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  • People’s Light cast reunites for ‘Steel Magnolias’ | Inquirer Chester County

    People’s Light cast reunites for ‘Steel Magnolias’ | Inquirer Chester County

    Hi, Chester County! 👋

    A beloved production recently took the stage at People’s Light in Malvern, and thanks to a longtime bond, the cast thinks it will connect with modern audiences. Also this week, a West Caln man has pleaded guilty in the death of his 12-year-old daughter, dining habit changes are impacting some local restaurants, plus municipalities are getting a major cash influx for parks and open space.

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    ‘Steel Magnolias’ cast forges yet another bond among these actors

    Some of the members of the cast of “Steel Magnolias” have known each other for decades.

    People’s Light in Malvern kicked off its latest performance on Sunday with the debut of Steel Magnolias, which runs through Feb. 15. Much like the characters in the show, the cast and director bringing them to life have surprisingly long and deep connections.

    Some have known each other for 50 years and have overlapped in at least a dozen shows recently. They believe those connections are an asset on stage as they portray women who show both vulnerability and support for one another, something they imagine will strike a chord with today’s audiences.

    The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz sat down with members of the cast to talk about their relationships and how it translates to the show.

    📍 Countywide News

    • PennDot is nearing completion of a new design for proposed changes along a 7.5-mile stretch of U.S. 30 impacting the communities of Caln, East Brandywine, Easttown, West Brandywine, Uwchlan, and Downingtown. The plan calls for widening the road by up to 35 feet and introducing flexible use lanes. Construction on the $874 million project isn’t expected to start until spring 2034.
    • The Chester County Economic Development Council held its 22nd annual economic outlook last week, analyzing the local, national, and global economic landscape. With generally low consumer sentiment across the nation, experts advised local businesses that there could be an uptick come tax refund time. The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz has several other key takeaways from the event, including on affordability, and recent job and population growth.
    • Dozens of Philadelphia Police Department employees live in Chester County, according to a new Inquirer analysis, which shows about a third of full-time staff live outside the city. The largest concentrations in Chesco are in Coatesville (18), West Grove (13), West Chester (eight), Avondale, Downingtown, and Phoenixville (six each), and Malvern (five). See a map of where employees live here.
    • West Chester nonprofit Friends Association is marking the opening of its new family shelter and office today. The new facility, located at 825 Paoli Pike in West Chester, will provide emergency housing for families in need. It has 10 apartments consisting of two- and three-bedroom units, which more than doubles the organization’s housing capacity from six families to 16.

    💡 Community News

    • Developer Stonewall Capital has closed on its purchase of a 187-acre tract of land in New Garden Township, making way for it to build a $300 million mixed-use project with 622 residential units and 115,000 square feet of commercial space. While there has been pushback from some residents, Township Manager Christopher Himes said the development will add more affordable housing to the region. (Philadelphia Business Journal)
    • On Friday, Rendell Hoagland, 54, of West Caln, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of his daughter, Malinda, who died in May 2024 from severe malnutrition. Hoagland and his fiancee, Cindy Marie Warren, allegedly tortured the 12-year-old for months before her death. Hoagland will be confined in prison for life without the possibility of parole, while Warren, who is also charged with first-degree murder and related crimes, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in May.
    • Earlier this month, a jury found Avondale resident and former New Garden Township Supervisor Warren Reynolds guilty of over 30 charges, including aggravated indecent assault. Reynolds was charged in 2022 with sexually abusing a girl when she was 8 to 13 years old and in his care between 1999 and 2003.
    • Herman “Pluck” McMullen of Coatesville was sentenced earlier this month to nine to 18 years in state prison for drug dealing. McMullen was arrested in 2024 in connection with the so-called “Bad Bunny” drug ring, helping transport fentanyl-laced heroin that led to multiple fatal overdoses from Philadelphia to Coatesville.
    • Municipalities throughout Chester County were recently awarded over $6 million from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Community Conservation Partnerships Program Grants, which will go toward land acquisitions, park improvements, and plenty of pickleball courts. Some notable fund allocations will go to: Natural Lands to help it pay for over 21 acres of passive recreation and open space in Newlin Township ($1.2 million); Caln Township to develop the next phase of the planned 3-mile Beaver Creek Trail ($472,500); rehabilitation and development of Towpath Park in East Coventry Township ($330,000); additional development of East Fallowfield Township Community Park, including pickleball courts and pedestrian walkways ($250,000); work on Nichol Park in London Britain Township, including pickleball courts and pedestrian walkways ($121,600); new play equipment at Kenilworth Park in North Coventry Township ($119,900); construction of pickleball courts, a dog park, and a pedestrian walkway at Layton Park in West Caln Township ($250,000); and construction of pedestrian walkways, a pavilion, and pickleball courts at West Nantmeal Park ($250,000). Westtown Township also received $75,000 to help it develop a comprehensive plan for Crebilly Preserve and the county received $500,000 toward the rehabilitation design of the Downingtown Trestle.
    • Two other parcels of land are being preserved in the county. Nonprofit Natural Lands has preserved 23.4 acres in East Bradford Township under a conservation easement. And Schuylkill Township recently completed its $17 million purchase of the 64.7-acre Sedgley Farm property, bringing a nearly 20-year effort to preserve the land, which is also home to the historic William Reeves House, to a close. The township will embark on plans for the property, which is not currently open to the public.
    • Pocopson Township is gearing up to form a Comprehensive Plan Task Force and is seeking two community members to provide input throughout the process. The township’s most recent comprehensive plan was adopted in 2014.
    • The Oxford Area Historical Association is planning to purchase its longtime home at 119 S. 5th St. in Oxford, the former site of the Union School building, after getting a $700,000 investment from the state. The organization plans to continue developing the location into a “gateway for regional tourism.”
    • Chester Road between South Fairfield and South Waterloo Roads in Easttown Township will be closed to regular traffic tomorrow, Friday, and Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for sewer work. Residents will be asked by the inspector to limit water usage during work on their section.
    • Friday is the last day for Malvern Borough residents to submit a request to have a shade tree planted this spring.
    • Claranda Tay Candles Co. has opened a brick-and-mortar at 9 N. 2nd Ave. in Coatesville. The brand sells elaborate candles that look like desserts and will offer candle-making classes and events at its new shop.
    • Nightingale Materials, the art supply and gift store on North High Street in West Chester, plans to close its doors on March 15.

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Kennett Consolidated School District’s board of school directors approved the 2026-27 instructional calendar last week, which you can see here. Classes will start about a week later, on Aug. 31, but end around the same time. The district has also done away with one October closure and an in-service day.
    • West Chester Area School District has released course selection and course guides for next school year for students in sixth through 12th grade.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • A new dim sum joint has opened in West Chester. Located at 127 W. Gay St., Dim Sum Taste specializes in Shanghai cuisine and offers an array of dumplings, stir-fries, and other dishes.
    • Consumers’ dining habits have changed in recent years, whether for financial reasons or because of the growing use of GLP-1 drugs. Stove & Co. is seeing smaller tabs at some of its more casual spots (it operates Al Pastor in Exton, Stove & Tap in West Chester, and Revival Pizza Pub in Chester Springs), with diners foregoing things like appetizers, a second drink, and dessert. That’s not the case at its steakhouse Joey Chops, though.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🎤 Sugar Mountain: Musicians will pay tribute to Neil Young by performing some of his most iconic songs. ⏰ Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. 💵 $41-$60 📍 Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center, West Chester

    🎶 Name That Tune Trivia Night: Test your musical knowledge at this trivia night, where individuals and teams of four can compete. There will also be music from The Holts. ⏰ Saturday, Jan. 24, 6 p.m. 💵 $12 for individuals, $40 for teams 📍 Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery, Coatesville

    🧘 Beer & Yoga: Start your morning with this all-levels yoga class, followed by a beer. ⏰ Sunday, Jan. 25, 10-11 a.m. 💵 $20 📍 Victory Brewing Downingtown

    🏡 On the Market

    A five-bedroom Kennett Square home with an outdoor space for entertaining

    The home has an outdoor living space complete with a TV, gas fireplace, and motorized screens.

    This spacious Kennett Square home provides plenty of room to spread out. The first floor features an open-concept dining and living area complete with a fireplace, a formal living room, and a modern kitchen with a waterfall quartz island. An adjoining breakfast room leads to one of the home’s most impressive features: an outdoor living space with motorized screens, a TV, a gas fireplace, and heat lamps. There are four bedrooms on the upper level, including a primary suite with a walk-in closet and sitting room, while the walk-out lower level, which has a bar and theater room, has space for another suite.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $983,000 | Size: 5,952 SF | Acreage: 1.11

    🗞️ What other Chester County residents are reading this week:

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    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • PennDot plans changes to U.S. 30 interchanges in Chester County

    PennDot plans changes to U.S. 30 interchanges in Chester County

    Changes are coming to several interchanges in Chester County that could affect commuters in roughly a decade, under projects aimed at improving a 7.5-mile stretch of U.S. Route 30.

    Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation is nearing the end of the conceptual design period for proposed changes to interchanges affecting Caln, East Brandywine, Easttown, West Brandywine, Uwchlan, and Downingtown in a project that seeks to reduce traffic congestion and collisions.

    PennDot presented the alternatives for the eastern section of the bypass during an online session last week. An in-person poster session is scheduled for Tuesday evening at Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic Elementary School in West Brandywine. But breaking ground remains years out: Construction is expected to start in spring 2034, costing roughly $874 million. The federal government is slated to pick up the bulk of the cost, with the state taking a sliver, officials said last week.

    “The purpose is to provide a safe and efficient transportation system by improving safety, reducing future congestion, accommodating planned growth, and improving deficiencies,” said Bruce Masi, consultant project manager with GFT, an engineering consulting firm.

    The eastern section of the Coatesville-Downingtown bypass corridor runs from just west of the Reeceville Road interchange, east to the Quarry Road interchange, where it becomes the Exton Bypass, heading toward U.S. Route 202.

    Changes to U.S. 30

    Under the plan, PennDot would widen the road by up to 35 feet. It would also introduce flexible-use lanes on the left sides to function as needed during high traffic volume.

    A regional transportation center, based in King of Prussia, would monitor the flexible lane through cameras along the route. The flexible lane would likely be used eastbound during the morning commutes, and westbound in the evenings. But it could also be used to facilitate traffic flow after crashes or incidents, Masi said.

    Heading west, the flexible lane would begin around the Quarry Road interchange and taper back to a median as you approach State Route 82. Heading east, it would return to a median around the Exton Bypass.

    Changes to access points

    When it comes to actually getting on U.S. 30, changes are coming at different junction points: Reeceville Road, Pennsylvania Routes 340, 322, and 133, and Norwood Road.

    Masi presented a slew of options for Norwood Road and Route 113’s interchange, which PennDot is accepting public comment on.

    One alternative would leave the existing location for westbound and eastbound on- and off-ramps, updated to meet current standards. It would also create two new “movements” that do not currently exist: Drivers headed west would exit onto a bridge that crosses over U.S. 30, and then tie back in with State Route 113; another ramp would run drivers eastbound. This model has the fewest predicted crashes, and wiggle room for cars to weave, but would potentially have a higher environmental impact.

    “What that does is creates a full interchange — all movements at 113, but in this alternative, we retain the Norwood Road ramps as well,” Masi said.

    Other alternatives would remove the existing ramps at Norwood Road for the public, and traffic using those ramps would redistribute through the region, Masi said.

    Removing the ramps on Norwood Road would also go against the wishes of the public, emergency services, and the municipalities. PennDot was looking to mitigate those effects, Masi said.

    In another alternative, Norwood House Road would be relocated north of an existing apartment complex, into the side of a hill.

    The last alternative would tweak the configuration of Norwood House Road to use it as a direct connection between Norwood Road and State Route 113.

    While PennDot awaits public review and input on Norwood Road, its selected alternatives would affect several other interchanges.

    Near Caln, at Reeceville Road, PennDot would replace the current structure and add traffic lights for westbound and eastbound drivers on Reeceville Road.

    Fisherville Road would be relocated north, to sit between the CVS and Wawa, but a remnant of the road would connect to the existing properties.

    On State Route 340 between Caln and Downingtown, PennDot would scale up the current interchange for longer ramps, and add a single-lane roundabout to eliminate the traffic signal at the U.S. 30 westbound intersection.

    West Bondsville Road would be moved north to maintain access to residences.

    Continuing east, State Route 322 around Downingtown would create a new traffic flow with traffic lights at either end of the interchange, to prevent left-turning cars from crossing paths with approaching vehicles. The change would affect drivers stopping for coffee or gas at the Royal Farms or heading to PennDot’s park-and-ride, however. It would become a right-turn-in and right-turn-out only traffic flow.

    Lloyd Avenue would also be relocated.

    What comes next

    Electronic comments are being taken through Feb. 6. Paper comment forms are available at Tuesday’s open house.

    Property impacts are not yet known, officials said. If a property is needed for the project, PennDot will reach out.

    Once PennDot closes out its conceptual design, it will start preliminary engineering and environmental evaluation. The public will be able to weigh in again between that period and the final design period, before the plans go out for construction bids.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • In ‘Steel Magnolias’ in Chesco, some of the cast has worked together for 50-plus years

    In ‘Steel Magnolias’ in Chesco, some of the cast has worked together for 50-plus years

    In a small fictional town in Louisiana, the six women centered in Steel Magnolias have forged a community among — and an ever-deepening relationship with — each other. In a real town in southeastern Pennsylvania, a group of women who have worked together for decades are bringing those characters and those deep bonds to life at People’s Light in Malvern.

    “You don’t have to worry about if that familiarity is there,” said Janis Dardaris, who portrays Clairee, the widow of the town mayor. “You just sit on the stage and it’s there. There’s no working at it. I sometimes wonder, what would it be like doing this play with completely different people that I didn’t know?”

    As the women portray lifelong friendships, they have been able to find that depth and heart because of their own close connections. They’ve known each other for decades through their work in the arts — up to 50 years, in some cases, with some combination of them overlapping in at least a dozen shows in recent years.

    Talking together in a room at the theater days before the Sunday opening, they occasionally finished each other’s sentences, extrapolating thoughts for each other.

    Abigail Adams, the production’s director who has directed the women in several other performances, has a sense of how each of them works — how much time it takes for them to process, when to ask for something in their performance and when to hold back.

    Claire Inie-Richards, who plays young nurse and newlywed Shelby, and Susan McKey, who plays her mother, M’Lynn, have portrayed a mother-daughter duo three times over 20 years.

    Though with each role they learn each other anew, “There’s no substitute for time,” Inie-Richards said.

    Marcia Saunders (left) and Brynn Gauthier are part of an all-women ensemble performing “Steel Magnolias.”

    Brynn Gauthier, who makes her People’s Light debut in her portrayal of Annelle, is the new addition to a group of women whose history stretches back decades.

    At first she thought it might be intimidating to work with people who have known each other and worked together for so long, but it felt like she got to be part of the journey of the cast getting to know each other in a new way through this show.

    That familiarity is not without its challenges, though. Marcia Saunders sometimes feels “Marcia” surface in place of “crusty” Ouiser.

    “That’s been challenging because of my relationship with these people and this institution, which is like a home to me,” she said.

    Told as a series of moments in the women’s life within the safe confines of Truvy’s in-home hair salon, the play opens with Truvy and newcomer Annelle preparing Shelby for her wedding. Shelby and mother M’Lynn discuss wedding preparations, while local grouch Ouiser gripes about their property line.

    Clairee arrives, windswept, from a dedication ceremony honoring her late mayor husband. Annelle, originally reluctant to give any information at all about herself, breaks down, admitting to the women that her husband has disappeared — with her money, her car, and her jewelry. She finds immediate support.

    It’s just the start of how the relationships evolve and deepen in Robert Harling’s play, set in a southern town in the 1980s.

    From left, Janis Dardaris, Susan McKey, and Claire Inie-Richards, members of an all-women ensemble performing “Steel Magnolias,” speak about working together for decades — some for more than 50 years — during an interview at People’s Light in Malvern.

    Even though the viewer slowly learns more about the women’s external lives and pressures — confronting joys and tragedies — the play never leaves the salon.

    “I love how this play – it’s about these women. It’s about this place. It’s about us. And I just think that makes for such a strong story, and I think more poignant than the movie,”McKey said.

    Gauthier observed that there’s something inherent to women’s friendships in how they can discern when to tiptoe and when to confront in their care for each other.

    Marcia Saunders (from left), Brynn Gauthier, Janis Dardaris, Susan McKey, Claire Inie-Richards, and Abigail Adams speak of their performing “Steel Magnolias” at People’s Light in Malvern.

    “Truvy’s place is the place where they can be fully themselves, and they really can’t be fully themselves in their domestic arrangements, not in the same way,” Adams said. “They can’t be as outrageous, and they can’t be as vulnerable.”

    It’s the vulnerability, that unyielding support for each other despite personal differences, that the women think today’s audiences will connect with. Though the story — popularized by a film adaptation released in 1989 starring Julia Roberts, Sally Fields, and Dolly Parton — is often thought about as a sentimental tearjerker, it’s injected with lightness, Gauthier said. .

    “It’s kind of like the best episode of like Friends or a TV show you really love, where you just are spending time with these people,” she said.

    “There’s always going to be intrigue and interest and drama, but there’s an element of just sitting with these people that you really enjoy and getting to experience them really fully,” Gauthier said. “It’s really nice to just have these characters that are so easy to fall in love with.”

    “Steel Magnolias” continues through Feb. 15 at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd. in Malvern. Information: peopleslight.org or 610-644-3500.

  • Chester County man who abused and tortured his daughter, killing her, pleads guilty to murder and is sentenced to life in prison

    Chester County man who abused and tortured his daughter, killing her, pleads guilty to murder and is sentenced to life in prison

    By all accounts, Malinda Hoagland was the kind of 12-year-old girl who would make any parent proud.

    She received A’s in school, loved unicorns and going to Wawa with her older sisters, and wrote her lunch ladies notes thanking them for stocking the cafeteria with applesauce and milk.

    But her father, Rendell, clearly didn’t see that little girl, prosecutors said Friday in Chester County Court.

    Instead, Rendell Hoagland and his fiancee, Cindy Marie Warren, tortured Hoagland’s daughter for months in their West Caln home, depriving her of food and medical care.

    They chained her to furniture and forced her into stress positions for hours, beating her if she moved or displeased them.

    Once, when the girl forgot her jacket at school, they forced her to do push-ups in the kitchen late at night, striking her with a belt. Other times, the beatings came with a metal spatula.

    The lack of care ultimately killed Malinda in May 2024.

    Medical examiners found the girl died from severe malnutrition, her organs atrophied from starvation. More than 70 bruises, ulcers, and sores riddled her body, which by then weighed just 50 pounds.

    It was the rare type of crime that brought tears even to a judge’s eyes.

    On Friday, that judge, Anne Marie Wheatcraft, accepted a guilty plea from Hoagland on one count of first-degree murder and related crimes. The 54-year-old will be confined in prison for life without the possibility of parole.

    “This was calculated, sustained cruelty inflicted on an innocent child,” said Malinda Hoagland’s maternal aunt, Christine Mayrhauser, as the girl’s family read tearful victim impact statements.

    Rendell Hoagland, a bald man whose size tested the limits of a red prison jumpsuit, gazed on.

    “A quick execution is too good for him,” Mayrhauser said.

    Warren is also charged with first-degree murder and related crimes. Her trial, scheduled for early January, has been delayed and she will receive a pretrial hearing in May.

    Lead prosecutor Erin O’Brien described Malinda Hoagland’s final years as a period of abuse no child should ever endure.

    After Rendell Hoagland separated from his wife, he received custody of Malinda in 2020 and moved with the girl from Monroe County to West Caln.

    He enrolled the girl at school, but she soon began missing day after day of classes. By 2023, Hoagland had pulled Malinda out of school entirely, and she was completing school online under his and Warren’s near-constant supervision.

    After the girl’s death in 2024, investigators recovered photos, videos, and text messages from both Hoagland and Warren that detailed the girl’s horrific life at home.

    She was often chained to an air hockey table or other pieces of furniture, even sleeping there, O’Brien said, or made to run in place or do jump squats at Hoagland and Warren’s command.

    They punished her with scalding showers and ice baths, forced her to hold books over her head for hours, and poured hot sauce down her throat. The couple monitored the girl through security cameras they had installed throughout the home.

    They also kept locks on the refrigerator and snack cabinet, and the girl lost more than a third of her body weight in the last two years of her life. She was often sleep-deprived or suffering open wounds; by the end of her life, she struggled to do her homework because of her eye injuries, O’Brien said

    The abuse ended only with death, prosecutors said.

    On May 3, 2024, Hoagland called 911 claiming that Malinda had fallen off her bike and had lost consciousness at a campground in Quarryville.

    But prosecutors say that the girl had been unconscious for hours, and that Hoagland had driven to CVS the night before, looking for smelling salts in an attempt to wake her up. He propped up the girl’s body so that she did not raise the suspicions of passersby.

    It was a common pattern in attempted cover-ups, O’Brien said, and Hoagland and Warren were also known to use makeup to cover up the girl’s bruises for the few people they allowed to see her.

    One of the last people to see Malinda Hoagland alive was William Delmedico, an emergency medical responder who wrapped the barely conscious girl in his sweatshirt as he rushed her to a hospital, where she died after surgery.

    “I kept telling her she’s not alone, she’s loved, and that we’re doing everything possible to help her,” Delmedico told the court, his voice breaking.

    Hoagland and Warren managed to keep the abuse hidden from Malinda’s extended family, prosecutors said, including her three older sisters, his biological children. The women were not living in Southeastern Pennsylvania during the time of the abuse, they said.

    In addition to murder, “You should also be facing several counts of robbery,” said Emily Lee, Malinda Hoagland’s older sister, addressing her father. “You robbed my baby sister’s future. You took a life she deserved.”

    Jamie Hoagland, another sister, said she begged her father for access to Malinda, sending her sister cards and gifts and playing Minecraft with her online when possible.

    “I fought for every inch of communication,” Jamie Hoagland said. She later lamented: “Instead of taking her to the movies, I visit her grave.”

    When given the chance to speak, Rendell Hoagland told Wheatcraft he had “nothing to say at this time.”

    Wheatcraft said she was not surprised that Hoagland did not express remorse.

  • Trump won’t create safeguards for AI, so Pa. legislators must

    Trump won’t create safeguards for AI, so Pa. legislators must

    Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and its influence across nearly every industry and aspect of society is expanding at a breathtaking pace.

    While AI offers clear benefits for business, government, and personal life, there is currently a troubling lack of safety protocols and consumer protections. Our country has learned hard lessons from allowing business and industry to regulate themselves. We cannot afford to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the absence of meaningful guardrails for AI technology.

    The revolutionary potential of AI and its impact on business, government, and society is undeniable. This is a transformation on the scale of the automobile or refrigeration, and comparable to the technological revolutions brought by the internet and social media.

    These innovations have delivered remarkable benefits: fresh strawberries in January in wintry Pennsylvania were once unimaginable before refrigerated trucks; today, virtual business presentations save both time and money by eliminating hours of travel for participants.

    On the flip side, we have building safety codes, automobile seat belt laws, and prohibitions on using cell phones while driving for very good reasons. Similarly, with social media, it has taken two decades for society to reckon with the lessons we wish had been taken more seriously from the start.

    Just because we can do something doesn’t always mean we should. This is precisely why safety regulations are critical.

    To put the scale of AI companionship technology — commonly referred to as chatbots — into perspective, a comprehensive study conducted by the Wheatley Institute found that nearly one in three young adult men and nearly one in four young adult women have interacted with an AI companion, with 29% of those young men and 17% of those young women saying they prefer these digital relationships to human ones.

    Between Grok, Trump, and RFK Jr., it’s a dangerous time to be a child in America | Sabrina Vourvoulias

    A recent Pew Research study found that 16 in 25 teens use chatbots, with 16% reporting they interact with them several times a day. Another study, by Common Sense Media, revealed that 17% of teens (approximately 2.94 million) use AI programs for romantic relationships or friendships, while 12% (about 2.08 million) turn to them for emotional and mental support.

    In today’s digital age, people are seeking companionship in new places. Many are turning to chatbots to fill an emotional void, but no amount of programming can replace genuine human interaction and intervention. AI chatbots currently operate without adequate safety guardrails, a gap that has tragically contributed to several deaths. Wrongful death lawsuits claim these AI systems failed to prevent harm and, in some cases, may have even encouraged it.

    Examples of intentional government oversight and consumer protections exist across every industry and innovation. We’ve learned painful lessons from lead in paint, the importance of smoke alarms in public buildings, and toxic chemicals in our food and water supply.

    Thanks to regulations, substances like chalk and embalming fluids are no longer found in the milk at your local grocery store. As AI technology continues to advance, society is reaching a bipartisan consensus: Government must step up to protect citizens.

    President Donald Trump signed an “AI initiative” on Dec. 11 that would limit states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence.

    Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order attempting to prevent states from enacting their own AI regulations. While he claims state-level oversight will stifle innovation, this raises the question of whether his priority is American citizens or big corporations. Innovation and consumer protection are not mutually exclusive; we can and must achieve both.

    Yet, the president is ignoring the urgent need for commonsense federal safeguards in what some are calling the “Wild West” of AI. In the absence of federal action, state legislators must step in to fill the gap. We have heard the call. And we are taking action.

    For my part, I’m currently working in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on three AI technology bills:

    While many people are finding helpful ways to incorporate AI companionship chatbots into their daily routines, far too many children and adults are forming unhealthy emotional attachments and experiencing alarming interactions.

    My proposed safety protocols would require, among other measures, referrals to mental health and suicide resources, and clear reminders that AI companions are not real humans.

    My bill on AI and mental health will ensure AI cannot be used as a substitute for professional therapy. Regarding consumer protections, I am committed to guaranteeing that residents of our commonwealth benefit from transparency and strong privacy safeguards for their data.

    Pennsylvania has long been a leader in state-level consumer financial protection and technological innovation. Now, as AI rapidly advances, I am determined to step up and provide commonsense safety guardrails. I urge my fellow state legislators to join me — our residents are counting on us.

    Melissa L. Shusterman is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 157th District, located in Chester County. She was elected in 2018.

  • Get ready for an artsy new restaurant and cocktail bar | Inquirer Chester County

    Get ready for an artsy new restaurant and cocktail bar | Inquirer Chester County

    Hi, Chester County! 👋

    The group helping to revitalize Kennett Square’s Birch Street has two new projects in the works, including a restaurant and cocktail lounge. Also this week, a vacant office building in Exton has been converted to a new use, a Coatesville native is appearing on the new season of a reality TV show alongside Donna Kelce, plus why The Inquirer’s Craig LaBan says this West Chester restaurant is one to watch.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    A new restaurant and cocktail lounge is opening in Kennett Square

    A rendering depicts the proposed exterior of Opus, a new restaurant and cocktail lounge slated to open in the summer.

    A new restaurant and cocktail lounge is coming to Kennett Square this summer. Opus will take over the two-story space at 201 Birch St., which is adjoined to 14-room boutique hotel Artelo. The restaurant space was most recently occupied by Hank’s Place while the Chadds Ford institution rebuilt its longtime home, which was flooded by Hurricane Ida in 2021.

    The 6,000-square-foot building will have a two-story terrace with outdoor dining and serve New American cuisine.

    Opus is the latest development from Square Roots Collective, which has been helping to revitalize Birch Street for the past decade, including through projects like The Creamery, the former dairy turned family-friendly beer garden. Another of its nearby projects, The Francis, is set to open this year. The boutique hotel at 205 S. Union St., also in Kennett Square, will have eight rooms in a reimagined 18th-century home.

    Read more about Opus and The Francis.

    📍 Countywide News

    • Scores of demonstrators protesting the killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer gathered across the region over the weekend, including a rally in West Chester on Sunday that drew about 1,000 attendees. (Daily Local News)
    • County officials are reviewing findings from an investigation into an error that excluded independent voters from poll books during the November election. Officials said they will develop a plan following their review so that similar errors don’t happen again. The county will present findings and its response at the Board of Elections meeting on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
    • PennDot is hosting two public meetings in the next week regarding plans for what it’s dubbed the U.S. 30 Eastern Project Area, which includes alternative routes for the Route 30 mainline and the Reeceville Road, Route 340, and Route 322 interchanges, as well as revised alternatives for the Norwood Road and Route 113 interchanges. The construction is part of a larger project to upgrade 14.5 miles of the Coatesville-Downingtown Bypass to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety, and accommodate future development. The first meeting will be held virtually tomorrow at 6 p.m. There’s a second in-person meeting on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic Elementary School in West Brandywine Township.
    • Good news for Regional Rail riders: SEPTA last week restored 24 express trips, including on the Paoli/Thorndale line, which had previously been operating as local services.

    💡 Community News

    • Four police officers were injured last week when responding to a call on the 400 block of Main Street in Atglen Borough. The officers detained Jon Marcos Muniz, who allegedly fired a handgun into two occupied apartments and barricaded his front door. No other injuries were reported. Muniz is facing a number of felony and misdemeanor charges.
    • M. Patricia Muller was selected as chair of Kennett Township’s Board of Supervisors last week, making her the first woman in the township’s history to hold the role.
    • West Vincent Township’s Board of Supervisors voted last week to pass an ordinance increasing membership on its Open Space Review Board from five to seven members. It also added a trails subcommittee.
    • Heads up for drivers: Newark Road in West Marlborough Township will be closed Monday through Friday next week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tree removal. Norwood Road in East Caln Township will be operating as a single lane with flaggers next Monday through Friday for sewer line work. Peco will be doing electrical work along Happy Creek Lane and Copeland School Road in West Bradford Township as part of a $450,000 infrastructure project to improve reliability and reduce outages, including from storms. Work is scheduled to take place January through April and will impact both roads and some residential yards.
    • A vacant office building at 319 N. Pottstown Pike in Exton has been transformed into “hotel-apartments” with 24 studio and eight one-bedroom units. The group behind it plans to market The Flats On 100 to consultants and visitors of nearby employers, such as Vanguard and QVC, and sees it as a potential model for the region’s empty office buildings.
    • Also in Exton, retailer Nordstrom Rack plans to open a 30,000-square-foot shop at Main Street at Exton this fall.
    • Could popular HBO series Mare of Easttown return for a second season? Kate Winslet seems to be ready for the Delaware County-set show, created by Berwyn native Brad Ingelsby, to return, and recently indicated filming could start as early as 2027. While the award-winning actor is on board, nothing official has been announced yet.
    • Coatesville native and figure skating icon Johnny Weir made his debut on the fourth season of Peacock reality TV show The Traitors last week. Weir is joined on this season of challenge-meets-eliminations-style show — hosted by Alan Cumming at his castle in Scotland — by Donna Kelce, Tara Lipinski, and a slew of reality TV personalities. The first three episodes dropped last week. Catch up on what happened here. (Warning: Spoilers!)
    • Phoenixville residents may have recently spotted an unusual sight on phone poles: Fliers that read “Seeking: Experienced Witch to Curse My Ex.” The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz delves into how they came to be.
    • The GameStop at 1115 West Chester Pike in West Chester shuttered last week as part of a mass closure by the gaming retailer.

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Reminder for families: There are no classes Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
    • Avon Grove School District is considering adopting a new textbook, myPerspectives, from Savvas Learning Company for sixth through eighth grade English Language Arts students next school year. The public can review the textbook, which was put to the school’s education committee for consideration earlier this month, and provide feedback during a 30-day period through early February. The proposed change comes as part of the district’s regular curriculum review cycle, said Jason Kotch, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.
    • Tredyffrin/Easttown School District has released its 2026-27 preliminary budget proposal, which includes a $14.9 million operational deficit. The district’s board and administration say they plan to close the gap through “a combination of increases in the property tax rate, expenditure reductions, or the use of existing reserves.” It will host budget workshops on March 9 and April 13, with plans to adopt the budget in June. The board will not vote on a tax rate before June 8. See the preliminary budget here. The district is also hosting a special school board meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Conestoga High School to discuss the school board director vacancy. And from Jan. 20 to 26, there will be an open registration period for all new kindergarten and first grade students planning to start school in September.
    • Octorara Area School District is hosting a “kindergarten readiness” event tomorrow from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Octorara Primary Learning Center in Atglen for families with children eligible for kindergarten next school year.
    • West Chester Area School District student registration for the 2026-27 school year is open.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    🎳 Things to Do

    👭 Steel Magnolias: Tickets are going fast for this adaptation of the popular 1989 film taking center stage for its monthlong run at People’s Light. ⏰ Wednesday, Jan. 14-Sunday, Feb. 15, days and times vary 💵 Prices vary 📍 People’s Light, Malvern

    🍔 Taste of Phoenixville: Now in its 24th year, the annual fundraiser will bring together over 20 food and drink vendors. There will also be live music and a silent auction. ⏰ Thursday, Jan. 15, 6 p.m. 💵 $150 📍 Franklin Commons, Phoenixville

    🌿 Winter Wonder: While Christmas may get most of the attention, Longwood Gardens’ conservatories will be filled with colorful plants throughout the remainder of winter. The gardens are open daily except Tuesdays. ⏰ Friday, Jan. 16-Sunday, March 22 💵 $17-$32 for non-members, free to members 📍 Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square

    🎭 Broadway at the Colonial Theatre: Several Broadway stars, including area native Amanda Jane Cooper, who played Glinda in the North American tour of Wicked, will perform. ⏰ Sunday, Jan. 18, 7 p.m. 💵 $30-$65 📍 The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville

    🏡 On the Market

    A West Chester Colonial accessed via a covered bridge

    The front of the home has a covered porch.

    Situated in a wooded stretch of East Goshen, this Colonial, along with several others in its cul-de-sac, has a unique access point: Locksley Covered Bridge, which was erected in the 1960s. The four-bedroom, two-and-half-bath home features a family room, living room, dining room, and eat-in kitchen, which has granite countertops and a wood-burning fireplace. There’s a screened-in porch off the dining room, with skylights and brick flooring, which leads to the backyard, where there’s a patio and play set.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $764,000 | Size: 3,137 SF | Acreage: 1

    🗞️ What other Chester County residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • An artsy new restaurant and cocktail bar is coming to Kennett Square

    An artsy new restaurant and cocktail bar is coming to Kennett Square

    Birch Street will get a new restaurant and cocktail lounge this summer as its makeover in Kennett Square continues.

    Opus, a New American upscale restaurant with a second-floor cocktail lounge, will open at 201 Birch St., adjoined to Artelo, a 14-room boutique hotel. Opus is a new initiative for Square Roots Collective, an organization that builds businesses and uses the profits to support nonprofits in southern Chester County.

    Opus will boast 125 seats in its 6,000 square-foot building, with outdoor dining and a two-story terrace. During the day, the cocktail bar will serve breakfast to the public and guests of Artelo.

    The restaurant, which will be adorned by curated art pieces and a hand-painted ceiling mural, is an extension of Artelo, which Square Roots Collective opened in 2024. The hotel, which replaced the former Birch Inn, offers an immersive art experience, with each room painted by a local or regional artist, creating a living piece of art.

    That same principle will follow in Opus, said Luke Zubrod, chief of staff for Square Roots Collective.

    “It’s kind of the anchor to Birch Street,” he said. “It’s really kind of setting the tone for the street as a whole — and the tone it’ll set is really an artistic tone. This is a street kind of filled with beauty, and I think that that theme will be more evident over time.”

    It’s part of a larger effort to revitalize Birch Street, which has in recent years seen more development, including Square Roots Collective’s beer garden The Creamery, and streetscaping. In the coming years, the street will be resurfaced, and the borough plans to add a trail on one side and sidewalk on the other, along with new streetlights and crosswalks. Square Roots Collective worked with the borough to secure funds for that investment, leaning on grant dollars from the state and county, Zubrod said.

    “In addition to the Opus itself, there’s a lot to look forward to,” Zubrod said. “This street is really receiving some public investment that will make it a really vibrant and beautiful place.”

    Along with Artelo and The Creamery, 100% of Opus’ funds will go to the organization’s nonprofit, focused on community improvement, he said.

    “I think in addition to just being a really exciting restaurant concept, it’s also one people can feel really good about in terms of helping to make the community better,” he said.

    Another boutique hotel coming

    The Francis, a boutique hotel in central Kennett Square, is slated to open this year. The eight-room hotel will reimagine an 18th century home, and pay homage to the region’s history.

    Meanwhile, also coming this year, the collective will open another boutique hotel, at 205 S. Union St. The Francis, an ode to Francis Smith who named Kennett Square for his home back in England, will have eight rooms, each dedicated to the history of the town.

    The hotel will reimagine an 18th-century home, and offer single rooms and loft suites with kitchenettes, plus balcony or courtyard access.

    One room — “The Watchmaker” — will honor a former resident and watchmaker, Thomas Milhous. Another room, “The Gardener,” will pay homage to the region’s first big harvest: flowers. Others nod to battlegrounds, four generations of a local family, education, plus the region’s history with the Underground Railroad, the Lenni-Lenape tribe and its “rich immigrant history.”

    The collective plans on luscious landscaping, with a courtyard serving as “a little bit of an oasis,” said Zubrod.

    “There is an appetite to have kind of quaint boutique hotels in the area to meet the needs of people who are coming for Longwood [Gardens] especially,” he said.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • ‘Seeking Experienced Witch’: A woman asked for help hexing her ex. She’s part of a long cathartic tradition.

    ‘Seeking Experienced Witch’: A woman asked for help hexing her ex. She’s part of a long cathartic tradition.

    Driving to visit a friend, a Philadelphia woman had time to mull her recent breakup. She thought about all the things her ex hated: spiders, moth-bitten sweaters, overly soft avocados. She typed them on her phone, as curses.

    It became a flier: “Seeking: Experienced Witch to Curse My Ex.” She set up an email — for serious inquiries only.

    You may have seen her handiwork. The fliers dot telephone poles, originating in downtown Phoenixville, around where our witch-seeker was visiting family for the holidays. They now paper neighborhoods across Philadelphia — hung with a staple gun on New Year’s Eve while barhopping. (The 29-year-old asked to remain nameless for this story, so as to not affect future job prospects. It also, in a way, protects her ex.)

    And though it might seem a bit out of the ordinary, it’s part of a great tradition of cursing your ex that goes back to antiquity. Plus, it’s a way to regain a sense of power, experts say.

    So, it’s no surprise that the fliers have seeped online, circulating neighborhood groups and on socials, striking a chord. When the fliers appeared in Chester County, a Phoenixville community group sounded off: “I hope she gets him. Good for her,” one commenter wrote under a Facebook post about it. “I think I know the ex,” said another. “It’s a great idea,” writes another. (The witch-seeker also has her detractors: “That man dodged a bullet!” one commenter wrote.)

    The flier lays out her desired curses: his hair thinning, house plants withering, his bus seats feeling damp, his Wi-Fi buffering during video games, shoe pebbles remaining unshakeable — and the aforementioned too-ripe avocados, copious spiders, and hole-y sweaters (among other ill wishes).

    But, the flier requests no hexes on his well-being or romantic life.

    Across relationship research, one of the most consistent findings is that breakups produce a “profound sense of powerlessness,” said Jenn Pollitt, a professor of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies at Temple University.

    But how do you get from a list on your phone to asking witches to please curse your ex-boyfriend?

    It’s not that far a leap.

    “Witchcraft has become a more socially legible way to express rage,” Pollitt said. “If you’ve got someone who wants to curse their ex, really what they want to be able to say is, ‘I was harmed. I’m allowed to be angry about this, and my anger deserves to be acknowledged.’ The public posting of this is really like a deep desire and craving to have that person’s hurt and heartbreak be born witness to.”

    The witch-seeker said she needed a place to put her pent-up anger and frustration.

    It’s not all maliciousness to her ex, she said. It’s mostly catharsis: She thinks of her ex as a lovely person in a lot of ways. But she said when she expressed her emotional needs, he’d withhold affection, he’d disappear for a few days or block her number. Then he would return, with words of affirmation and promises of marriage. It became cyclical over the two-year relationship. She swallowed up her frustrations. But several months ago, they parted ways. And despite the turbulence, it was pretty amicable, she recalls.

    She grieved. She went to therapy. She journaled. She meditated.

    And then she logged on to social media, and saw he was in a new serious relationship that had started within weeks of them breaking up.

    “It felt like a slap in the face, and that was my impetus for doing this,” she said. “I couldn’t yell at him, and I didn’t want to yell at him, but I had to yell at someone.”

    She’s not alone. For millennia, people have pursued love magic, said Kristine Rabberman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who teaches about witchcraft and sexuality. Roughly 600 Latin curse tablets have survived from the Roman empire, with both men and women calling on various deities to curse their close relations, she said.

    These mystical beliefs served social functions, too, she said, addressing people’s lack of agency and control. They channel deep wells of emotion: anger, longing, frustration, hatred.

    “Having recourse to love magic could be one approach somebody could take to try to both find expression for those feelings and to also have a sense of agency and being able to act on them,” she said.

    Dating culture has changed rapidly, Pollitt added. There’s now a digital component: blocked numbers, social media handles unfollowed. A breakup by a thousand cuts, she noted.

    “Breakups often can be intensely private and deeply isolating. Any public display, even this — which is a little bit out of the ordinary — function as a way to reinsert personal pain into a shared social space,” Pollitt said.

    The community came fast. As the witch-seeker hung the fliers in Phoenixville, several people high-fived her, she said. Then the emails rolled in: A Caribbean witch who offered a hex. A bruja. A kitchen witch who practices herbalism and herbal manifestations. A helper who sent along a few shops and books, so she could do the curse herself (so it carries the appropriate “oomph”).

    But to her surprise, beyond the witches, there were others: People who wanted to know how the story would end. Someone boldly asking her out on a date. And the women who simply could relate.

    They wished her a happy new year, they told her they’d also had messy breakups, they told her they supported her.

    She did not expect the outpouring of support, or the attention. As a writer and a creative person, it was mostly a way to tap into that, in a way that felt a little more empowering.

    “It has made me feel so much better,” she said.

    She is thankful for the witches who offered their services, though she feels conflicted about going through with a hex. She won’t be papering the city with more witch requests, either, she said.

    The process has let her accept some of her bad, not totally socially acceptable feelings — and create something positive with it, by connecting with others, she said — as people reeling from heartbreak have done for centuries before her.

  • These old Exton offices are becoming ‘hotel-apartments’

    These old Exton offices are becoming ‘hotel-apartments’

    While the battle rages over how much redevelopers should cram into the former Exton Mall site, investors on the ridge just to the north have turned one of Great Valley’s vacant office buildings into a suburban rarity: 24 studio and 8 single-bedroom apartments.

    They’re equipped with kitchens, bathrooms, and washer/dryers, and they’re being marketed as monthslong hotel accommodations for consultants and visitors to nearby employers.

    The owners, a group led by Main Line real estate lawyer David McFadden, broker John McGee, and investment partner Chiu Bai, hope the building, which they’re calling the Flats on 100, will be a model for reusing orphan buildings that stud the Great Valley and other suburban office, industry, and retail zones.

    David McFadden of Chester Springs (left) and John McGee of Wayne are co-partners and owners of the Flats on 100 in Exton.

    The trio picked up the 53-year-old, 30,000-square-foot building and grounds at 319 N. Pottstown Pike (State Route 100) in 2023 for $1.5 million from family-owned Kelsch Disability Services.

    “Fifty bucks a [square] foot” seemed like a bargain, even though the partners didn’t have specific plans for it, McFadden said.

    “Office buildings are being given away these days. What do we do with them when there’s no demand for office space?” he said. “At the right discount, developers can afford to turn them into something sustainable that people want.”

    As offices, the building was broker-rated Class C, the least desirable. The partners paid cash, figuring they could borrow millions for capital improvements if they could show lenders a credible plan to turn it into something more profitable.

    “We got lucky with the zoning,” McFadden said. West Whiteland’s “town center” designation allows a wide range of uses.

    The partners chose what McFadden calls “hotel-apartments.” He compared it to projects built by Level Hotels & Furnished Suites, with locations in Chicago and the West Coast, and by family-owned, locally based Korman Communities’ AVE Living, with its furnished apartments at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard and other local sites.

    McFadden says the model offers “a place that feels like home, with the amenities of larger buildings but a boutique feel.” The units are fully furnished, including appliances, dishes, and linens, as well as cleaning and other services as requested.

    Lender Trupert Ortlieb from TruMark Financial, one of the area credit unions bulking up with business loans, arranged $5.7 million in financing for capital improvements.

    The outside of the Flats on 100 apartments, a redevelopment of a commercial building.

    Contractors demolished and replaced interior walls; added sprinklers, triple-glazed windows, and insulation; and replaced heating and air-conditioning. The reclad of the interior with aluminum finished like pine was picked up by Chiu in China for $30,000 (half that for the materials, $4,000 for shipping, and $11,000 to cover tariffs).

    Because the project qualifies as a hotel, it could add a liquor license without the higher cost of a tavern license. A first-floor retail space has been leased to a dentist.

    The partners expect interest from nearby employers such as Vanguard Group, QVC, West Pharmaceutical Services, and Accenture.

    The Fairfield shopping center, with a Giant supermarket, fast-casual restaurants, and retail stores, is within walking distance. The Exton SEPTA Regional Rail station is two miles down Pottstown Pike.

    Seeking light in what had been gloomy space, the developers brought in architect Martin Kimmel from Blue Bell. He persuaded them to replace half “gun-slit” windows with 5-foot-wide glass sheets, which turned out to be more work than expected, trimming 12-inch blocks topped by 4-inch bricks.

    Other amenities include a barbecue pit, an outdoor dog walk, a pet-washing room, basement fitness center, conference room, bar, pool table, and walk-on services like massage and physical therapy.

    This space in the studio apartment can be used as a sitting area or a bedroom.
    The Ori bed lowers from the ceiling for sleeping.

    Kimmel and the partners looked at New York apartment plans to see how many one-person units they could fit into the three stories. Beds could be stowed for work-at-home hours, but “we didn’t want those old fold-out Murphy beds,” McFadden said.

    They bought canopy beds from Hasier Larrea’s Ori flexible-furniture-systems firm. The beds lower from the ceiling onto couch bases, plus facing rows of shelves can open as a walk-in closet. The bed controls, like the digital room locks, are remote-accessible and have manual overrides in case of power failure.

    The narrow building admits more light for that suburban feel.

    “Not every office building converts well to apartments,” McGee said. “This was perfect — 65 feet deep, you have a central corridor with apartments. If it were 200 feet deep, you’d have very narrow apartments with one window at the end.”

  • The first Philly-area Sheetz is set to open next month across from a Wawa

    The first Philly-area Sheetz is set to open next month across from a Wawa

    Sheetz’s encroachment into Wawa territory has an official ETA.

    The Altoona-based convenience store chain is set to open its first Philadelphia-area store on Feb. 12 in Limerick Township, Montgomery County, according to Sheetz public affairs manager Nick Ruffner.

    It will be located at 454 W. Ridge Pike, across the street from an existing Wawa.

    Sheetz presented its site plans to Limerick’s board of supervisors about a year ago. The area was already zoned for this type of development, officials said at the time, and no other township permits were required.

    “As Sheetz continues its expansion into communities near its existing footprint, we remain committed to being the best neighbor we can be and delivering the convenience, quality, and service Pennsylvania communities have come to expect from us for more than 70 years,” Ruffner said in a statement.

    A Sheetz convenience store and gas station near Carlisle, Pa. in 2020.

    For decades, Sheetz opened its convenience-store gas stations in the western and central parts of the Commonwealth, while Wawa added locations in communities near its Delaware County headquarters.

    Over the years, both companies expanded into other states: Wawa has more than 1,100 locations in 13 states and Washington, D.C., while Sheetz has more than 800 stores in seven states.

    Sheetz president and CEO dies, but the convenience store rivalry is eternal

    But neither of the two chains would encroach on the other’s traditional strongholds in Pennsylvania. At least for a while.

    That changed in 2024, when Wawa opened its first central Pennsylvania store. The location outside Harrisburg was within eyesight of a Sheetz.

    In 2024, Wawa moved into Dauphin County, just 0.3 miles down the road from a Sheetz.

    By this October, Wawa announced it had opened its 10th central Pennsylvania store. At the time, the company said in a news release that it planned to add five to seven new locations in the region each year for the next five years — to “reach new Pennsylvania markets along the Susquehanna River.”

    Wawa plans to open its first outposts in the State College area, near Penn State’s campus.

    Wawa and Sheetz tied at No. 2 for customer satisfaction in national survey

    As of early January, Sheetz’s closest store to Philadelphia is just over the Chester County border in Morgantown.

    But along with the forthcoming Limerick location, Sheetz has also expressed interest in opening at least one store in western Chester County.

    For awhile, Sheetz, shown here in Bethlehem, Pa. in 2018, and Wawa expanded in different parts of the state, never overlapping into the other’s territory. That’s changed.

    This fall, Sheetz presented Caln Township officials with a sketch plan for a store on the site of a former Rite Aid on the 3800 block of Lincoln Highway in Thorndale, according to the township website.

    Sheetz’s namesake, Stephen G. Sheetz, died Sunday due to complications from pneumonia. The former president, CEO, and board chairman was 77.

    “Above all, Uncle Steve was the center of our family,” Sheetz president and CEO Travis Sheetz said in a statement. “We are so deeply grateful for his leadership, vision, and steadfast commitment to our employees, customers, and communities.”