Coatesville

After coming up short in its bid to win the Ches-Mont League National Conference title, Coatesville had extra motivation going into the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA baseball tournament. A measure of redemption was achieved Thursday afternoon when the Red Raiders, with the help of well-timed trickery, battled past Pennridge, 5-4, at Immaculata University to claim top district honors. "This means a lot to us," senior shortstop C.J. Young said. "With us not winning our league, we had something to prove.

Lincoln University says it's opening a second campus in Chester County. The historically black institution will begin offering classes in Coatesville next year. The city is about 15 miles northeast of Lincoln's main campus in Oxford. University President Robert Jennings announced the move on Wednesday at an economic forum in Coatesville. Jennings says the Coatesville campus initially will house programs in nursing, business and entrepreneurship, and hotel, restaurant and tourism management.

A 22-year-old Coatesville man has been arrested and charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a passenger in his car on New Year's Day, West Goshen Township police said Thursday. James P. Wilkins IV was driving south on Route 202 near Route 100 when his one-car collision caused Claude Norris, also of Coatesville, to be thrown out of the car and fatally injured. Wilkins "was under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance at the time of the crash," a West Goshen incident report stated.

Residents of East Chestnut Street in Coatesville won't have to change their addresses after all. The Coatesville City Council voted Monday night not to rename the street, just two weeks after a group of residents complained that the name change would be too expensive for many people living on the street. After looking into the name change, Council President Rodger Johnson said the action would have cost residents an average of $138 each, while costing the city $1,260. The county had received a petition with about 300 signatures, asking that the street be renamed W.C. Atkinson Drive, in memory of Wittier Clement Atkinson the first black doctor to practice in Coatesville and founder of the Atkinson Hospital, located down the street on East Chestnut.

A 23-year-old Coatesville man was fatally shot Thursday, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Friday. Devaughn Wayne Shelten was shot about 4 p.m. in the 500 block of Olive Street, Hogan said. A second person also was shot and was reported in stable condition at a local hospital. Authorities ask that anyone with information about the crime call 610-344-5100 or 610-384-2300. - Robert Moran

Chester County authorities charged a 46-year-old man on Monday with killing a Coatesville resident late Friday by stabbing him multiple times with scissors. Damon Wylie, whose last known address also was in Coatesville, was charged with first-degree murder and was being held without bail, the District Attorney's Office said. An eyewitness told police that Wylie stabbed Marcus Miles, 41, after an altercation. Bloody scissors were found at the scene. After a manhunt and reports of sightings, Wylie was tracked down at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Delaware County, where he was being treated for injuries "consistent" with "using scissors as a weapon.

Firefighters responding to a reported trash fire in Coatesville early Saturday made a grisly discovery: a badly burned dog in a bag. The fire on Coates Street was reported at 2:30 a.m. and the dog was dead at the scene, said Rich Britton, a spokesman for the Chester County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Emergency officials took the animal, a Yorkshire terrier mix with silver, blond and black fur, to the SPCA facility in West Chester at 3:30 a.m., Britton said.

Jeanne James sees a disturbing symmetry in how she felt about Coatesville during her teenage years and how young people view the city today. She sees teenagers hanging out on corners with nothing much to do except talk about how they plan to move away once they finish high school. Their plans are much the same as James' some 37 years ago. She talked about leaving, and she did. But James came back, and she believes that with the help of caring adults Coatesville can become a city in which young people will want to stay.