West Chester to honor Army parachutist without street name change

Master Sgt. Corey Hood CONTRIBUTED

Master Sgt. Corey Hood CONTRIBUTED

West Chester Twp. trustees will consider erecting a plaque to honor the memory of fallen soldier Corey Hood, rather than renaming Lakota Drive West.

A couple weeks ago trustees, at the urging of a group of residents, planned to rename all or part of Lakota Drive West in honor of Army Master Sgt. Corey Hood, who died in 2015 during a parachuting demonstration with the Army Golden Knights at the Chicago Air and Water Show.

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Trustees, however, learned the street is actually a county road and thus not theirs to rename. Now they are considering placing a plaque or sign honoring Hood, a Lakota West graduates, along that stretch of road.

“These are obviously emotional issues and once you open the door, other people are going to say, ‘well you did it for them’,” West Chester Trustee Mark Welch said. “We have to be very careful about setting precedent and we also have to be very consistent in the application of everything we do.”

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