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times @mikemcgannpa Gov. Tom Wolf announced a series of new restrictions Thursday afternoon for the three weeks starting at midnight Friday, including a band on indoor dining at restaurants, closure of gyms, music venues, museums, halting of extra-curricular activities and sports in schools and limiting indoor gatherings through Jan. 4, 2021, with the hope of stopping...

COVID Update, Nov. 23: Wolf issues stay at home advisory, new limits on schools, gatherings

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa Gov. Tom Wolf warned Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen seriously in commonwealth with today’s peak cases that average more than 6,000 per day could spike to more than 22,000 per day by December and overwhelm the state’s hospital system, asking — but not ordering – residents to stay home as much as possible. Wolf did announce some...

Wolf: drop off ballots in person, do not mail them

Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar reminded Pennsylvanians that today is the deadline to apply for a mail or absentee ballot for the Nov.3 election. Voters who still have their mail ballot are strongly encouraged to immediately hand-deliver their voted ballot to their county election office or other officially designated site, including drop boxes. “If you haven’t already,...

Lies, damn lies and our legislative Republicans

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa If you or I left work early for vacation with a ton of work undone, we’d probably be in trouble — me with readers and advertisers, you with your boss. Yet, our beloved state House of Representatives bailed on their work in Harrisburg, with a stack of work undone, so they can go home and campaign for to keep the job so many of them seem unwilling...

The going is about to get tough again, but hang in there, there is an end in sight

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa With slightly more than two weeks until the election, you’re probably tired of hearing about it, tired of wondering when we’re going to beat this pandemic, tired of working from home, tired of teaching your kids and frankly, just tired of it all. I don’t blame you, it’s been an exhausting year. You can’t make plans — who knows what’s...