SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

New sexual abuse suit vs. Conestoga – most damaging of all? Plus, Tredici debuts, two Nova bars close in Bryn Mawr; Catholic ed back in Berwyn & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is absorbing yet another fusillade – this one, an utterly explosive federal lawsuit that, in effect, blames Conestoga, its culture and staff for the months-long sexual abuse of a 15-year-old female student by 67-year-old TV studio aide Arthur Phillips.

Revolting.

To bolster its case, the suit details T/E’s “recent history of sex-related scandals”:

  • School aide/coach Christine Towers’ affair with a 15-year-old male student. Arrested exactly one year to the day before Phillips, Towers is in jail for her crimes.
  • The “No Gay Thursday” locker room hazing allegations that officials attributed to lax supervision.
  • The middle school sexting/cyberbullying charges.

The suit says the three scandals show a “pattern of deliberate and reckless indifference to signs of ongoing sexual harassment and sexual abuse” in the district.

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Carol Burnett pops into Paoli; New Tin Lizard in Bryn Mawr & Locust Lane Brewing; Talking teen depression with DMAX; Carson Kressley sighting and much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

A TV icon touched down in Paoli this week.

Shhhhhh.

Carol Burnett paid a hush-hush visit to overjoyed folks at Daylesford Crossing senior living Monday, charming one and all.

Nope, she didn’t know a soul there.

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New Mistral, a bold move at KOP Mall; $$ for Stoga’s accused; Gravity Vault rocks Radnor; Queen of Soaps’ new memoir; Retail ups & downs & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

You’ll never guess what just blew in to the King of Prussia Mall.

Legitimately hip dining.

We kid you not.

Twice we visited the new Mistral – named for the stiff “mistral’ winds that clobber the coast of south France.

Twice, we were, well, blown away.

While the usual suspects – Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux Café, California Pizza Kitchen – are corporate, aka manufactured for the masses, Mistral is:

  1. privately owned
  2. relatively intimate
  3. chef driven. (A fancy way of saying that an onsite chef creates and executes the menu. No corporate recipes.)
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Wait ’til you see what just ‘Hatch’ed in Wayne; Saving Wynnewood, one mansion at a time; ‘Nova’s tiny Superfan; Paint the Town Red & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Pregnancy or new motherhood getting to you?

Join the club.

Literally.

Just open in Wayne: Hatch: A Sanctuary for Motherhood, an upscale, membership-based Mecca for expectant and new moms.

Because motherhood has its bumps – and they can’t all be covered in maternity tops.

Also because Dr. Spock and What to Expect When You’re Expecting are SO last century.

The Hatch method: an array of programs to help you “Grow, Glow and Know.” The goals: Get physically and mentally fit and get educated. Baby and hubby will thank you.

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Undocumented on the Main Line; Louella heads east & lots of comings & goings around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

They live among us, hiding but in plain sight.
They mow our lawns, mind our kids, cook our food, clean our homes.
They are Mexicans, living and working on the Main Line.
Some, of course, work under the table.
Others receive paychecks, have payroll taxes withheld, and file yearly U.S. tax returns.
Just like us.
But in many ways, not like us at all.
Because they are here without papers and have little reason to believe they’ll ever get them.
One such family – living in a rented, single-family home on the western Main Line – asked us to share their story.
They wanted us to put a human face on the immigration crisis.
But, of course, we cannot.
At least, not literally.

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ANEU Approach in Paoli; Haverford’s new Incline Running; Main Line at the Oscars; SAVVY swag; ‘Nova crosses; Paoli on track & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Wait ’til you see what Main Line culinary queen Meridith Coyle’s cooked up this time. The gal who brought us Meridith’s Market, Binnie & Flynn’s (Take 2), Fresh Ideas Market and Aneu Catering has come up with, yup, a fresher idea.

Call it “ANEU Approach” to eating, dining, and throwing parties. (She does.)

In expansion mode, she just bought a whole shopping center – near Del Chevrolet and the Van Cleve Pavilion in Paoli.

A scant three weeks later, she opened her re-tooled, three-pronged food biz.

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Local beer boom; Stunning news @ aging skin; Academy Ball Ever After; Gucci crimes; Bridal tidings; Saluting newsman Tom Murray & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Suddenly, the Main Line is soaking in suds.

Sure, we have locally-owned brewpub faves like Ardmore’s Tired Hands, McKenzie Brewhouses in Berwyn and Malvern, newbie La Cabra Brewing and, slithering soon to Bryn Mawr, Tin Lizard.

And yes, we’ve got a few, but not nearly enough, cozy gastro-pubs like The Goat’s Beard and Teresa’s Next Door in Wayne.

And of course, restaurants far and nigh (Biga, Savona et. al.) have been beefing up their beer lists.

No, the BIG news in brews is this: a brand-new law permits PA peeps to take home beer by the bottle.

Holy Heineken!

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Luxurious Life Time Athletic, DryBar coming to Ardmore; White Manor Country Club sold; local ‘FADD’ to fight ODs; a Broadway good-bye & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The elite health & fitness company likes the Main Line so much, it’s putting not ONE, but TWO of its mega clubs here.

Our first Life Time – a scratch-built, 140,000 sq. ft. whopper with a “resort-like” outdoor pool and waterslides – will debut in June on Swedesford Rd. in Tredyffrin. (Life Time’s calling it King of Prussia, but the map says it’s Wayne, if only by a hair.)

And just announced: our second Life Time will be in Ardmore – an exclusive “diamond” level club (a notch above KOP’s “onyx premier”) in the former Macy’s building, one of two Grand Dames of Suburban Square. (The tall Times building is the other.)

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More hazing fallout: Stoga accuser sues T/E Schools & football coaches; Bryn Mawr’s new Turning Point and Solidcore; Lost ladies of Lithe & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The criminal case against Conestoga football players was settled last week, but the dispute is far from over.

SAVVY Main Line has learned that the alleged victim and his father have filed a federal civil lawsuit against the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, Conestoga High School, former head coach John Vogan and his five assistant coaches.

The 22-page lawsuit, obtained by us this week but filed Nov. 2, 2016, alleges that the plaintiff (aka the then-freshman football player) was subjected to a “hostile educational environment” where he suffered “sex-based harassment and sexual abuse” … “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that it denied him the educational opportunity or benefit provided by the school.”

According to the suit, the plaintiff suffered “severe and permanent injuries” and his civil rights were violated. He and his father are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

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Stoga football hazing scandal settled: Players admit to harassment, nothing more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The football hazing/sodomy scandal that rocked Conestoga last year won’t be going to trial after all.

The three accused ex-players today admitted in court only to harassing their freshman teammate.

In exchange for that admission, the really nasty charges – assault, making terrorist threats, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, possession of an instrument of crime – were all dropped. (Their trial on those charges was to have begun this morning.)

And remember the DA’s vile account of what went down in the locker room in October 2015?

Well, that’s been dropped, too. Or at least radically revised.

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