Tom Ferrick Jr. | Thach, genuine article in argyle
A higher court finally decided the Thacher Longstreth custody issue. It's odd to call an embolism an agent of mercy. Odd but true.
( By Tom Ferrick Jr., Inquirer Columnist, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Art with a tempo graces building project
Before long, the hole at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard should be swarming with heavy equipment and guys in hard hats, as Liberty Property Trust begins the big, loud, dirty job of erecting a 54-story skyscraper.
( By Julie Stoiber, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Schools seek tax boost as costs rise
Voters in many districts will decide Tuesday whether they are willing to pay more to protect education programs.
From Willingboro to Washington Township, Mount Laurel to Mantua, Haddonfield to Hainesport, voters will be asked Tuesday to pay increased taxes to support their local schools.
( By Terry Bitman, Melanie Burney and Toni Callas, Inquirer Staff Writers, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Rendell hopes his road show pays off
A poll says that his state tour to tout his tax plan may be making inroads. Legislators have a different take.
Borrowing a page from last year's successful campaign script, Gov. Rendell has spent two weeks traveling the state promoting what some say may be the most ambitious - and risky - tax plan the state has ever seen.
( By Mario F. Cattabiani and Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Some fear McGreevey's policies will hurt business
Industry leaders say the governor's budget maneuvering will harm the state's reputation and drive off potential employers.
The alienation began a day after inauguration. From Gov. McGreevey's first day in office, business leaders in New Jersey got a message that they weren't so important.
( By Mitch Lipka, Inquirer Trenton Bureau, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Mourners honor Marine reservist killed in Kuwait
About 200 attended services for Lance Cpl. Joseph Maglione. He was remembered as a loyal friend and a good Marine.
With the slow hum of bagpipes and a violin ebbing through incense-filled air, friends and family of a 22-year-old Lansdale Marine yesterday paid tribute to him at a Catholic shrine near Doylestown.
( By Leslie A. Pappas, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Inqlings | Trump signs on to NBC reality show
What's it like to work for Donald Trump? "Easy if you're talented, terrible if you're not," says The Donald, 56, whose biz background at Penn's Wharton School dates from 1966 to 1968.
( By Michael Klein, Inquirer Columnist, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Barnes lawyers: Keep audit closed
The request is part of the Barnes' bid to move to Phila. Lawyers say the audit could be embarrassing.
In telling a judge why it does not want to release an audit of its 1990s finances, the Barnes Foundation produced a surprise Friday.
( By Don Steinberg, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Judge from Gloucester County chosen for N.J. Supreme Court
A Gloucester County appellate judge was named yesterday by Gov. McGreevey to the New Jersey Supreme Court. McGreevey cited Judge John E. Wallace Jr.'s record of fairness during his years on the bench. The nomination must be approved by the state Senate.
( Associated Press, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Gruesome killing remains unsolved
Exactly 24 years after Dolores DellaPenna was last seen alive, a media mob gathered outside her parents' Holmesburg home, awaiting news that arrest warrants had been issued for those who had killed and mutilated the 17-year-old girl.
( By Marc Schogol, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Archdiocese construction aims to improve social work
Financed largely by bonds, $41 million in work on seven building projects is under way in the area.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the area's leading social-service provider, is in the midst of a major wave of construction projects to upgrade its human-services operations.
( By Jim Remsen, INQUIRER FAITH LIFE EDITOR, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

House supports budget plan
Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week. Budget, tax cuts. The House on April 11 approved, 216-211, the conference report on a budget plan (H Con Res 95) allowing $550 billion through 2013 for tax cuts, down from the $726 billion that President Bush originally requested. For fiscal 2004, the fiscal blueprint projects spending of $2.27 trillion and a $385 billion deficit.
( ROLL CALL REPORT SYNDICATE, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

What Some of the Large School Districts Are Seeking
District                Enrollment          Proposed Tax Increase      Cherry Hill             11,364               9...
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Swords into plowshares
Local pair go to U.N. with disarmament plan to pay for "global wellness."
Like many Americans today, the Revs. Gordon Bennett and Larry Pullen yearn for world peace. But the peace these two seek is not the mere absence of bus bombs in Gaza and troops racing through Baghdad.
( By David O'Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Bush's rhetoric angers
Europeans: Keep God out of war.
The religious overtones in President Bush's speeches increasingly grate on many ears in Europe, where leaders invoking God in times of war are widely suspect of using faith for political purposes.
( By Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Interfaith calendar
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, EpiscopalPalm Sunday, or Passion Sunday. Churches have colorful processions with palms that celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. (Byzantine Rite Catholics use pussy willows or myrtle instead of palms.) It is a day for major musical programs and Passion narratives. Some churches have a special evening Service of Tenebrae: People gather around tables, placed in the form of a cross, that hold eight lighted candles. Eight Gospel accounts of Jesus' abandonment...
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

More Reader Prayers
   Readers have continued to submit prayers they find meaningful in the face of the fighting in Iraq.    Sister M. Aquinas of Northeast Philadelphia, a member of the Medical Mission Sisters, sent a Lenten Vespers liturgy whose words "enabled me to enter into my deeper feelings of sorrow and release tears for all the suffering in Iraq and in the U.S." Here is an excerpt, attributed to the Sumerian poet Enheduanna:
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Season of seders arrives
Wednesday evening will usher in Passover, the central Jewish holiday whose seder meals are a cornucopia of food, family, tradition and ethical teachings. The seder commemorates the Israelites' liberation from bondage - and its theme of overcoming oppression and injustice has particular relevance at the annual model seder put on by the Black-Jewish Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. This year's event, the 19th annual, was held Monday at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Inside Neighbors
Your district's school board candidates and proposed budget.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)