West Chester

Jean Shaw, wisps of gray hair flying and stepping lively with the help of her colorful cane, showed up yesterday at the Housing Authority of Chester County,, ready to sign on the dotted line. The attraction? The opening in late December or early January of the Denney-Reyburn Building, a former factory at the edge of the borough's historic district that the authority is converting into 63 one-bedroom apartments for low-income senior citizens. It's a project that Shaw said she had been following closely since it was announced last year.

In West Chester and college towns across the state, there's never a short supply of alcohol - or patrons bellying up to the bar. But that's not the case when it comes to funds for local law enforcement and public works - and West Chester's borough council is hoping to persuade the state legislature to allow it to institute a drink tax of up to 10 percent to help cover those costs. The move comes as Mayor Nutter has proposed increasing the tax on alcoholic drinks in city bars from 10 percent to 15 percent to aid city schools.

Sunday was a day music - of rock and folk and blues - as West Chester hosted the 12th annual Turk's Head Music Festival.

West Chester exited the NCAA Division II World Series in an 8-6 loss to Cal-San Diego yesterday at the U.S. Baseball Training Complex, but the Golden Rams went out with a bang. The Rams (46-12) staged a furious rally from an 8-1 deficit as Matt Baer hit a grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth. Matt Rossman took a three-hitter into the ninth inning for the Tritons (40-14) before West Chester came alive. San Diego held on to post the victory thanks to RBI singles by Josh Tanner and Brandon Gregorich in the bottom of the eighth.

West Chester, the Eastern Division champion of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and Rowan College, the New Jersey Athletic Conference titlists, were selected yesterday for the NCAA postseason football playoffs. The Golden Rams (9-1) will meet New Haven (10-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Farrell Stadium in West Chester in one of two first-round games in the NCAA Division II East Region. West Chester was ranked in a seventh-place tie in last week's Division II poll; New Haven was fifth.

The offices of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry will move to 17 E. Gay St. in West Chester tomorrow. Chamber Chairman Albert Eastburn said the move was necessary because of the growth of chamber activities and the need for more space. The chamber was previously at 750 N. Pottstown Pike in Exton. The new telephone number is 436-7696. The Chester County Development Council's annual meeting on June 26 will feature James Herr, president and chairman of the board of Herr Foods, as the keynote speaker.

St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church held a walk Wednesday as part of its 200th- anniversary celebration. John Gerding-Oresic (left), dressed as John Hannum, and Joe Carroll, dressed as Daniel Fitzpatrick, led the marchers from the Friends School to the church on West Gay Street. Hannum donated the land for the church, and Fitzpatrick was one of the original trustees.

There are two possible plans to redistrict the Borough of West Chester to "modernize" the way the students are assigned to the district's 11 elementary schools. At the monthly meeting of the Pupil Services Committee of the West Chester school board Wednesday night, members of the Borough Study Committee presented the plans. "The school board decided that the committee should research the borough community and look for a way to modernize the way it is districted to make the borough not so divided," said Pauline Leland.

In West Chester and college towns across the state, there's never a short supply of alcohol - or patrons bellying up to the bar. But that's not the case when it comes to funds for local law enforcement and public works - and West Chester's borough council is hoping to persuade the state legislature to allow it to institute a drink tax of up to 10 percent to help cover those costs. The move comes as Mayor Nutter has proposed increasing the tax on alcoholic drinks in city bars from 10 percent to 15 percent to aid city schools.

The Penn softball team took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Georgia Guttadauro in the first elimination game Saturday at the NCAA regional tournament in College Station, Texas. It was Guttadauro's 33d RBI of the season. But a throwing error and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth helped hand a 3-2 victory to Arizona. Penn ends with a 30-20 record.   Division II Kutztown 2, West Chester 1 - The host Golden Bears (33-21) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and held on for a series-clinching victory over the Golden Rams to win their second straight Atlantic Region championship.

The Penn women's softball team fell to Texas A&M, 12-0, in five innings in the first round of the Division I regionals in College Station, Texas, on Friday. Quakers ace Alexis Borden took the loss. The Quakers had advanced to the double-elimination regionals after earning an automatic bid with the Ivy League title. Coached by Lisa King, Penn had an eight-game winning streak in March and ended the regular season by winning seven of its last 10 games. The loss put Penn (30-19)

THE 1955 CHEVY was a classic example of sleek automotive design. And it was fast, powered by Chevrolet's first V-8 engine. Roland Price Sharpe Jr. worked hard on his '55, rebuilding it and freshening up the paint so that he could show it off to his pals in West Philadelphia who were working on their own cars. They would take their prized vehicles to a street in South Philadelphia where they would display them, and also, not exactly legally, race when the cops weren't looking.

The men's lacrosse teams that will play for the NCAA Division I championship in Philadelphia will be determined this weekend. Winners of the quarterfinals Saturday and Sunday will advance to the semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field on May 25 at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. The championship game is set for May 27 at 1 p.m. at the Linc. On Saturday, No. 1-seeded Syracuse will face unseeded Yale, and No. 3 Ohio State will meet unseeded Cornell at Maryland's Byrd Stadium. On Sunday, No. 4 Denver is set to play No. 5 North Carolina, and No. 2 Notre Dame will take on No. 7 Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

IN A CONVERSATION with someone standing 3 feet away, Scott Grinnan placed his injury problem into context by saying, "I couldn't throw the ball to you . " Nor would he try . . . Nor was he kidding. Grinnan is a 5-10, 160-pound senior and has been a seasonlong factor for Cardinal O'Hara High's baseball team. The only thing he does, however, is serve as coach John Grossi's designated hitter, and the reason dates back to wintertime. In the Lions' next-to-last hockey game, Grinnan, a right wing, fell to the ice merely while trying to change directions from forward to backward - no contact was involved - and his right shoulder . . . Ouch!

West Chester's Megan Kelly (Hatboro-Horsham) hit a grand slam, and Devon Utterback (Central Bucks South) pitched a two-hitter Sunday as the Golden Rams defeated host California (Pa.), 6-3, in an NCAA Division II softball regional final. Kutztown scored four runs in the ninth inning to earn an extra-inning, 4-0 victory over Bloomsburg in another regional final in Shippensburg, Pa. The Golden Bears (32-21) advance to their second straight appearance in the Atlantic Super Regionals and will play host West Chester (37-19)

Before he walked into an honors communications course at West Chester University, Grant Hubbard's ethnic identity was the stuff of skin color and oral history. He was the white guy with European roots whose family came to the United States shortly after the Mayflower arrived. Then science took over. The swipe of a cotton swab inside his cheek and a DNA test indicated that he had ancestors from Europe, and elsewhere. "My results came back 60 percent Southeast Asian," said Hubbard, 20, of Downingtown.

People say the U.S. Open is the ultimate grind for golfers who must fully focus on every shot. The Open's 18-hole local qualifying event Thursday at Waynesborough Country Club provided that same model with breezy conditions, tall rough, and slick greens. On a day when the average score was an obscene 80.26, Oliver White of Lower Gwynedd and Mikel Martinson of Charlotte, N.C., found the conditions at the Paoli layout to their liking and shared medalist honors with scores of even-par 71. White, 21, who just completed his junior year at Allegheny College, posted four birdies on the back nine, where he shot the day's lowest score, 33 - one of only two subpar scores on the nine.

Ali Robinson (Gloucester Catholic) hit a first-inning home run, and Stephanie Pasquale ripped a three-run single in the second for third-seeded Temple on Wednesday in a 7-2 win over No. 6 Dayton (22-23) in the opening round of the Atlantic Ten softball tournament in Amherst, Mass. The Owls (31-24) face No. 2 Fordham on Thursday. Robinson's homer was her 15th and set a Temple single-season record. She was 2 for 3; Pasquale went 3 for 3 with two RBIs. Golf. Millersville's Robert Coyne (Downingtown West)