As Pennsylvania grapples with a measles outbreak that has sickened 130 residents, state health officials are recommending some parents vaccinate young children early to provide extra protection against the highly contagious disease.
Children as young as 6 months who live in or whose parents plan travel to affected counties should get a “dose zero” of the measles, mumps, and rubella shot, health officials said last month. Typically, children get their first measles shot at a year old.
Measles infects up to 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed to it, and complications can be particularly serious for young children.
Here’s what you need to know about the “dose zero.”
What is the dose zero?
A “dose zero” MMR shot is an early vaccine given at 6 months old. Usually, a child receives the first MMR dose at 12 months old, then again between 4 and 6 years old.
Babies receive some antibodies from their mothers that can interfere with vaccines that contain weakened versions of a live virus, including the MMR vaccine, said Katie Lockwood, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia pediatrician.
Those antibodies mean that an MMR shot given before 12 months old can be slightly less effective at providing lasting immunity.
But a “dose zero” can still provide babies with some protection that’s especially crucial in an outbreak.
“What we see from that dose zero MMR is that you have some short-term protection that we believe will protect you during that period when you’re traveling to an outbreak area or internationally,” Lockwood said. (It’s long been recommended that parents opt for a dose zero if they’re planning to travel internationally with an infant.)
“But it’s not generating the same long-term immune response that we see when we give the routine vaccine at age 12 months.”
What happens after a dose zero?
Babies still need a second dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 months old to provide lasting protection against measles, Lockwood said.
Normally, kids then get their last MMR dose at around 4 to 6 years old. That dose is timed to protect children who may not have gotten vaccinated as babies—in school, they’re more at risk of contracting an infectious disease, Lockwood said.
But in an outbreak, the state health department recommends that children get their second dose earlier as well — as soon as 28 days after their first dose.
CHOP is now routinely recommending that children receive their final MMR dose at 15 months old. With 13 measles cases reported in Chester County since April, and 75 cases reported just to the west in Lancaster County, Philadelphia-area parents are close enough to the outbreak that many are opting in, she said.
“It’s still the parents’ decision. But there’s not really a downside to giving it early,” Lockwood said. “Especially with all of these cases, a lot of parents are reporting that it makes them feel more comfortable, knowing that their child is fully protected.”
How are area families reacting to the new recommendations?
Lockwood, who practices in Flourtown, Montgomery County, said she’s fielded “really thoughtful” questions from parents as they decide whether to vaccinate early.
“[They ask], ‘Why wasn’t this the standard the whole time?’” she said. “I always explain that it’s because measles wasn’t really around so we didn’t have to worry about it the way that we’re worrying about it now. Measles wasn’t a real threat to most children in their daily lives in the United States.”
Lockwood said that some parents who had opted to delay or forego MMR vaccinations have changed their minds in light of the outbreak.
“Chester County is really not very far away from most of my patients,” she said. “It does make it feel much more of a realistic threat to their child.”
Lockwood also tries to reassure parents who are still hesitant about vaccination.
“The MMR vaccine, because of some of the misinformation that has circulated around it for years, is one of the most studied vaccines,” she said. “For anyone who is worried about vaccine safety, this is really one with a wealth of safety data available. It’s been proven so many times to be safe and effective.”
Where can Pennsylvanians get vaccinated against measles?
With over a half-foot of rain measured already, what has been Philadelphia’s wettest month since March 2024 is very likely to become significantly wetter.
The National Weather Service has posted a flash flood watch effective from 8 a.m. Tuesday until 2 p.m. Wednesday for rain totals up to 3 inches, with downpours of 1 to 2 inches an hour possible.
The national Storm Prediction Center on Tuesday morning listed a 15% chance of severe storms, those with wind gusts approaching 60 mph, for the entire region, with an outside shot of tornadoes. The Weather Prediction Center has a 40% chance of flooding downpours.
Some appetizers — localized downpours — popped up Monday afternoon, prompting flood warnings for Philly and neighboring sections of Montgomery County, and parts of Gloucester and Atlantic Counties in New Jersey.
Floodwaters swamped downtown Hammonton, Atlantic County, with “numerous” cars stranded on the roads, the weather service reported. The Pennypack Creek in Northeast Philly crested above “minor” flood stage.
Moth-ball-size hail pelted Chestnut Hill, and hail twice that size was sighted in Williamstown, Gloucester County, and in the vicinity of Washington Crossing State Park on the Jersey side of the Delaware River.
Storm coverage on Tuesday is expected to be far more extensive, and potentially more disruptive, with a “few tornadoes” possible, the weather service warned.
Storm activity is likely to linger into Wednesday, said Mike Lee, meteorologist in the weather service’s Mount Holly office, with more showers in the forecasts for Thursday.
What time the storms will arrive in Philly
Late July still is very much the lottery-ball season for damaging downpours, and that again likely will be very much in evidence this week. Rainfall totals in the last 30 days have ranged from 137% of normal in Gloucester County to 79% of normal in Montgomery County, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
Thunderstorms are possible as early as midmorning, but expect “repeated rounds” during the afternoon, said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
The highest probability for severe storms, those with wind gusts near 60 mph, would be in South Jersey and Delaware, although they could nose into Philly, said the weather service’s Lee.
The storms could continue well into the night, and additional rains are expected Wednesday afternoon.
The rain totals again are likely to vary widely; however, a general 1 to 2 inches is expected across the region.
Whatever happened to the drought?
It hasn’t gone anywhere — yet.
All of New Jersey and Chester County remain under state-declared drought warnings. In the latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor update, conditions in the entire region remain from “abnormally dry” to severe drought.
All that may change by week’s end.
Through Sunday, officially 6.37 inches of rain habr been measured at Philadelphia International Airport this month. That is the highest monthly precipitation total since March 2024.
July’s rains have ended a run of 16 straight months of below-normal precipitation in Philly.
Said Benz: “It’s an old saying that all droughts end on a flood. That’s kind of what we’re seeing right now.”
Kelly Donia was seated in her Malvern Hunt home when she spotted dust plumes rising from construction vehicles combing the site of a planned data center complex in East Whiteland Township.
She immediately drove to the site, across Swedesford Road from her development, to watch that day in June, anxious about the safety of building a 1.5 million-square-foot data center directly on top of a Superfund site in Chester County.
“No one seems to be concerned, but I mean, we live right here, we work right here, there are children — there’s a daycare,” Donia said. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand our officials, and I don’t understand the developer, and I don’t understand the general contractor.”
Donia is not alone in her fears. She and many of her neighbors, who had packed into East Whiteland meetings about the project for months, have continued to raise concerns about the safety of the building on the former 79-acre Cyprus Foote Mineral Co. property, which was contaminated over decades by a range of chemicals such as lithium, arsenic, and hexavalent chromium.
Not long after Donia saw those plumes, the township issued a stop-work order until it gathers more information on the environmental impact of construction.
While the developer says the site is safe, and the township has approved the plans, some residents believe that documents filed with the township and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show that the site is still contaminated from its years as an industrial site, and they worry about what impact the construction will have on their community.
Here is what The Inquirer knows about the Foote Superfund site.
Location of the two-building data center project in East Whiteland, Chester County.John Duchneskie
Green Fig LLC first proposed a data center in 2018 and secured early zoning board approvals. The plans were greenlit by the township’s supervisors in 2024, drawing little pushback from the community.
Residents have been more engaged since the plan came back before the township earlier this year, first with ambitions to scale it up, then with a proposal to shrink it to appease outraged residents.
People protest the expanded data center before the East Whiteland Planning Commission meeting held at Penn State Great Valley on Monday, March 9, 2026 in Malvern.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
What are residents concerned about?
Residents fear that construction work on the site will kick up pollution in the air and release contaminants into the drinking water. They worry that there has not been ongoing testing of the soil on the site, especially knowing that contamination exists below.
How did the site become polluted?
Pollution at the Foote Mineral Co. likely started as soon as 1941 when the company began crushing ores and minerals.
Foote closed in 1991 with two quarries, a pit where solvents were burned, a lined wastewater basin, and more than 50 buildings and processing areas. Three unlined lagoons were backfilled.
At the time, public and private wells within four miles of the site had supplied drinking water to approximately 42,300 people. Several private wells near the site were found to be contaminated and were closed. A public water-supply well one mile away was also shuttered.
Cleanup, led by the EPA, has included capping contaminated quarries, stabilizing waste areas, and maintaining a long-term monitoring program for an evolving groundwater plume. Pollutants included lithium, boron, and low-level radiation.
An open land site is shown in East and West Whiteland Townships in Chester County on Thursday, January 5, 2023, where Green Fig LLC has proposed its data center project.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
What is a Superfund site, and how did it become one?
A Superfund site is a contaminated location in the United States designated by the federal government as a severe health or environmental hazard. Foote was added to the federal Superfund list in 1992.
In a 2023 letter to East Whiteland Township officials, a contractor hired on behalf of the developers incorrectly said that the site had been removed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List, an inventory of the nation’s most serious hazardous waste sites.
As of Friday, Foote Mineral Co. remained on the list posted on the EPA’s website. The EPA says because of the ongoing pollution, there is no proposal to remove the Foote site from the National Priorities List, nor any timeline for remediation to be complete.
What does the EPA recommend?
It’s complicated.
A 2024 EPA report, the most recent environmental evaluation of the site, found concentrations of certain pollutants have decreased over time, but an excessive amount of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, remained. VOCs are gases that contain a variety of chemicals that may adversely affect human health. VOCs tend to be much more concentrated when contained indoors.
The EPA recommended updated land-use restrictions and further data collection to ensure the site remains safe during future redevelopment.
On its website, the EPA wrote that the “hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants remain at the site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.”
Days before the 2024 findings were released, an EPA engineer filed a report known as a “Superfund Checklist for Retracting the Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use Measure (SWRAU)” that said the site “no longer meets” standards for human exposure.
The EPA said in an emailed statement that SWRAU forms are only for guidance.
SWRAU “designations are not required for redevelopment,” the statement said. “So long as all land and groundwater use restrictions continue to be met and redevelopment does not interfere with EPA’s cleanup or future investigations, sites can be reused and redeveloped.”
“Based on a careful review of construction plans by EPA subject matter experts, the agency does not anticipate the development to impact the remedy at the Foote Mineral Co. Superfund site,” Mike Bastasch, an EPA spokesperson, said in June. The EPA “remains engaged and will continue monitoring redevelopment progress to ensure the remedy remains intact,” he said.
What do experts say?
If a site is properly cleaned up, there are “potential ways that a data center could be a better use, environmentally, of the land,” said Noah Kittner, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
But that is contingent onhow it uses water, what kind of systems are in place, what types of energy and electricity are being used, and whether diesel generators are being used in the construction, development, and operation of the site, he said.
The documentation from the EPA showing remaining contamination “certainly raises some red flags” about redeveloping the site, he added. And whether the project does more harm than good is “highly dependent on plans for construction.”
“You could have a poorly executed project, and it causes a lot more problems for the community,” Kittner said. “Or you could have a really well-designed remediation project that builds in sustainability principles and other factors that could really transform that area from what was once highly polluting to something that is environmentally positive.”
Scott Lambert, chair of the East Whiteland board of supervisors, left, confers with township officials about the data center proposal on April 14, 2026.Bob Williams / For The Inquirer
Who decides?
The EPA said in a statement to The Inquirer that it does not “recommend, propose, or approve specific Superfund redevelopment plans.” The agency reviews proposed uses and checks if there are “any potential conflicts with the selected remedy (including cleanup standards) or any issues that could reduce protection of human health and the environment,” the statement said.
The EPA’s goal is that most Superfund sites will be cleaned enough for commercial or industrial use. However, in some cases, the EPA can impose near permanent, severe restrictions on potential uses. Most Superfund sites undergo evaluations every five years to make those determinations until a site is removed from the National Priorities List.
Beyond that, it falls to the township to make final decisions on what the project will ultimately look like, and whether it could be built. Municipal leaders have said previously that, due to state law, they feel their hands are tied to allow for uses such as data centers.
What’s next?
The project remains in limbo: The developers have returned to the township seeking to amend their plans and alter the final design for the project. Supervisors tabled their decision at their last meeting on July 8, saying they needed more information about proposed changes.
Residents remain concerned about long-term construction at the site.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Pennsylvania tallied more than two dozen new cases of measles inthe last week, including several in the Philadelphia region.
In Chester County, health officials confirmed 13 cases in the suburban Philadelphia county since April, with seven identified since Monday.
The rising counts come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that measles cases nationwide had surpassed all cases reported in 2025, the highest case count in 35 years.
In a growing Pennsylvania outbreak centered in Lancaster County, state health officials confirmed 14 new cases in the last week. The county has been at the center of two separate outbreaks this year and has reported 75 cases since April, when the current outbreak began.
So far this year, Pennsylvania has reported 139 cases of measles, more than eight times the number reported in 2025 and the highest case count in three decades. Twenty-five people have been hospitalized.
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Working to track cases
In Chester County, the local health department has struggled to track cases in part because some exposed residents have refused to provide contact tracers with detailed information, said Jeanne Franklin, the county health director.
Some residents have not answered calls from the department, or have spoken to health workers only about their own family, not other contacts they might have had in the community. Others have simply hung up the phone, Franklin said.
“It does not allow us to paint the true picture. If they’re not talking to us, we’re assuming there’s a lot of cases unreported,” she said.
Public health workers ask residents who are reluctant to reveal information about their contacts to, at least, inform friends and relatives that they may have been exposed to measles, Franklin said.
She said Chester County residents who have tested positive for measles have mostly sought care in Lancaster County, which borders Chester County to the west.
But most measles patients are seeking treatment only when they become seriously ill, she said, and milder cases are likely going unreported.
“People aren’t going to freely get tested. They’re getting tested when their health has declined so much that they need medical assistance,” Franklin said.
Unvaccinated people in Plain communities, Christian denominations like the Amish and Mennonites, have been affected more than others in the county, but the outbreak is not contained to these communities, Franklin said.
Some members of Plain communities oppose vaccination, but opinions vary, and doctors in Lancaster, where Plain communities are heavily concentrated, have stressed that cases there are centered among unvaccinated people in general, not Plain residents.
No major religion expressly forbids vaccines. Yet the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety, rising for years, is increasingly amplified in federal policy discussions under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist.
Every measles case in the state this year was diagnosed in people who were not fully vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, which can infect up to 90% of unvaccinated people exposed to it.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has administered nearly 2,000 measles vaccines in the last year.
Franklin said Chester County health workers are among those also stepping up vaccination efforts. Besides offering vaccinations at the county’s health clinics and working with community groups to host pop-up vaccine clinics, staffers are traveling to residents’ homes to vaccinate them, she said.
The department is seeing renewed interest in measles vaccination as the outbreak continues, Franklin added.
“If you decided or your parents decided a while ago not to get vaccinated for measles, that might have been OK then because the risk was low. In today’s situation, you should reassess your decision,” she said.
A Chester County man who forced two teenage girls, one of them a relative, to work long hours on a Kennett Square mushroom farm for no pay pleaded guilty Thursday to human trafficking, involuntary servitude, and related crimes.
Ramiro Caal Jolomna, 37, threatened to have the girls deported back to their homes in Guatemala if they did not comply with his demands, Senior Deputy Attorney General Zachary Mills Wynkoop said.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, whose office investigated the case through its human trafficking division, called crimes like Jolomna’s “cruel and dehumanizing behavior that forces victims into a routine of helplessness and silence.“
The victims, who were 14 and 17 when interviewed by state investigators in 2024, said Jolomna helped transport them to Chester County with a promise of giving them better lives and the opportunity to earn money to send back to their families.
Instead, prosecutors said, Jolomna, of New Garden Township, took their salaries from the mushroom farm for himself.
The younger victim told investigators that she had been working on the mushroom farm since she was 12 years old, and that Jolomna had been signing her paychecks over to himself and his wife.
After working predawn shifts at the farm, the girl was forced to act as the couple’s housekeeper, and was not even given new clothing to wear, Wynkoop said.
The other victim told investigators Jolomna charged her rent to live in his home alongside nine other people and forced her to reimburse him for the cost of her flight to America. These debts prevented her from sending money home to her father, who was sick and unable to work, the prosecutor said.
At one point, Jolomna’s parents contacted the older victim’s parents and asked them for more money, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. The girl said she “did not know what would have happened if her parents said no,” the document said.
In an interview with prosecutors, Jolomna admitted to having debts from “smuggling” the girls into the country and to taking the girls’ paychecks to use for food and other items, according to the affidavit.
Jolomna will be sentenced in the coming months by Chester County Court Judge Debra Ryan.
Susan Morrissey was found dead on July 23, 2019. Her family continues to search for answers. Missy Morrissey
It’s been seven years, almost to the day, since Susan Morrissey was found dead in the Brandywine Creek several miles from her car. Raised around West Chester and Wilmington, her death has stumped not only investigators, but her family.
Years later, her sister Missy Morrissey, who lives in West Chester, wonders if she’ll ever know what happened early on the morning of July 23, 2019.
She and her siblings are still clinging to hope that one day they will. “I just want us to have some answers,” she said.
Measles cases continue to climb in Chester County, with two more diagnosed last week, bringing the total up to six since an outbreak in the region began in April.
Three men who allegedly attempted to rob a man by impersonating police, pulling him over for a traffic stop in Tredyffrin Township and then shooting him, will face trial in Chester County. The Inquirer’s Vinny Vella has the details.
The county is getting $1.95 million from the state to support a new EMS station in East Vincent Township. Goshen Fire Company has also been awarded over $800,000 to expand and update its fire department.
A Chester County judge has reversed a Willistown Township board of supervisors decision, giving developer J. Brian O’Neill the green light to submit final plans to build luxury homes on Rock Hill Farm. The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz has the details.
The Malvern home of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was burglarized Saturday morning. Here’s what we know.
After a 45-year absence, Amtrak service between Philadelphia and Reading is one step closer to being revived thanks to an agreement struck last week between Amtrak and the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority. The proposed new service would include a stop in Phoenixville, but still has a long way to go before becoming reality.
An East Coventry Township police officer was “legally justified under Pennsylvania law” in shooting a man who allegedly stole his police car and attempted to hit the officer with it last month. The Inquirer’s Robert Moran has the latest.
Uwchlan Township is hosting several meetings over the coming week about the potential development of the so-called Lionville Station Farm owned by the Downingtown Area School District. The discussion will focus on a potential zoning amendment that could make way for nearly 500 homes. Meetings will take place tomorrow and Monday at 6 p.m., with a possible one next Wednesday.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released final cleanup plans for the former National Vulcanized Fiber site in Kennett Square, which is open to public comment through Aug. 18. The site contains so-called forever chemicals and was being eyed for potential housing development.
A 60-year-old West Chester woman, Debra Dora, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting at another person on the 200 block of Chestnut Street in Downingtown, causing a non-life-threatening injury.
After four years in the role, Jennifer Carlson is stepping down as Colonial Theatre’s executive director on Friday. Artistic director Drew Boardman will step in as interim executive director at the Phoenixville mainstay.
🏫 Schools Briefing
Avon Grove School District has three new principals: Kim Hall at Penn London Elementary School; Kelly Vaughn at Avon Grove Intermediate School; and Mark DeEmilio at Avon Grove Middle School. In addition, Amanda Cahill has been named assistant principal at the high school.
Beaver Creek Elementary School in the Downingtown Area School District has named Kelly Harrison its new principal.
Kennett Consolidated School District’s board approved Elisha Ozer as the next principal of Kennett High School last week.
Octorara Area School District is partnering with the Parkesburg Police Department, which will provide the district with uniformed school resource officers for the upcoming academic year.
🍽️ On our Plate
Popular Bryn Mawr spot The Bakery House is expanding to a second location, this one at 35 W. Lancaster Ave. in Paoli. It will take over the former Sushi Nami space and is targeting a fall opening.
Lily & Grace’s Cafe, which opened earlier this summer at 2705 E. Lincoln Highway in Coatesville, is hosting a grand opening Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
The Cracker Barrel at 1215 E. Lancaster Ave. in Downingtown has closed its doors.
A change in management is coming to Brickette Lounge, Jitters, Slow Hand, and Square Bar. 3 West Hospitality Group announced this week it will no longer manage any of the West Chester spots.
🎳 Things to Do
🎠 Cochranville Fire Company Carnival: Now in its 81st year, the carnival includes rides and raffles. ⏰ Through Saturday, July 25, 6-10 p.m. 💵 $36.16 for a one-day wristband, $82.73 for a weeklong wristband 📍 Cochranville Fire Company
🍿 West Bradford Movie Night: Catch a screening of Zootopia 2 outdoors. ⏰ Thursday, July 23, 8:30 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Broad Run Park, Downingtown
🎭 Shakespeare in the Park: See one of the bard’s best-known tragedies, Hamlet,performed live outdoors. ⏰ Friday, July 24, 7 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Valley Creek Park, Malvern
🌻 Brandywine Valley Water Garden Weekend Tour: Get a peek at local water gardens throughout the region during this two-day, self-guided event benefiting the Chester County Food Bank. There’s also a barbecue dinner. ⏰ Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 💵 $59.11 📍 Throughout the Brandywine Valley
🎡 Goshen Country Fair: There will be amusement rides, food, and music during this six-day event. ⏰ Monday, July 27-Saturday, Aug. 1, 6 p.m. on weekdays, 5 p.m. on Saturday 💵 Pay as you go 📍 Behind Goshen Fire Company, West Chester
The family room opens onto an eat-in kitchen and a back deck.Courtesy of Lynne Norris/Century 21 Norris-Valley Forge
Situated on a leafy lot that backs up to woods, this East Pikeland Township home has a number of large windows to showcase its surroundings. The four-bedroom house has an airy family room, complete with a fireplace, that opens onto an eat-in kitchen with quartz countertops and a river rock backsplash. Both spaces lead to a deck out back.
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This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Westtown Township’s board of supervisors voted to remove all six members of its historical commission Monday, rejecting depictionsthat its decision was tied to the fate of the historic Darlington Inn, saying instead that there was a “long history of problems” working with the commission’s members.
The three-member board dismissed that assertion, saying the decision was “unrelated to the Darlington Inn or any position taken by the commission members concerning the future of that property.”
“The board periodically reviews appointments to its advisory boards and commissions and has the authority to appoint and remove members as it determines appropriate,” Jodi Nawrocki, the board chair, said in a statement to a packed audience ahead of the vote.
Nawrocki said that the historical commission would not be dissolved; the supervisors planned to “review the commission’s responsibility” and “determine whether any updates or revisions are appropriate.” After that review, the board will accept letters of interest to serve on the commission, including from former members.
Nawrocki later told attendees that the wholesale dismissal was “something that’s been on our minds.”
“There has been a long history of problems between the board of supervisors and the historical commission, going back a couple years,” said supervisor Tom Foster.
The commission’s removal was “the cleanest way to deal with a lingering problem,” he said.
Commission members said previously that they believed that relations between themselves and the board had grown more contentious, particularly around the Darlington Inn. The property, which was purchased separately with $200,000 in taxpayer funds, was acquired by the township when it bought and preserved Crebilly Farm in 2024.
It had to be purchased separately in order to preserve the building. The supervisors have previously discussed rezoning it to commercial use so they could resell it and recoup the money spent, rather than allowing the building to sit vacant and require more maintenance and funding.
The commission sought to raise awareness of its potential sale, and has wanted to preserve the property, members said previously.
Christine Gunsaullus, who joined the commission just more than a year ago, said she still felt “utterly surprised” at the board’s decision.
“We don’t know what the challenges are. I can’t help but to think that the root cause ties back to the inn,” she said in a phone call Tuesday, adding that there were other challenges, like passing an ordinance that would have helped protect historical buildings, but ultimately would not stop buildings from being changed or demolished.
“We recognize some old buildings aren’t worth saving, and we recognize that it costs a lot of money to maintain history and maintain these old buildings. We don’t want to stop new construction; we just want to preserve what we can when it makes sense,” she said. “That’s our standpoint. But I didn’t feel like there was any discussion, no back-and-forth, ever, with the board in reconciling issues like this.”
Monday’s meeting drew roughly an hour of public comment on the topic, with residents and historians decrying the board’s decision. Speakers chafed at the board’s suggestion that it would remove the commission over difficulties working together.
“Your actions … are causing a threat to every historic commission in Chester County,” said Mark Evans, vice president of Chester County Historic Preservation Network. “If you proceed with this, it’s unprecedented and, at the minimum, extraordinarily rare.”
Evans added: “Flexing power is not a strength.”
“You’re right,” Nawrocki said. “I’m a yoga instructor, and for all the people I teach, this is the year of power. And we are talking about using our power for good. … The historical commission has not been working well with us, as the board of supervisors.”
State Rep. Craig Williams, a Republican who represents portions of the county, including Westtown,said he “couldn’t imagine” reports about the removal of the commission were true, and came to hear the board’s reasoning himself. He said he was “a little astonished” that there had been none, “except for it’s just hard to get along with people.”
“I don’t know what’s actually going on behind the scenes with respect to your historical commission, but I do think you owe us an explanation. All of us,” he said.
The meeting grew charged at moments, with interruptions. People booed when the supervisors took their vote.
“[The members of the historical commission] have done some amazing work. There is also a challenge in dealing with them, and it is wrong to presume that it’s the board’s inability to get along with them,” said former supervisor Carol de Wolf, saying she respected the board for remaining quiet on specifics. “I am really sorry that good members are part of this.”
But many were worried about transparency moving forward.
Resident Megan Bruns said she found the board‘s “not working well” and “cleanest way” reasoning problematic.
“These phrases signal to myself and probably other residents that the board is seeking compliancy, which makes us question the intentions of the board,” she said. “If this decision is truly about improving the commission, we need evidence. If not, many in this community will understandably question whether independent voices are simply being replaced with more agreeable ones.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Delaware reported on Monday the state’s first case of measles in more than 10 years.
The case was identified in an unvaccinated man in Kent County in central Delaware, health officials said in a news release.
Officials said they were conducting contact tracing to determine whether anyone else had been exposed to the highly contagious disease, which can linger in the air for up to two hours and infect up to 90% of unvaccinated people who come into contact with it.
They encouraged Delawareans to ensure they are vaccinated against measles. People who have received two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)vaccine are considered protected from the virus, as well as those born before 1957, or who have a lab test confirming they are immune to measles.
People who do not know their vaccination status can check with their primary care doctor or visit the DelVAX Public Portal to check their vaccination records. Vaccines are typically available at primary care providers, pharmacies, and public health clinics, though health officials encouraged residents to call ahead to ensure a provider has the vaccine.
People with measles symptoms — a fever, cough, runny nose, or pink eye, followed by a rash — should call their primary care doctor. Those with severe symptoms should visit an emergency room; in serious cases, the virus can cause pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death. Patients should call providers before visiting to let them know they were exposed to measles.
Cases spread in Pennsylvania
The positive test comes as Pennsylvania grapples with its biggest measles outbreak in 30years, with 102 people sickened and 20 hospitalized since April.
On Monday, health officials reported that cases had spread to two new counties, with one case each confirmed in Indiana and Snyder Counties.
Indiana County is in Western Pennsylvania. Snyder County, in central Pennsylvania, borders Northumberland County, where six cases had already been reported.
It was unclear whether those cases were connected. The bulk of cases have been detected in Lancaster County, where 61 people have contracted measles since April.
In the Philadelphia region, six cases have been reported in Chester County.
A handyman who worked in homes across southeastern Pennsylvania raped and sexually assaulted children and unconscious women, and produced a vast collection of photographs and videos documenting his crimes, Chester County prosecutors said Monday.
David Vincent Rosa, 54, faces more than 300 charges, including rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and hundreds of counts tied to creating and disseminating child pornography, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Rosa, a transient handyman and housepainter whose last known address was in Chester County, used his work to gain entry into homes and prey on the people inside them, investigators said.
He recorded the attacks, they said, amassing a digital trail of evidence that spans a period of several years.
“It is one of the most terrifying sexual assault cases that we have come across in some time,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said in a news conference Monday.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe holds a news conference on Monday to announce charges against David Vincent Rosa.Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
The charges stem largely from two videos investigators discovered on a phone they said belongs to Rosa. In one, a man investigators identified as Rosa filmed himself touching a young girl. A second clip, also of Rosa, they said, depicts the rape of a child.
But the case has widened beyond those recordings: Stored on Rosa’s devices and in his accounts, de Barrena-Sarobe said, investigators also found videos of him sexually assaulting additional children and women.
The women “appear to be unconscious” in the videos, de Barrena-Sarobe said, and “they may not know that they have been victimized.”
The children in the videos appear to be younger than 10 years old, he said. De Barrena-Sarobe declined to say exactly how many victims appear in the recordings, saying only that they showed “multiple” women and children. The videos and images are dated from 2017 to 2024, he said.
Investigators traced recent logins to a Comcast account in West Whiteland Township, where records indicated Rosa lived, according to the affidavit. They also identified Rosa as the man seen in multiple images, the document said.
Chester County and West Whitefield Township authorities began investigating Rosa in March, after receiving three dozen cybertips that child sexual abuse materials had been uploaded to Google accounts. The tips — reported by Google and routed through a regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force — involved six email accounts containing hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of girls as young as 2, investigators said.
In April, authorities searched Rosa’s home, where they found a cell phone with a video matching the materials reported in the cybertips, according to the affidavit.
Rosa was arrested April 2 and charged with 100 counts of child pornography, court records show.
He has been held in Chester County Prison since then, unable to post bail, de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Prosecutors filed hundreds of additional charges last week, after investigators extracted files from Rosa’s phone and interviewed witnesses who identified one of the children.
More than 1,000 still images captured from the videos were recovered from Rosa’s phone, investigators said, and records provided by Google showed the videos were shared more than 50 times on the company’s chat app.
Investigators also said in the affidavit that they recognized Rosa’s voice in both videos after speaking with him during his arrest and in a recorded interview.
Detectives identified the first child victim in early June, after interviewing a woman who identified Rosa and the child from still images, according to the affidavit. The woman told investigators that Rosa had stayed for about a week at a Wind Gap home where she and the child lived in 2022. He was doing painting work at the house, she said.
She described two incidents that had alarmed the household: Rosa was once discovered in a basement crawl space with the child, she told investigators, and another time, the girl was found in bed with him under a blanket. It was unclear whether anyone had reported either incident to authorities at the time.
That account matches the pattern investigators now fear extends further. Rosa lived throughout the region and has previous arrests in Philadelphia, Allentown, Malvern, and Saylorsburg, de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Investigators are asking anyone who hired him — or knows someone who did — over the last 10 years to come forward.
David Vincent Rosa is pictured in photos shared by Chester County prosecutors on Monday.Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
Prosecutors released a series of photographs showing Rosa’s changing appearance over the years, along with an image of a room they are trying to locate: what appears to be an unfinished basement with a bed covered in rust-colored bed linens, where investigators say some of Rosa’s crimes were committed.
Authorities described Rosa as 5-foot-4 and weighing about 150 pounds.
Although de Barrena-Sarobe said Rosa is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, he added that “we strongly feel like this was a predator that was out in our region creating and destroying lives.”
Rosa’s attorney did not return a phone call Monday afternoon.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.
Streams of water shot up and danced at Longwood Gardens during the gender reveal for Danielle Alura’s baby.
The water flashed blue and pink to the tune of Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done.” On a downbeat, all of the fountains turned one color and fire burst out.
“Next thing you know, I’m witnessing blue on my favorite fountains in the entire world,” Alura said.
It’s a boy.
The water flashed blue and pink before landing on blue.Courtesy of Danielle Alura
Alura and her husband, Curt Clemens, had planned the gender reveal as a surprise finale to their wedding reception on June 18. Longwood Gardens ordinarily hosts nighttime illuminated fountain performances at the five-acre Main Fountain Garden in Kennett Square. However, this show was custom-made for the reveal.
The couple, from Kennett Square,found out they were expecting a baby via surrogacy during their engagement, roughly six months before their wedding. Alura said they were anxious to start a family due to their ages, with Alura being 37 and Clemens 44.
They had both hoped for a boy.
“We’re just so, so over the moon about it,” she said.
In a video posted Saturday that captured the moment the gender was revealed, cheers roared from the crowd as Alura jumped up and down.
The gender wasn’t a surprise to the couple, though it was for many of their wedding guests.
Griffin, the baby boy being celebrated, had arrived just two weeks before on May 31. He was three months early — born premature, just as Alura and her husband had been.
Alura is a singer who was crowned Miss Global USA 2023, while Clemens is a woodworker.
“We were prepared to have a preemie, and we have extra confidence because we’re walking examples ourselves,” she said.
Danielle Alura is a singer and her husband, Curt Clemens, is a woodworker.Courtesy of Danielle Alura
