John Grogan | Her shop corners market on dignity
On the matter of breast cancer, Marguerite Spina tells her customers, "I've been there, done that." Thirteen years ago, she was a West Chester wife, a mom, an auto insurance claims adjuster chugging happily through life.
( By John Grogan, Inquirer Columnist, 02/10/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Schools' dilemma: Terror insurance
Even in the post-Sept. 11 world, it's hard to fathom foreign terrorists attacking an elementary school. But a change in federal law has forced school officials to think about the unthinkable.
( By Kellie Patrick, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/10/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Rendell wants firms to settle near colleges
In the small borough of Huntingdon, Juniata College is developing a program to encourage students who want to run their own businesses.
( By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press, 02/10/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Efforts target teen suicides
On a cold night, parents solemnly entered the Neshaminy High School auditorium, greeting one another in the hushed tones reserved for funerals.
( By Dwayne Campbell, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/10/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Age-discrimination suit against PennDot gets class-action status
An age-discrimination lawsuit filed against the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation nearly three years ago has now been given class-action status by a Clearfield County judge.
( Associated Press, 02/10/2003 03:01 AM EST)

A caregiver's turbulent history closes in
During lulls on the graveyard shift, she would complain to coworkers, spreading a wet blanket of woe on their coffee break. She spoke freely of her money problems. Of a chaotic home life and an ill-tempered ex-husband. Of nerves so frayed she was on prescription pills.
( By Larry King, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/09/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Pa.'s budget deficit is getting worse
When Gov. Rendell asked Michael Masch to head the state's budget office, Masch knew that the job would be a challenge. The state was already looking at a $433 million deficit.
( By John Sullivan, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau, 02/08/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Montco officials end their quarrel
A public feud between two Montgomery County Republican officials is apparently over. Michael Marino, Board of Commissioners chairman, and William Donnelly, county prothonotary, who had been battling over Donnelly's use of technology funds, made nice Thursday during a county commissioners meeting.
( By Keith Herbert, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/08/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Widows allege headstone swindle
Linda Helverson of Royersford says she wasn't thinking straight when she agreed to meet with headstone salesman William R. Groom in June 2001.
( By Keith Herbert, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

State begins to make wine tastings less rare
The Marchesi, as everyone kept calling him - "sort of like a prince," he graciously explained - could not resist a chuckle. Here he was, at what Pennsylvania officials were heralding as a grand, historic moment.
( By Sandy Bauers, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Rendell picks Cadillac - as austerity example
Ed Rendell roamed the campaign trail in a luxury tour bus with leather couches and a satellite TV. As governor, he'll continue to ride in style - in the back of a Cadillac.
( By Mario F. Cattabiani, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

John Grogan | Ethical undertow in Conshohocken
And now for another dramatic episode of As the Borough Turns. When our saga of small-town political back-scratching left off, the Conshohocken Borough Council had awarded a police towing contract to none other than the wife of the chief of police. A competitor, who previously had handled all police towing in the borough and was now told he had to split the work with Chief James Dougherty's wife, Jane, had cried foul, saying the arrangement constituted a blatant conflict of interest.
( By John Grogan, Inquirer Columnist, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Casey slams PennDot for frivolous spending
PITTSBURGH - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spent more than $500 on a giant pair scissors for cutting ceremonial ribbon and $1,600 on 500 rubber ducks, according to a state audit that concludes that the agency has done little to stop frivolous spending by employees.
( By Judy Lin, Associated Press, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Man charged in fatal accident
Melissa Sweeney did everything right. When her boyfriend called at 3 a.m., afraid to drive after a night of drinking, Sweeney hopped in her car to pick him up. Unwilling to leave her 4-year-old daughter, Jasta Coombs, unsupervised, she strapped the girl into a car seat.
( By Matthew P. Blanchard, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/07/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Bucks doctor admits sexual assault of two boys
A physician who took disadvantaged children into his filthy, pornography-filled Bucks County home admitted yesterday that he had sexually assaulted two young boys in his care.
( 02/07/2003 06:52 AM EST)

Man found dead in wrecked car had been stabbed
Police say a man with a fatal stab wound was found in his wrecked car yesterday, apparently after crashing in the Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section of the township while trying to drive to safety.
( 02/07/2003 06:51 AM EST)

Bristol Twp. man dies in drag race in Middletown
A drag race during rush hour at the Oxford Valley Mall ended in the death of a Bristol Township man when his car hit a tree and was torn in two.
( 02/07/2003 06:50 AM EST)

County approves flood grant
The Little Neshaminy Creek glistened yesterday as it skipped over rocks and scooted behind Glen and Carol Gangewer's house on Philadelphia Avenue in Warrington Township.
( By Christine Schiavo, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

2d lender sues Montco car dealer charged with identity theft
A second lender has sued B.J. Marchese Auto World of Limerick, whose business manager, Benjamin J. Marchese 3d, has been charged with using identity theft to obtain bank loans.
( By Keith Herbert, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Crew drops fuel rods at Limerick power plant
Two bundles of new fuel rods were damaged last week when workers at the Limerick nuclear station neglected to ensure that the rods were strapped down, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said yesterday.
( By Dawn Fallik, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Students hear tales of war
Capt. Ronald Henderson Jr. wanted to watch Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's speech to the U.N. Security Council. As commander of the USS John F. Kennedy, a 5,000-crew aircraft carrier now docked in Jacksonville, Fla., he knew his future could be affected by what Powell said to the Security Council to justify possible military action against Iraq.
( By Chris Gray, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Pa. urged to link teacher pay to success
If state lawmakers and Gov. Rendell agree to increase public school funding substantially in the next state budget, they should allow schools to reward exceptional teachers and give struggling teachers extra help, an education advocate said yesterday.
( By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Death-row inmates end protest over conditions
Death-row inmates at the state prison in Graterford ended a hunger strike after meeting with corrections officials late Tuesday. About two dozen prisoners - all convicted murderers - had participated in the strike, which began Friday.
( By David B. Caruso, Associated Press, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

State to begin giving vaccine for smallpox
About a half-dozen volunteers will be vaccinated against smallpox Monday as the state begins inoculating 22,500 health-care workers who might be needed to care for victims of a terrorist attack.
( By David B. Caruso, Associated Press, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Rendell signs his first death warrant
Gov. Rendell signed his first execution warrant yesterday, setting a date for the lethal injection of a Montgomery County man convicted in a 1980 killing.
( Associated Press, 02/06/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Bucks jail project goes ahead
Bucks County commissioners are expected to award about $2 million in contracts today for remodeling work at the county prison, some of which is aimed at improving security.
( By Christine Schiavo, Inquirer Staff Writer, 02/05/2003 03:01 AM EST)

John Grogan | 9/11 altered our view of tragedy
On Saturday morning I was in a high school cafeteria with 200 other parents from across Southeastern Pennsylvania, receiving judge training for a regional student competition.
( By John Grogan, Inquirer Columnist, 02/04/2003 03:01 AM EST)

Ex-worker kills self at phone firm
It was as though Richard K. Lee had a list of things to do Sunday night. Just after 6 p.m., police said, Lee, 25, of Willow Grove, showed up at the Wal-Mart store in Horsham and bought a 20-gauge shotgun.
( By Amie Parnes, Inquirer Suburban Staff, 02/04/2003 03:01 AM EST)