SAVVY MAINLINE

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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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Radnor’s new resort spa, a BYOB for Wayne, Savor-ing KOP, T/E ups & downs & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

We’ve got a new name for The Radnor Hotel: Beauty Central.

Essent Spa, an ambitious, luxury day spa, has moved in next to Jay Michael Salon in the old Bernie Robbins space.

Although separately owned, Essent and Jay Michael are a match made in beauty heaven. With a shared reception desk and booking website, you can get your hair styled and your face Botoxed in a single trip.

One stop, multiple ways to get gorgeous.

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Stoga hazing update: Father of accused player speaks out; Berwyn’s big facelift & assorted SAVVY shorts

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The father of one of the three Conestoga football players charged in the broomstick sodomy scandal has broken his silence. He’s publicly calling on Chester County DA Tom Hogan to take action: either set a court date or drop the charges.

“Enough is enough,“ Dorian Ross tells SAVVY. “It’s been five months. We want closure.” His son heads off to college in a few weeks and deserves to have this “dark cloud” resolved, he says.

Claiming he needed more time, Hogan postponed a pretrial conference set for May 12 until further notice. But since then, Ross says neither he nor his attorney has heard boo from the DA.

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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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Parents, kids & coaches unload on Conestoga and T/E officials at football hazing public forum

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Hey, Adults: you failed the kids in your care.

That was the bitter takeaway from an impassioned public meeting on hazing at Conestoga High School Monday night.

The school district called the pow-wow, seeking input on ways to handle the football hazing scandal that’s roiled top-rated Stoga since the Chester County DA announced juvenile assault charges against three senior players and a separate school district investigation uncovered hazing that goes back years.

What school officials got instead was an earful: an ardent defense of ousted head coach John Vogan and his staff and a lot of lip about how adults – from the DA to the district – had let kids down.

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Devon Yard Downsized (!), SAVVY Spring Break Style Guide, Speaking up re: Stoga hazing, Gateway’s unlikely new BYOB

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Developer Eli Kahn’s 60-foot high hopes have been officially and forever dashed.

After huddling with disgruntled Devon neighbors, he’s just unveiled a new plan that lops off the top floor of his proposed Devon Yard apartments and cuts the number of units from 135 to 100.

Was it the blue yard signs that sprouted like spring weeds along adjoining streets after that very vocal public meeting?

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Now clean, sober & thriving, Conestoga ’10 grad Reilly McCloskey calls out area parents (ouch), Stoga hazing update & sunnier stuff

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Reilly McCloskey is clear-eyed. At last.

An addict through his teens, Reilly, 23, is clean and sober, his vision fixed and in focus, the grayscale blur of his Conestoga days turned radiant.

And like Dorothy in Oz, Reilly is relishing every last pixel, capturing them with his Canon D in all their Technicolor glory.

Indeed, the first show of his photography (“Interaction of Color” at Bryn Mawr’s New Leaf Club through March) is an explosion of hue and light.

A celebration of seeing. For the first time.

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