SAVVY MAINLINE

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DOUBLE ISSUE: Black alumni force racial reckoning; Family fights T/E Schools over nursery seizure; Schools reopening?; COVID-caused closings; Salon safety; Breast explants & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / 9 Comments /

The Black Main Line is speaking out. And thousands – including a growing list of private schools – are listening.

Marches on Main Line streets have moved over to social media, none more prominent than the red-hot, hair-raising, holy smokes Instagram account, Black Main Line Speaks.

In less than six weeks, the account has posted hundreds of vignettes from Black alumni and students describing specific instances when they were taunted, tokenized, disrespected or otherwise diminished by teachers, administrators and classmates.

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Signs of life! We march, dine out, shop & survive one crazy storm; Plus, a huge restaurant loss, bike shortages, dirty martinis & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

With the yellow light finally flashing, the Main Line emerged from its coranavirus cocoon last week. We walked into stores, we dined outside, and in huge numbers, we marched.

With fists raised, voices lifted, signs hoisted.

Like the R5, a wave of protests chugged through Bala, Narberth, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Paoli, a fresh march each day.

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Local restaurants, gyms & merchants brace for life after lockdown; Camp, grad & nonprofit updates; Shutdown fatigue; Rough ride on reality TV; Wave parades, Quaranparties & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Ah, the good old days, when SAVVY – and, by extension, you – gorged on new restaurants. From high-concept places like Autograph, Bercy and Enoteca Tredici to neighborhood spots like The Choice, Ripplewood, Goat’s Beard and Sontuosa, we rushed out to try them all.

In the last year, sadly, the gush of new eateries has slowed to a drip.

Now, we fear it will dry up altogether.

Because Covid-19 has come to town. And dining out on the Main Line may never be the same.

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Coping with coronavirus: The Main Line pauses, pivots and pitches in. Will life ever be the same?

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Frankly, we weren’t going to publish. This coronavirus crisis is too crazy/awful/unwieldy to even begin to unpack. Plus, we weren’t sure how to handle our loyal advertisers, who have enough bills to worry about.

But we’ve been monitoring the Main Line’s New Normal. And while plenty about it stinks, there’s good news worth sharing.

So we’re going ahead. You’ll see our advertisers’ banners and hear some of their corona-coping stories but they won’t be billed. It’s the least we can do.

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Much ado about development: the latest in Berwyn, Devon; Fallout from Radnor’s fallen trees; Cutting-edge beauty/wellness in Paoli; Uh-oh in Ardmore; Happy B-day Campli Photo & BMFI; Cool new companies & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

After a string of hearings sometimes so raucous with foot stomping and chanting that officials asked police to stand sentry, Easttown’s zoning board has – drum roll – ruled on Berwyn Square.

Both sides claim partial victory – although, arguably, the bigger win went to the developers.

But this one’s far from over.

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Parents protest T/E policy after kindergartner with Down Syndrome is reported to police; Edge Fitness to face off vs. Life Time; Skin-saving lasers, Berwyn Village, RenoFi, Mason Grey & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

T/E is in the news again and not for its test scores.

The school district is grappling with its response to a family whose kindergartner with Down Syndrome was reported to Tredyffrin Police.

The six-year-old’s offense? Pointing her finger and saying, “I shoot you” to her special ed teacher at Valley Forge Elementary.

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The incredible journey of Berwyn’s JP Weber; Why we lost Wayne Sporting Goods; Real estate rumblings in Radnor; Shipley grad’s ‘Wild Life’; Claytor Noone Plastic Surgery; Anti-aging medicine; Personalized test prep & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

JP Weber clearly remembers the day he died.

“I can’t go back there,” he thought on June 3, 2016. “I’m never going in there again.”

An elite loan originator for PNC Bank, Weber quit his job that late spring morning and walked, blindly, off a cliff. The old JP – people-pleasing, Percocet-popping, life-of-the-party JP – long crumbling, collapsed completely. And ever-so-slowly, canvas by canvas, rose up and pieced himself back together.

Pinstripe-suited Joseph Paul Weber was buried that Friday morning. Ponytailed, self-actualized artist @JohnHamster was born.

What some call a complete mental breakdown, Weber, 43, calls The Undoing.

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HOLIDAY SURPRISE: Homeless T/E bus driver shocked with new car (w/ VIDEO)

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Remember the “hidden homeless” bus driver Andras Szekely we wrote about in September?

Well, he’s hidden no more.

After our story:

A big-hearted Malvern woman, Nancy Dougherty, has taken him in. (Sadly, she’s moving so Andras has to move out on Jan. 1.)
The Washington Post, Fox 29’s Bill Anderson, Action News, and the Jewish Exponent all ran a followup features on Andras,

And just last Friday, this…

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Water woes close Life Time KOP; Making Good: F. Rapoport & SamSara, G. Bauer & BSWANKY, Four Girls, Givzie & h. honeycup; Tasting Nom Nom in Paoli, Southern Charmer(!) in Wayne; Our holiday recipes & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Troubled waters at Life Time Athletic in Tredyffrin.

The entire facility closed for a few days this week after “a loss of water flow” due to “a construction error,” according to the club’s messages to members.

Wait, the building was “constructed” in 2017 and they’re just finding the error now?

Confused, we reached out to corporate.

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The Main Line’s most networked woman tells all – and it’s not always pretty. Plus, T/E to seize land for schools; Dust-ups in Devon, Berwyn & Paoli; Blue political coup; Vaughan builders & SAVVY reader-appreciation freebies & deals!

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Life looks a lot different after you’re hit, dragged and pinned under a 20,000-pound truck. Just ask Bala Cynwyd’s Jennifer Robinson, who in 2008 nearly lost her life during a sunny stroll on Penn’s campus. In a blink, she went from a newly- wed, rock-star litigator to mangled victim, fully conscious and terrified as EMTs swarmed around her.

Fast forward to 2019 and a reborn Robinson, 46, is finally able to talk about her accident, about the devastating spiral that ensued and how she clawed her way back to daylight.

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