SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

Double issue: Movie (!), dining & shopping scoops, plus our annual all-local ‘nifty gifts’ guide

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Pop some corn: seems the western Main Line is going to the movies.

One of the nation’s largest movie chains is THISCLOSE to inking a deal with Uptown Worthington, the long-time-coming lifestyle center near the Malvern Wegmans.

The center’s owner, developer Brian O’Neill, tells SAVVY that a dine-in theater with full bar plans to take 43,000 sq. ft. and should open in a year or so. Two prior deals with movie chains cratered a few years back, but we’re told this one should be a wrap by early January.

O’Neill also tells us he’s nearing a deal with Main Line restaurateur Marty Grims. The White Dog Café/Autograph Brasserie/Moshulu owner wants to open a “super hip” spot at Worthington

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Chesco DA Hogan writes extraordinary ‘letter to editor’ detailing and defending his handling of Conestoga football hazing case

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Chester County DA Tom Hogan today took the extraordinary step of releasing a six-page letter to the public, seeking to “set the record straight” in the locker room sodomy case.

The DA has been under fire from football parents, coaches and some community members for his office’s handling of the case. To defend his actions, Hogan asked for and was given court permission to detail his office’s handling of the investigation and prosecution.

His letter, in its entirety, follows:

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Well, Hello, DanDan, Bryn + Dane’s, BodyX, The Cottage, Louella, Orchestra, Hope Chest. Plus, Friends fund funeral for Stoga ’16 star; Axed coach sues Stoga officials & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Devon is fired up over DanDan.

It hasn’t officially opened but the new restaurant – at the old Ella’s near the Devon Acme – is already packin’ ’em in.

Just like it does in Center City.

And for good reason.

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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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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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Murder in Berwyn; Another life lost to addiction; Radnor’s new Harvest Seasonal Grill & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It’s not often that violent crime comes knocking on the Main Line’s door.

But last week’s brutal murder in Berwyn reminds us that evil can strike anywhere, anytime.

Police are investigating the homicide of a 62-year-old woman in Daylesford Estates, an upscale Toll Brothers’ development that sits between Routes 252 and Route 202 in Tredyffrin.

On June 17, a relative came to check on Denise McDonald Barger and found her beaten to death inside her home.

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