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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 / 4 Comments /

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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Main Line apartment boom: Why so many? 118 North and Amis 2.0; New Cocoon wellness pod & non-surgical neck fix; Devon migrant-shelter update; Plank Studio & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Townhomes and McMansions are so 20 years ago.

Seems everywhere we turn, there’s an apartment complex just waiting to be built.

From Narberth to Ardmore to Berwyn and beyond, developers are teeing up hefty rental projects. 2,000 new units are in the pipeline in Lower Merion alone.

So many, in fact, they’re beginning to blur: mid-rise buildings with flat-roofs, mixed-material facades, pristine kitchens and baths and smallish living quarters. What you lose in personal square footage, you gain in amenities and walk-to-town/train/trail convenience.

Or so the pitch goes.

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Battle erupts over migrant kids shelter in Devon; Transportation woes in T/E schools; New Nova hotspot, The Refectory; Di Bruno Bros. to Wayne; RCA Devon update; Elizabeth Reynolds Interiors & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The immigration crisis – complicated and contentious – has reached our Main Line borders.

Devereux wants to turn its original Devon campus into a shelter for unaccompanied refugee children.

And neighbors want none of it.

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Homeless, talented & driving a bus in T/E; Another redo for ‘downtown’ Devon; La Cabra’s new Bodega fires up Bryn Mawr; Nova’s new digs; Fall’s best fests; Ellie MAIN Line, Silver Linings, CJE wellness retreat & lots more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

To the Tredyffrin kids who ride his school bus each day, he’s their polite and punctual bus driver. Notable, perhaps, for his Hungarian accent and nothing more.

Ah, but looks can deceive.

Beneath his spotless polo shirt and chipper demeanor, Andras Szekely is, in fact, struggling to survive. He leads a life of carefully hidden homelessness, made bearable only by his art, his far-off family, and his hope for a better tomorrow.

Until now, Andras has kept his living situation secret.

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Sober Curious? So were these Main Line moms; Plus, BIG changes ahead for Berwyn? A peek at Malvern’s hip new gathering Grove; Huge signing at KOP Town Center; Crime news & lots more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

As many new mothers do, Emily Lucking jumped into post-pregnancy imbibing with gusto. Being able to drink again while out socializing with friends felt fun and celebratory. And, well, normal.

“I was used to being the life of the party,” says Lucking. “I missed being the ‘fun friend.’”

Then one night, the Villanova mom over-indulged just enough to feel out of control.

And the next day, after a not-so-great-feeling morning, she asked herself a painful question: Was being the popular party girl more important than being her best self for her three-month-old daughter?

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Once Upon a Drag Queen Storytime in Tredyffrin; Devon Center debate; Debut of drop-in childcare; New noshes Lovebird & Bua Loy; Inside One Ardmore; Finer spirits in Wayne; SAVVY steals & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

After the hullabaloo in Havertown, no one knew what to expect when Tredyffrin Public Library hosted its first-ever Drag Queen Storytime.

Protesters?

Counter-protesters?

An overflow crowd?

An angry mob?

After it received pushback emails and calls, the library wasn’t taking any chances that late June morning.

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Double Issue: Why a top teacher’s not returning to T/E (with video); Shoplifting at Devon (oh, no); Double Jeopardy, O shots (!), ALDI, HipCityVeg, Shore things, HomeCooked, SAVVY Steals & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

School’s out for summer.

As of this week, it’s out forever … for star Stoga teacher Deb Ciamacca.

For years, the former Marine and beloved U.S. Government teacher has urged her students to get off the sidelines. “Democracy’s not a spectator sport,” she’d tell them.

After speaking out about gun safety here – and on national and international TV – she put her career where her mouth was.

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