West Grove

In the midst of southern Chester County's rolling fields of mushroom farms and shrub nurseries sits a borough that offers friendly, small-town living. West Grove is the kind of place where flags wave from front porches, and friends and neighbors can be seen chatting on the sidewalks in front of their homes. The borough, which covers one square mile and has more than 2,100 residents, was a village on the western edge of London Grove Township. It had taken its name from the Friends meeting house on Harmony Road.

A Japanese government trade scout and business owner, Mizuo Hirasawa, was on a mission to find American products with a Japanese appeal for his country's annual foreign-trade show. Steve Black, president of a furniture-making company in West Grove, Chester County, had always felt that his simple Pennsylvania wood creations could be a hit in Japan. Thanks to an introduction by a local export organization, Black's company was chosen not only to exhibit at the October show outside Tokyo but also to enter into a contract with Hirasawa's furniture-importing company in Japan.

Ten more defendants ranging in age from 16 to 20 have been arrested in the allegedly gang-driven fatal stabbings of two men at an outdoor Avondale party on Dec. 3, authorities said today. Two young men were arrested days after the killings, and Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said nine were rounded up in a predawn sweep this morning. Another was already in custody on unrelated charges. Investigators said Cuahuctemoc Bedolla, 27, and Jose Rodriguez, 29, both of West Grove, were killed in early December during a preplanned attack.

During a predawn sweep, 43 agents took nine alleged members of the Sureños gang into custody, charging them in connection with a December double fatal stabbing in southern Chester County. The arrests of defendants ranging from ages 16 to 20 took 87 minutes, and they were accomplished "without incident," according to Chester County chief detective James Vito, one of several members of law enforcement who spoke at a news conference Monday afternoon. A 10th defendant who was charged was already in custody for an unrelated incident.

A night that turned violent began with a baby shower in southern Chester County, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing Friday for five of 12 defendants accused of participating in a gang-linked double slaying. After listening to more than three hours of testimony, District Judge Matthew Seavey ruled that sufficient evidence existed to hold Manuel "Mongo" Mora, 20, of Kennett Square; Dominick Daddezio, 17, James L. Jones, 19, and Rafael "Rafa" Lopez Alvarado, 19, all of West Grove; and Cristian "Snoopy" Eumana, 18, of Greenville, Del., for trial on charges that include third-degree murder and conspiracy.

Golf Association of Phila. Brian Gillespie, Wayne. . . 71 Ryan McCarty, Voorhees. . . 72 Geoffrey Cooper, Philadelphia. . . 72 Eric Williams, Honesdale. . . 72 Duke Delcher, Bluffton, S.C.. . . 72 Bill Jeremiah, West Grove. . . 73 Roc Irey, Furlong. . . 73 Jeff Huntzinger, Huntingdon Valley. . . 74 Jeffrey Osberg, West Chester. . . 74  

Rose Ennis Gibbs, a farmer's wife who brought in the crops and raised three children on a 42-acre farm in Chester County, died Wednesday at a Wallingford nursing home at the age of 103. Mrs. Gibbs and her late husband, Horace J. Gibbs, were one of the first black families to own acreage in the area. For nearly 50 years, they grew corn, wheat, potatoes and hay on their farm off Hilton Road in Londonderry Township. The couple purchased the property in 1919. "She used to do everything," recalled Mrs. Gibbs' son, Herman J. Gibbs.

James J. Mitchell, 65, an educator and friend to hundreds of Villanova University students during a 39-year teaching career, died Monday at Southern Chester County Medical Center. Mr. Mitchell, recently a resident of West Grove, had been a longtime resident of Bryn Mawr. He joined Villanova's English faculty in 1949, shortly after graduating from the university. During the decades that followed, he taught a variety of English courses at Villanova, attained the rank of associate professor and made a specialty of American literature.

It took one letter to get the sewer rates reduced for two schools in the Avon Grove district. But the board president thinks there should have been a cheaper way. The district had hired a consulting firm, Energy Resource Group of Washington Crossing, to audit its sewer bills from the West Grove and London Grove Sewer Authorities. On Oct. 23, the consultants wrote to the two authorities, saying that they were overcharging the district 900 percent for Avon Grove High School and Fred S. Engle Middle School.

David Bergstrom has resigned from the Avon Grove school board, effective immediately, after conceding that he did not pay his school taxes last year. The resignation was announced by board President Ronald Reyburn at Wednesday night's meeting. Bergstrom did not attend the meeting. Bergstrom, 43, has come under fire for owing taxes on West Grove property he shares with his family. According to the Chester County Tax Claim Bureau, Bergstrom owes all of his school, county and township taxes for 1992, totaling $1,744.

A night that turned violent began with a baby shower in southern Chester County, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing Friday for five of 12 defendants accused of participating in a gang-linked double slaying. After listening to more than three hours of testimony, District Judge Matthew Seavey ruled that sufficient evidence existed to hold Manuel "Mongo" Mora, 20, of Kennett Square; Dominick Daddezio, 17, James L. Jones, 19, and Rafael "Rafa" Lopez Alvarado, 19, all of West Grove; and Cristian "Snoopy" Eumana, 18, of Greenville, Del., for trial on charges that include third-degree murder and conspiracy.

The 73-year-old Chester County grandmother strained to contain her excitement: Her 14-year-old grandson had been congratulated Tuesday for his scientific prowess by none other than President Obama at the White House. "This family has been through some hard times," said Marlene Hylak of West Grove. "This just erases some of that. " Indeed. Benjamin Hylak, the whiz-kid son of Bridget Hylak Hooker and Joseph Hooker, both also of West Grove, was named by his late brother, Luke John, who died at age 4 in 1997 of hepatoblastoma, a rare form of cancer.

During a predawn sweep, 43 agents took nine alleged members of the Sureños gang into custody, charging them in connection with a December double fatal stabbing in southern Chester County. The arrests of defendants ranging from ages 16 to 20 took 87 minutes, and they were accomplished "without incident," according to Chester County chief detective James Vito, one of several members of law enforcement who spoke at a news conference Monday afternoon. A 10th defendant who was charged was already in custody for an unrelated incident.

Ten more defendants ranging in age from 16 to 20 have been arrested in the allegedly gang-driven fatal stabbings of two men at an outdoor Avondale party on Dec. 3, authorities said today. Two young men were arrested days after the killings, and Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said nine were rounded up in a predawn sweep this morning. Another was already in custody on unrelated charges. Investigators said Cuahuctemoc Bedolla, 27, and Jose Rodriguez, 29, both of West Grove, were killed in early December during a preplanned attack.

Golf Association of Phila. Brian Gillespie, Wayne. . . 71 Ryan McCarty, Voorhees. . . 72 Geoffrey Cooper, Philadelphia. . . 72 Eric Williams, Honesdale. . . 72 Duke Delcher, Bluffton, S.C.. . . 72 Bill Jeremiah, West Grove. . . 73 Roc Irey, Furlong. . . 73 Jeff Huntzinger, Huntingdon Valley. . . 74 Jeffrey Osberg, West Chester. . . 74  

In 1941, as fear spread over Nazi Germany's expansion across Europe, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms Speech during the State of Union Address. The speech addressed the four freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear - that Roosevelt believed people "everywhere in the world" should enjoy. In 2006, after five years of organizing and four months of construction, a kinetic representation of the freedoms stood in the backyard of West Grove artist Henry Loustau.

John L. Needham, 45, of Landenberg, who enjoyed using his many skills to help others, was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning on Thursday while playing golf in Avondale. He was playing at the Inniscrone Golf Club in the 13th annual charity tournament benefiting the Tick Tock Early Learning Center in Avondale. Mr. Needham was a member of a family prominent in the Chester County mushroom industry. Needham General Services Unlimited, a general contracting firm he owned, was a vital piece of the family enterprises, said his brother, William.

Gov. Rendell barreled into Chester County yesterday morning to announce $3 million in grants to fix up streets and sidewalks in Phoenixville, Coatesville and West Grove. The towns will receive $1 million each under a state program designed to help revitalize struggling downtowns. "With just a little bit of help, our downtowns, our hometowns can become special places again," Rendell told local officials gathered at Phoenixville Borough Hall. Rendell announced last week $3.7 million in similar grants for Norristown, Cheltenham, Hatboro, Lower Merion, Plymouth and Whitemarsh in Montgomery County.

A West Grove man will spend nine to 18 years in prison for molesting two young girls, a judge ordered yesterday. After concluding that Carlos Rentas met the definition of a sexually violent predator, Chester County Court Judge William P. Mahon imposed the sentence on the 50 year old. The prison term will be followed by five years' probation. Under the terms of Megan's Law, Rentas must register his address with authorities for the rest of his life. He will also be required to comply with the provisions of community notification.

When a building gets to be more than 100 years old, you expect a door to stick from time to time. But when the building is a bank and the door is to the vault, you're talking about a real problem. Especially when the door has been stuck for more than a week - which was the case yesterday at the Sovereign Bank branch in West Grove, Chester County. Nine days ago, as bank employees went about their usual opening chores, they discovered that the door of the vault would not budge.