West Chester Chronicle

08/31/2026

Tonight at 6:30, in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day, is Chester County’s “Night of Light”.

08/30/2026

Good luck to all the students returning to class this week. You got this!

08/29/2026

This week, Bonita goes over the major changes SEPTA is making to their bus network and what is in store for West Chester. Governor Shapiro changes direction on data centers, we speak with activist Ginny Kerslake and hear a response from his opponent in the race for governor, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

This week Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union had a “Cybersecurity Incident” that caused their website, emails and login to go down. Bam Margera is back making content and filming locally for his new Kick.com channel. Also, local sports with Josh Gordon (new book available now!) and a look at Monday’s “Night of Light” at the Chester County Historic Courthouse.

08/28/2026

WCPD installed the VIPR.ai cameras in November 2021. This chart shows the clearance rate percentages for the four years before and four years after the cameras were installed.

According to the FBI, “In the UCR program, a law enforcement agency reports that an offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met:
- Arrested
- Charged with commission of offense
- Turned over to the court for prosecution”

08/28/2026

In part four of our look at VIPR.ai cameras, we speak with local attorney Sam Stretton about his thoughts on the legality of the system.

08/27/2026

Update on the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union “cybersecurity incident”

FMFCU Service Disruption FAQs Are FMFCU’s website and digital banking back online? Yes. FMFCU’s website and digital banking are back online, and members can once again access their accounts through the normal login process.   How do I access digital banking? Members can access digital banking t...

08/26/2026

We have received a statement from Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union regarding their outage:

“Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (FMFCU) recently identified a cybersecurity incident, affecting our website, email platform, and login access to digital banking.

Upon discovering the incident, we immediately took steps to address the situation and commenced an investigation with assistance from external cybersecurity specialists. Our teams are working diligently to restore services as quickly and safely as possible.

FMFCU’s core systems remain operational, transactions continue to process, and our members’ funds are secure. Debit cards can still be used for purchases or at ATMs.

Members can continue to access their accounts by visiting any FMFCU branch, ATM, calling Codie, our 24/7 virtual assistant, or contacting the Member Service Center.

Our investigation is ongoing, and we will provide additional information as appropriate. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate our members’ patience and understanding as we work through this situation.”

08/25/2026

In part three of this week's look into VIPR.ai camera systems, we look into the formal agreement with the Borough and how it was approved. The Borough has denied having any documents regarding a contract, invoices or purchase orders with VIPR.ai or PlateLogIQ, the previous name of the company. Also, how effective have these cameras been at helping solve crime? We look at WCPD clearance rate statistics going back to 2018 and look at the four years before and after the cameras were installed.

08/25/2026

Saw this while delivering papers in Downingtown. Who’s ready for back to school?