Aids

Richard Turkington, 63, of Collegeville, a Villanova University law professor for 27 years who was a leading expert on the First Amendment and privacy laws, died of cancer May 20 at home. "He was a pioneer in the area," said John Decker, a professor at DePaul University Law School in Chicago and a friend. "Nobody dealt as deeply or comprehensively with the issue of privacy as he did. " Professor Turkington wrote Teacher's Manual for Privacy and was contributing editor to AIDS, A Medical-Legal Handbook and AIDS, Law and Society.

Edward I. Savitz, 51, the meek Center City actuary whose bizarre sexual fetishes made him front page news in Philadelphia and the nation last year, died Saturday of AIDS. Mr. Savitz died at a Philadelphia hospice, where he had been transferred about a week ago by court order. Previously, he had been held in the prison wing of Girard Medical Center. "He's finally at peace and he is no longer tormented by those who accused him of infecting thousands with AIDS," said Barnaby C. Wittels, his lawyer.

Some 30,000 people raised a record $1.3 million in yesterday's AIDS walk in Philadelphia. They included (counterclockwise from left) Yaughnda Two Feathers and Jacques English, picking up info; Al Polk, holding photo of brother-in-law who died of AIDS; marchers along Kelly Drive, and Eric Burgos, 9, with photo of his mother, Judy, who also died of AIDS. His sisters are comforted by relatives Corwin and Chris Candelario.

Participants in a walk-a-thon to aid AIDS patients listen to speakers at Eakins Oval in front of the Art Museum yesterday (right) before setting off on an eight-mile walk along West River Drive. The "From All Walks of Life" event raised pledges totaling at least $100,000 for local AIDS research, education and service organizations, according to organizers. The walk-a-thon was sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Secretary of Education William Bennett likes a good fight. He doesn't flinch at telling schools how to teach, parents how to raise their children and Democratic presidential hopefuls how to run their campaigns. He even dabbles in foreign policy by announcing how wonderful the Contras are. But Bennett's current battle with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is a dangerous exercise in right-wing ideology that may wind up hurting millions of young people. Koop has been the federal government's only straight talker on acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Before setting off on the AIDS Walk yesterday, Christopher Ramos of Center City holds up a poster of his brother at the Art Museum. Ariel Ramos, who had AIDS, died this year.

A former valet to Prince Charles has died from AIDS, a friend and British newspapers said yesterday. Stephen Barry, 37, who served as Charles' valet for 12 years until 1981, died Saturday at St. Stephen's Hospital in London, according to Stephen Hayter, a public relations expert who was a close friend. The hospital confirmed Barry's death, but declined to disclose the cause. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said Barry served as Charles' manservant until he "retired" in 1981.

IN A BATTLE of the bands held Saturday to benefit the Chester County AIDS Support Services group, Dave Lords of Trinity takes the stage. The event drew 34 bands to the Great Valley Shopping Center to compete for prize money and studio time.

More than 400 quilts, hand-sewn by church, school and community groups, schoolchildren and employees of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, the pharmaceutical company with offices in Collegeville, were donated this month to the organization ABC (At-Risk Baby Crib) Quilts for use by children with AIDS in area hospitals.

WASHINGTON - President Obama picked a senior White House budget official to become acting head of the IRS on Thursday, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency amid the controversy over agents targeting tea party groups. Obama named longtime civil servant Daniel Werfel as acting IRS commissioner. Werfel, 42, serves as controller of the Office of Management and Budget, making him a key player in implementing recent automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

YAYLADAGI, Turkey - Facing one of the world's largest refugee crises in decades, Turkish officials are urgently appealing for international financial assistance and calling on wealthy nations to start accepting large numbers of Syrian refugees. The stance marks a shift for the Turkish government, which had long insisted that Ankara would manage and pay for the refugee crisis on its own as a matter of national pride. But with the cost to Turkey hitting $1.5 billion, an estimated 400,000 refugees in the country, and a total of one million expected by the end of the year, pressure is building.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - After an office manager for New Jersey City University admitted embezzling $486,000 in student funds three years ago, the U.S. Department of Education began auditing the use of all federal money by the state college. It soon discovered that $608,766 in federally subsidized loans and grant money had been improperly awarded by the school - in some cases to students who flunked out or never showed up to class, making them ineligible for financial assistance. An examination of federal Department of Education records by The Star-Ledger of Newark shows that NJCU was not the only state college in New Jersey cited for giving too much money to students who were either ineligible for the aid or whose financial need was overestimated.

Pennsylvania has demonstrated "continued failure" in paying first-time unemployment benefits in a timely fashion, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Further, the commonwealth has been "trending downward" in its efforts to get payments to state residents on time, the department added in a March 29 letter. "Failure to issue benefits in a timely fashion contributes to the economic instability of customers," reads the letter, written by Lenita Jacobs-Simmons, regional administrator for the federal Employment and Training Administration.

Is it just me, or does it feel a little, I don't know, gross that, while we're awash in headlines about a "Doomsday Budget" for our public schools, a cadre of well-coiffed businessmen are sharing grandiose plans for yet another Philadelphia casino? How'd we get here? Seems as if, over the last decade, gaming has become a type of crack cocaine for a whole generation of politicians: With their budgets squeezed by economic downturn and an electorate all too willing to vote out of office anyone who considers a tax hike, our so-called leaders - rather than make the hard choices and right-size their governments - have opted for the quick-fix high of casinos, long-term consequences be damned.

BEIRUT - Syria will supply "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah, the chief of the Lebanese militant group said Thursday, less than a week after Israeli air strikes on Damascus targeted alleged shipments of advanced Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah. Israel has signaled it will respond with air strikes to any weapons shipments, meaning it could quickly get drawn into Syria's civil war if the Hezbollah chief's declaration is more than an empty threat. Tension has been rising in the region since Israel struck targets inside Syria on Friday and Sunday.

In a swift meeting Tuesday evening in which none of the Camden Board of Education members answered any questions from worried school employees, the board approved the layoff of nearly 100 teachers and support staff and all 113 lunch aides. The board also approved the layoff of Joseph Carruth, the principal who was just rehired by the district at the start of the school year after a tumultuous court battle to get his job back. More than 100 people showed up for Tuesday's meeting at the school administration building.

TRENTON - An Assembly panel has moved forward with measures to create a constitutional amendment that would double the income limit for New Jersey seniors and disabled people to qualify for a property tax rebate. The measures approved Monday by the Appropriations Committee call for raising the income eligibility from $10,000 to $20,000, before Social Security benefits. It now goes before the full Assembly, though a hearing date has not yet been scheduled. If approved by voters, the amendment would make an additional 100,000 taxpayers eligible for an annual $250 rebate.

INDIANAPOLIS - Former U.S. Health and Human Service Secretary Otis R. Bowen has died. He was 95. Bowen helped promote safe sex practices in the early years of the AIDS crisis as the top federal health official under President Ronald Reagan. He also served two terms as Indiana's governor, overhauling the state's tax system. Gov. Mike Pence said Bowen died Saturday. Pence didn't disclose the cause of death. Before his rise to become a wildly popular Republican governor from 1973-1981 in Indiana, Bowen was a small-town doctor.

CAMARILLO, Calif. - Cool, moist air moving into Southern California on Sunday helped firefighters build containment lines around a huge wildfire burning through coastal mountains. Fire crews took advantage of improved conditions as the high winds and hot, dry air of recent days were replaced by the normal Pacific air, significantly reducing fire activity. The 44-square-mile blaze at the western end of the Santa Monica Mountains was 60 percent surrounded Sunday morning. Full containment was expected Monday, according to Ventura County fire officials.