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** 1. Power, profit, and guardianship: The fraught legacy of Chester County Treasurer Patricia Maisano ([link removed])
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By Todd Shepherd

The incumbent treasurer of Chester County has twice been accused of fleecing elderly persons she was in charge of protecting during her career as a professional guardian. In another instance, attorneys she was working with in a guardianship accused her of nonpayment.

Those accusations, combined with previous Broad + Liberty reporting — revealing Patricia Maisanoreceived her master’s and doctorate ([link removed]) from a diploma mill, and that she wasremoved from court cases ([link removed]) after failing to meet standards as an expert witness — raise serious questions about her integrity and fitness for office.

Her time as treasurer is uncontroversial. But it is her professional work that has left a trail of embittered and disillusioned people in her wake.

Why It Matters. The perils of guardianship are not unknown. For example, in 2023, Gov. Josh Shapirosigned a bipartisan bill ([link removed]) meant to curb the possibility of courts overrelying on guardianships to solve difficult personal or family situations. But there are doubts about the law’s effectiveness, and there is also an admitted shortage of guardians for courts to choose from, according to media reports.

Still, the 2019 indictments in Delaware County stand testament to the potential for financial abuse, if not outright embezzlement.

Chester County Democrats renominated Maisano for her treasurer post in last month’s primary. Broad + Libertyapproached the county Democratic leadership ([link removed]) last year for reaction to the story that Maisano had beenkicked out of court cases ([link removed]) as an expert witness, but her party allies remained silent.

Quotable. “[Maisano] called herself a guardian. She could make court testimony on mental capacity,” David Winstanley told Broad + Liberty. “She had all kinds of supposed degrees. And my private eye that I had hired said that these were purchased, these were bought degrees. She didn’t attend universities to get any professional schooling such as neuropsychology or anything like that where she could accurately make a determination.”

Continue Reading ([link removed])



** 2. Coach Guy’s tipping point ([link removed])
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By Guy Ciarrocchi

As readers, listeners and friends know, I’ve been coaching softball for 26 seasons. My family, faith, and conservative politics are the only things that I’ve been involved in longer.

While coaching, I have purposefully kept a wall between my softball world and my political world. I even ignored a phone call from soon-to-be Speaker Kevin McCarthy while coaching at the Pennsylvania Little League Softball Championships.

Recently, I saw the videos and read the story about Minnesota’s state high school softball championship. The “winning team” won the championship by having their pitcher throw back to back shut-outs.

Their pitcher is a biological male.

I can be silent no more.

Why It Matters. Whatever one thinks about the morality or the politics of transgender issues, we should all agree that when it comes to competitive sports, allowing a biological male to pitch — from 43 feet away — to high school girls is wrong. It’s a safety issue.

And, yes, it’s a fairness issue.

Let me tell you about the girls I’ve coached. They put in thousands of hours of practices, drills, conditioning and lessons—and play hundreds of games. They play when it’s 101 degrees and the infield is like playing at the beach. They play after rain, when the batter’s box and pitcher’s mound are like swamps in Louisiana. They play in the early spring and late fall when the wind chill is in the 30’s. I’ve been at games when it was snowing.

They play with bruises, blisters, and soreness. The pitchers throw until their arms almost fall off.

They play for their coaches and trainers. They play for their teammates and parents. They play for themselves.

They deserve better.

Continue Reading ([link removed])


** 3. Lightning Round
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* Chester County leaders dodge questions on Maisano’s record as guardian, expert witness, and bogus degrees ([link removed])
* Guy Ciarrocchi: Lies, damn lies, and budget ‘cuts’ ([link removed])
* Kyle Sammin: Running out of other people’s money ([link removed])
* Thom Nickels: The pretzel, the pain, and the prose — Pete Dexter’s Philadelphia years ([link removed])
* Richard F. Kosich: NPR in the crosshairs ([link removed])
* Carl Marrara: Plastic bag bans don’t work ([link removed])

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** 4. Podcast
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** 5. What we're reading
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As this newsletter goes to press, wild tweets are still flying between President Donald Trump and his erstwhile friend and political ally, Elon Musk. Surrogates on both sides of the intra-MAGA tiff are jumping in, accusations and personal attacks flying every which way. It’s all very unseemly and brought to mind this 2016 article at The Federalist by David Harsanyi suggesting (not altogether seriously) that we bring back dueling ([link removed]) . It’s probably for the best that politicians no longer shoot each other, but the need to stand behind your actions certainly encouraged them to behave a little more like gentlemen.

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Thank you, dear reader, for your steadfast support of our independent, broad-minded brand of local journalism. We could not do this without you.

With gratitude,

— The Editors at Broad + Liberty
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