Chester County

After a recent Inquirer series pointed out how cavalierly Chester County's court system deals with a big population of Spanish-speaking mushroom workers, the official response could have taken one of two directions - denial and resistance, or a let's-do-better willingness to change. So far, we're happy to report, county authorities are taking the second path. Throughout the county - and especially in the courts around Kennett Square where one in four cases involves a Hispanic as victim or defendant - the top court administrator has ordered district justices to have an interpreter on hand.

Volunteers for the United Way of Chester County, each holding a piece of cardboard with a number on it, stood in a row to show their colleagues how much money had been raised in the 1987 campaign. The cards read: $2,403,652. The total represents a 20 percent increase over the amount raised last year - and almost 106 percent of the goal that had been set for this year. About 180 people attended Thursday's end-of-the year dinner for the county United Way, which gives money to 54 public agencies serving Chester County residents.

The diversity and volume of high-quality cheeses being produced in Chester County are downright impressive. Here is a sample of what local chefs are featuring on cheese plates, and in risottos and salads. Find more information on the makers (and where to get their goods) at chestercountycheese.org. Cloud Nine from Yellow Springs Farm: Aptly named, this cotton-ball-esque goat cheese has a pure-white bloomy rind that hides a smooth, subtly tangy, addictive bite inside. Birchrun Blue from Birchrun Hills: This raw cow's-milk cheese is aged for at least 60 days, has a sweet and tangy true blue taste, and a texture between crumbly and spreadable.

Details of the novel's plot remain unknown, but a Kennett Square caterer thought a Chester County billionaire would pay handsomely to block its publication, authorities said. The reason? The author allegedly promised thinly veiled and unflattering portraits of Mary Alice Malone, a Campbell Soup heiress, and her family. Although federal authorities did not name Malone, details in the indictment against Agnes O'Brien, 54, offered clues to Malone's identity. Calls Monday to Iron Spring Farm, Malone's renowned 1,000-acre horse-breeding operation in the Coatesville area, then generated a response from one of Malone's attorneys in New York City.

Chester County will pay a contractor $30,000 more to set up addresses for 911 calls, and commissioners yesterday accused one another of grandstanding and largesse in arguing whether the money was merited. Commissioner Andrew Dinniman, a Democrat, said the county was giving in too easily to the contractor, RCC Consultants Inc. of Woodbridge, N.J. His Republican colleagues, Commissioners Chairwoman Karen Martynick and Colin Hanna, said the county had to pay a price to keep the project moving or face court action and long delays.

Last year, Chester County wrote out a check to SEPTA for $1.8 million. The money went to maintain and improve the public transit system in the Philadelphia region. But not everyone thinks the $1.8 million was well-spent. That's because when it comes to receiving rail and bus service from SEPTA, Chester County ranks last among its suburban neighbors. Chester County holds the dubious distinction of being the only Philadelphia area county without train service to its county seat.

You don't have to know much baseball to understand a strikeout. For your team, it's good - plain and simple. Except when it's not simple, when the best possible scenario leads to mass confusion, and mass confusion leads to a mistake, and a mistake breaks open a tie game. In the top of the ninth inning of a first-round Carpenter Cup Classic game Sunday afternoon, Scott Bochus of the Philadelphia Catholic League fired a third strike past Chester County's Tyler Hall. Then what proved to be the winning run stomped across the plate, uncontested - and confused.

Billy Muldowney is finished pitching at the Carpenter Cup, but that isn't because of a lack of production. The junior righthander from West Chester East pitched three shutout innings yesterday to earn the win as Chester County defeated Burlington County, 5-1, in a Carpenter Cup semifinal at Veterans Stadium. Chester County will meet Jersey Shore of Ocean and Monmouth Counties today at 10 a.m. in the championship game of the 17th annual all-star baseball tournament. Jersey Shore advanced with a 6-3 win over the Suburban One National in yesterday's other semifinal.

Watch whom you go to the movies with these days. It could be your neighbor, your boss - or even your date - whose face shows up on the silver screen, thanks to Chester County's latest brainstorm on tracking fugitives. Chester County's Most Wanted, a feature so far confined to local cable channels, is about to move into theaters, sandwiched between the previews and the main attraction. "You never know who you're sitting next to, and that's what we're counting on," said Shawn Riley, head of the county's Central Warrants Office, and the person who came up with the idea.

The Chester County all-stars ran into a South Jersey South pitching staff that was at the top of its game, and were eliminated yesterday from the fourth annual Carpenter Cup Classic at Veterans Stadium. Four South Jersey South pitchers allowed the Chester County hitters only five hits and two runs as South Jersey South advanced to Wednesday's 7 p.m. championship game with a 4-2 victory. South Jersey South will play the winner of tomorrow's semifinal game between the Mercer County All-Stars and South Jersey Central.