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1. Chester County bureaucrats end hot meals for needy West Chester families

By Beth Ann Rosica
 

The Dorothy Day Center, part of St. Agnes Catholic Church, has been serving the local community for 32 years. Founded by Barbara Kirby, the programs have grown organically and naturally over the years to serve the unmet basic needs for hundreds of thousands of local residents.

The center welcomes low-income families and individuals, many of whom are Hispanic and/or elderly. Services include educational support, a medical clinic, a healthy baby program, tutoring, summer camp, and an array of other programs.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the “Day room,” as it is affectionately known by the community, are the daily hot meals provided. Every weekday, those in need can enjoy a light breakfast and a healthy, hot lunch, lovingly prepared by local residents.

That is until August 2024, when CCHD abruptly ended the program, citing regulatory violations.

Why It Matters. Despite the lack of problems and the significant positive impact of the program, in August, CCHD shut down the way the program has operated since its founding. For many people, this was the only hot meal they ate every day.

CCHD is claiming that the food cannot be prepared in private homes since they are serving the meals to the public.

Following an inspection in August, the highly organized hot meal program was halted by CCHD, despite the fact that CCHD has regularly inspected the center over the years. Kirby said, “something has changed and we don’t know what it is. The whole situation is shocking.”

Quotable. “Everyone on my cooking team loved being a part of this ministry and making nutritious meals for those in need. Prior to the CCHD restrictions, we had been preparing a full meal the last Tuesday of every month, and now we are sending money for pizzas and we do not feel good about it. It is not healthy, and we are still waiting for a reason from CCHD as to why they all of sudden enforced this overburdensome rule. They are hurting mostly the people who are the recipients of the meals but also those who enjoyed serving as a part of this ministry by making homemade meals with love.” — Alissa McGrory, a St. Agnes parishioner and volunteer cook.

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2. Bucks County let Falls Township supervisors slide on tens of thousands in unreported union donations

By Bradley Vasoli
 

Bucks County has taken no action against two Falls Township supervisors concerning tens of thousands of campaign contributions they accepted from a labor union but failed to report, files show.

The apparent violations of campaign-finance law – too many to be isolated mistakes – are so sweeping they blemish the leadership of the Bucks County Board of Elections which oversees local campaign-finance enforcement. The board is led by Bob Harvie, a Democratic county commissioner who previously served as a Falls supervisor alongside the two men in question.

Federal records show that, since 2021, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Political Action Committee donated $36,500 to Jeff Dence, one of five elected township supervisors, all Democrats. Dence, however, has not reported any of that money in his required campaign filings.
Similarly, since 2020, the IBEW has donated $27,850 to township Supervisor Jeff Boraski. None of that was captured in local filings because Boraski disclosed none of it in a July 2020 report and has not submitted a single campaign filing since, despite his obligation to do so periodically.

Why It Matters. The problem may run deeper. 

Bucks County’s election office says it keeps campaign finance filings for five years. But because no reports before 2019 were preserved, it is therefore presently impossible to know how much more money Boraski or Dence may have failed to declare.

Federal campaign finance filings show the IBEW has donated a total of $82,850 to Boraski since he registered his committee in 2012. The union has donated $234,000 to the committees Dence has operated since 2009 – a tremendous sum considering his township’s population of only about 34,000.

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3. Lightning Round

• Rep. Tim O’Neal: The high cost of Shapiro’s energy agenda

• Paul Davis: Biden lets Philly murderer Kaboni Savage off of death row

• Beth Ann Rosica: Pennsylvania agency ignores Trump’s executive order on two sexes

• Will Sunday and Trump spell trouble for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office?

• Philly Dems opt not to endorse in District Attorney race

• Stu Bykofsky: Sanctuary cities plan to defy immigration law, still

4. Podcast

5. What we're reading

“I don’t really care, Margaret.” Vice President JD Vance’s line in the middle of an increasingly hostile interview with CBS reporter Margaret Brennan is emblematic of a conservative movement — and a growing segment of the nation at large — that is exhausted with mainstream media reporters who do nothing but push Democratic Party talking points. 

Vance, in making the seemingly uncontroversial point that refugees coming to this country should be vetted before being allowed to settle here, has once again said something normal and completely shocked and wrong-footed a journalist by doing so. At RealClear Politics this week, Philip Wegmann breaks down the exchange and all that it entails for the next four years.