What you need to know to start your day in Chester County.  This morning:

Dinniman Announces Release of Landmark Report on Lyme Disease in Pennsylvania

This week, State Senator, Andy Dinniman, together with his fellow legislators and the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Karen Murphy, released a landmark report on Lyme disease in Pennsylvania. The report is designed to guide the Commonwealth’s strategy in dealing with the growing epidemic of the tick-borne disease.

This is the first-ever comprehensive report on Lyme disease in Pennsylvania, and it was produced by the Pennsylvania Health Department’s Task Force on Lyme Disease and the related Tick-Borne Disease Task Force.

The Senator also announced that the first public forum and discussion on the report will be held in Chester County, attended by Secretary Murphy and Pennsylvania Physician General, Dr. Rachel Levine, on November 5.

“We are committed to ensuring that this report does not sit idly on a shelf and that it helps steer legislative action and positive change in preventing and treating Lyme disease,” stated Senator Dinniman.

Wawa Launches its Own Credit Card at West Goshen Store Opening

On Friday, Wawa officials gathered to celebrate the opening of their newest convenience store located on the West Chester Pike in West Goshen, introducing at the same time the company’s latest marketing effort, the Wawa credit card.

While the new location is only about a mile from the Wawa store located between Market and Gay streets on West Chester’s east side, Colleen Labik, media supervisor for Wawa said that stores in such proximity are not unprecedented.

The new card will allow customers to save 5¢ per gallon, up to 100 gallons per month, when they re-fuel at Wawa stores, with the credit applied to the cardholder’s statement at the end of each month.

“I’m driving down the road, I can stop at a lot of places,” said Richard J. George, Professor at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. “That card might be differentiator for me.”

Renowned Author Scott Weidensaul Coming to the Brandywine River Museum of Art

Good news for bird lovers across Chester County as the renowned Pennsylvania author and naturalist Scott Weidensaul is coming to the Brandywine River Museum of Art on Wednesday, October 28, at 6 p.m.

One of fewer than 200 federally licensed hummingbird banders in North America, Weidensaul will share stories and information gathered through his decades of research on birds of prey and hummingbirds in the talk titled “Messing Around with Birds (for Fun and Science)”.

The event will be presented by the Brandywine Conservancy in the museum’s lecture room. After the lecture there will be a reception with food and drink from 7 to 8:30 p.m. where Weidensaul will sign copies of his latest book, “The Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean.”

Tickets cost $10 for members and $15 for non-members available online or at the door.

Main Line Today Profiles 23 Powerful Women from the Region

In a feature titled “Powerful Women – 23 Ladies who are Ready to Lead”, Main Line Today profiles 23 women in positions of leadership, lauding their ability to turn burdens into tools for expanding their creativity and opportunities.

Among the women interviewed for the impressive feature are Sarah Peck, President of the Malvern based Progressive Housing Ventures, LLC, Alison Gers, COO of Bryn Mawr Trust, Kristin Thomas, Director of Employer Outreach forFlexJobs and Founder of Malvern Community Arts Project, and Valerie Smith, President of Swarthmore College.

Answering questions about their lives, careers, and most important accomplishments, the women give an insight into what led them on the way to attaining the successful positions they hold today.  

Go here for the full list and interviews.