Putting kids in their place
Whether she's standing before a classroom, driving around the city in a police cruiser or walking through her neighborhood, Darlene Chapman Cummings is surrounded by kids. Having already raised four of her...
One big party
It was politics and pasta Monday inside Maggiano's Italian Restaurant, across from the Reading Terminal Market. Councilman-at-Large Jim Kenney was among the lunchtime crowd who, between bites of oversized portions of Italian...
Leaping cat
As soon as I take delivery of an emerald green Jaguar XKR convertible, I start seeing them everywhere. On two occasions, I've been alongside identical models on I-95. I flipped the owners a...
Slow-paced suspense
The Village, the fifth film by the Philadelphia area's own M. Night Shyamalan, is perhaps the writer-director's most gutsy. It takes its time to get to the climax and once it reaches it, it's...
Fish out of water
An exotic species of fish that turned up in a Maryland pond two years ago has made its way into local waters. A pair of anglers caught three northern snakeheads, each 13...
Throw a Toga Party
Several days before the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in 1992, I took great delight in shopping for ingredients to prepare a splendid French supper. The games were held in Albertville, France...
Neighbors cry foul
By most accounts, the March 21 implosion of Veterans Stadium was a sound success. The explosions went off as planned, the arena collapsed in a heap and homes in the neighborhood remained...
Getting their frills
As Rachel Garber walks down Passyunk Avenue, she looks as if she stepped out of a Victorian villa of the late 1880s. Walking briskly, she's dressed in a flowing floral dress and matching...