Chesco

Barbara Kenna, wife of Chester County's top elected official, resigned yesterday from a $25,000-a-year job as her husband's administrative analyst. Kenna's resignation came five days after she began working for Joseph J. Kenna, chairman of the county commissioners. She will not collect pay for the time worked as a county employee, Joseph Kenna said in a statement. Kenna's hiring his wife had been severely criticized last week by Commissioner Andrew E. Dinniman, a Democrat, who called it inappropriate and said it reinforced the public's cynicism about government.

Chester County open-space advocates received two reasons to celebrate Monday: the opening of the 209-acre Peacedale Preserve in Franklin Township and the news that it will grow by 13 acres. Representatives from the Natural Lands Trust and state and local government attended the opening of the preserve, on Peacedale Road between Kimbelot Lane and Walker Road. A parking lot, trails, and signs have been installed, and the preserve, deemed an "exceptional natural area" in a 2008 botanical survey, will be available to the public for hiking, wildlife viewing, and educational activities, a trust news release said.

A reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in the homicide of a 67-year-old Avondale resident who was fatally shot Sunday morning, state police said Friday. Authorities believe Isaias P. Rivera was gunned down in a robbery attempt after he returned to his home in the first block of Pennsylvania Avenue about 2 a.m. from the Caribbean Cafe, a Wilmington nightclub he owned. Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering an unspecified cash reward for information, police said.

A 32-year-old cyclist from Exton, Chester County, was struck and killed this morning in West Goshen Township. Kirsten Higley was hit by an eastbound car as she rode on Boot Road near Mary Jane Lane at 6:44 a.m., West Goshen Police said. She died a short time later at Paoli Hospital. The driver of the vehicle, Susan McClain, 54, of Downingtown, was not injured and is cooperating with police. The case is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the West Goshen Police Traffic Safety Division at 610-696-7400.

John Stratton, Kristof Goeser and Kathryn Andersen took top honors yesterday at the Chester County Spelling Bee at Immaculata College. Stratton, an eighth grader at J.R. Fugett Middle School in West Chester, took first place by spelling jabberwocky, taken from the title of a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll. He will compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington in May, say officials from the Chester County Intermediate Unit, which coordinated the event. "There were some words that I wasn't sure about," Stratton said last night, "but I went with my gut instinct, and it pulled through.

The state last week gave formal approval to a site on Route 30 for a consolidated Chester County welfare office. David Lapan, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Welfare, said that a senior aide would visit the site soon to make sure it is the best available location, but that otherwise state action was complete. Lapan said the department was making the last-minute inspection because most of the details of the move had been negotiated by the Casey administration.

A Coatesville man was found guilty yesterday of 700 counts of sexually assaulting his 12-year-old daughter. A Chester County jury returned the verdict after two hours of deliberation. The man, 39, whose identity is being withheld by The Inquirer, was visibly shaken as the verdict was read. He became unsteady on his feet and had to be seated as Judge Joseph Melody ordered his bail to be revoked. The man was found guilty of rape, statutory rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, incest and corruption of minors.

The state Senate early yesterday rejected the nomination of J. Curtis Joyner to the Chester County Court of Common Pleas as Democrats and Republicans battled over dozens of other nominations. Joyner, 38, of West Chester, who would have been the first black judge in Chester County, did not get the two-thirds support required for Senate confirmation. The 25-24 vote fell along party lines, with even the three black Democratic senators from Philadelphia, Roxanne Jones, Freeman Hankins and Hardy Williams, opposing him. "I'm disappointed," said Senate Majority Leader John Stauffer, a Chester County Republican.

A female administrator at the Owen J. Roberts School District has filed a complaint of sexual harassment against the district with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ralph Teti, a Philadelphia-based lawyer who represents Cheryl Taylor-Mearhoff, said the harassment has occurred over a period of more than two years. Taylor-Mearhoff works as a student assistance coordinator in the district. Teti declined to identify who was named in the EEOC complaint. He said he expected to file a federal court complaint in the next couple of weeks.

The victim of a fatal three-vehicle crash in Chester County on Friday was identified yesterday as Ronald Weller, 62, of Boyertown. Michael Faison, 32, of Pottstown, was driving a GMC pickup truck north on Route 100 south of Cedarville Road in North Coventry Township when he changed lanes about 4:15 p.m. and hit a front corner of a Chevrolet Malibu driven by Gene Stansbury, 41, of Gilbertsville, police said. The pickup spun into the southbound lane and was hit by a Saturn driven by Weller.