SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

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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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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Autism ‘miracle’ in Merion; Bus stop blues & vandalism in T/E; PE pushback in LMSD; Tasty news for Tredici, La Cabra lovers; Plush digs for Bryn Mawr patients and more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

When doctors at CHOP diagnosed Matthew Cramer with “classic” Autism Spectrum Disorder, his mother, Julie, a physician herself, had to excuse herself.

“I was retching,” the Merion Station dermatologist tells SAVVY. “I was absolutely sick to my stomach.”

“It’s not cancer,” her husband, Warren, had reassured her. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“It sort of is,” Julie countered. For a long time, she couldn’t even say the word, autism. “I used the A word instead,” she says.

Ten years later, Julie says the full word without flinching. More than that, she’s eager to share her son’s remarkable journey.

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FURY over Element Kitchen’s disappearing act; Felony Lane Gang hits Paoli (Women beware); Art for all; Cancer Support; Martha Stewart & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Dream kitchens up in flames.

New bathrooms down the drain.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars, given in good faith, gone.

Employees summarily fired, their paychecks bounced. A lease broken, rent skipped.

The flood of fuming allegations against Element Kitchen & Bath in Paoli (and formerly Devon) beggars belief.

Did this really happen? Here?

No bargain basement remodeler, Element – until it up and vanished – operated out of a splashy showroom in the heart of Paoli at the beautifully renovated KingsHaven Design complex.

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GUNS! Students walk out, Parents gather & Stoga teacher speaks out nationally; Devon’s new Lumbrada; Ardmore’s new Living Room; Pro athletes talk mental health; Village Wellness & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

They called B.S.

Fed up because they don’t feel safe in school, thousands of Main Line students walked off the job Wednesday.

For 17 minutes or more, classrooms became ghost towns, the halls were mostly quiet.

There would be no repercussions. Lower Merion, Radnor and T/E Schools were of one voice: students would not be penalized for commemorating Florida’s fallen 17 and demanding #NeverAgain.

As a precaution, parents were cordially not invited to attend – forbidden, in fact, from entering schools that became “closed campuses” from 10 to 11 a.m. Local police stood at the ready, their services, thankfully, not needed.

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Two Devon mysteries solved: What’s up with old Shiraz site & empty KMart; Plus, new hotel to Radnor, new map for PA, new charges for Ahr; ‘active shooter’ training & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It’s a Main Line mystery: Twin buildings – perhaps the most opulent ever built in these parts – sitting idle for years in the heart of Devon.

Unleased.

Unsold.

Ripe for the taking but no one’s biting.

What happened to this modern-day Taj Mahal, its hushed, lifeless halls worlds away from the bustling Whole Foods across the street?

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Ex-Stoga aide admits student sexual assaults; New Bryn Mawr BYOB; Fresh ‘Canvas’ for downsizing boomers; Teegarden dogs; Our Closet; Mister Sprinkle & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Guilty as charged. A former teacher’s aide has admitted to the repeated sexual assault of a Conestoga sophomore – in his school office, his car and her bedroom – during the 2016-2017 school year.

After pleading not guilty at his April arraignment, Arthur Phillips changed his plea to guilty last Tuesday and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison.

If Phillips had been younger, Chester County Judge Patrick Carmody said he wouldn’t have accepted the plea deal. “You’re 67, Do you understand that you may never leave jail, that this might be a life sentence?” he asked the defendant.

Phillips said quietly that he understood.

The judge was clearly disgusted by Phillips’ crimes.

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Democrats win big in T/E & beyond; Longtime Main Line ob-gyn arrested; Stoga, Devon Yard, Ardmore Target & Aronimink updates; Dine local; Shop w/ purpose & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Local Democrats are still pinching themselves – perhaps nowhere more so than in Tredyffrin, where the party’s candidates went 12 for 12 last Tuesday.

A sweep.

Three Democrats ran for township supervisor seats: incumbent Murph Wysocki plus Matt Holt and Kevin O’Nell. ­

All three won.

Four Democrats ran for T/E school board: incumbent Scott Dorsey plus Kyle Boyer, Tina Whitlow and Heather Ward.

All four won. (Whitlow and Ward ousted current board president Doug Carlson and Virginia Lastner.)

So, for the first time in township history, three of seven supes and seven of nine school board directors will be Democrats.

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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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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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