Big Pond

Everyone told Tamal Forchion he was taking a risk. He agreed, but he didn't let it faze him. "All I heard was, 'You're going to get lost over there. You're going to be a little fish in a big pond,' " Forchion said. "I blocked that talk out. I came over and took my shot. " What Forchion, a 6-6, 210-pound sophomore forward at Roman Catholic High, came over was the Delaware River. He has lived in Willingboro, N.J., for 11 months and previously lived in nearby Delran. Forchion heard about Roman as an eighth-grader at Delran Middle School, where one of his teachers was friendly with Roman assistant Pat McKee.

Janice Davis, who as Mayor Street's finance director helped oversee everything from bond deals to insurance to the pension fund, will be a government witness in the case alleging corruption in City Hall, federal prosecutors said yesterday. In a court filing, prosecutors also revealed that the Rev. Frank D. McCracken, a Reading minister and former Reading city councilman, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges and to a new charge of tax evasion for failing to report $600,000 in income over three years.

Off-track. Way off-track. That's the best way to describe President Bush's plan, announced this week, to turn over Amtrak, the national rail system, to hard-pressed states and private companies. It's a plan that goes in the absolute wrong direction. Just look across the big pond. Over in Great Britain, the apostles of privatization are now desperately trying to salvage the nation's failing rail service after turning it over to a bunch of uncoordinated railroad companies several years ago. In fact, former Amtrak president George Warrington, who now heads NJ Transit, said British transportation officials were looking to Amtrak's Northeast corridor as a model for reviving its rail system.

A French court ruled last week that Ira Einhorn can be extradited to the United States. The catch is that it could be as long as two years before he actually returns to Philadelphia in handcuffs. In the meanwhile, he's free. What will he do? Though that thought may trouble many, including District Attorney Lynne Abraham, the answer is not 100 percent clear. Philadelphia's most famous bail-jumper indeed might flee again - for a number of reasons, it wouldn't be that difficult - but there are also reasons for him to conclude that it would be better to face the music back in the States.

The statistics will say Meg Mallon missed the 14th fairway with her tee shot. But that wouldn't be quite accurate. What the stats should say is that Mallon hit the 13th fairway twice yesterday. Both times intentionally. Mallon chose the path of least resistance on the 14th hole, a 406-yard par 4. Instead of flirting with the water on the right or sand on the left, as every other player did, Mallon played her tee shot into the neighboring 13th fairway, which is more open. From there she hit her approach onto the green and made a two-putt par. The crazy logic could allow Mallon to win the U.S. Open without ever setting foot on the 14th fairway.

The last time we saw Jimmy Vasser in Victory Lane, he was posing in front of an armored car and the $1 million he won from the pole at the inaugural U.S. 500 on May 26. Vasser's Italian teammate, Alex Zanardi, had been dominant in leading the race until his engine blew with 75 laps to go, making it a bittersweet Memorial Day weekend victory in Brooklyn, Mich., for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. The duo will be back at Michigan International Speedway for tomorrow's Marlboro 500 (Channel 6, 2:30 p.m.)

Timberlake, East Norriton Township, Montgomery County Just inside the secured front gate of Timberlake Apartments is a sign - Welcome Home. It says a lot . . . but not all, because calling Timberlake home means having a veritable country club of amenities at your doorstep, as well as a warm, friendly place to live. "It's really true," Barbara Wenzel, a resident at Timberlake since 1975, said while chatting with friends by the pool. "It's very homey here. And, in addition to the pool, there are the trees and a big pond.

In ways large and small, the shuttering of the federal government is taking a toll. Instead of saving money by sending federal workers home, taxpayers actually will pay more for this stare-down between President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders. The federal employees' union, for instance, estimates it eventually will cost $1 billion a week to pay wages for work not done. The furloughed workers are not being paid now, but congressional leaders have promised to restore lost pay. And that does not include what the government will spend on administrative costs of dealing with the shutdown and penalties on broken contracts.

Amy Arnold knew that someday somebody would break her basketball career scoring record of 1,213 points at Avon Grove. And if anybody was going to do it, she thought it would be Amy Wahl, a freshman when Arnold was a senior. And when Wahl did break it in a holiday tournament last month, Arnold, now a junior point guard at Messiah College, was happy to be there. She didn't think she would make it. "We were playing in a tournament in California and I didn't think I would be back in time," said Arnold.

Insurance agent Michael Garvin told clients in Delaware and Chester Counties that he had a super deal for them - inexpensive health coverage guaranteed by Lloyd's of London and the AFL-CIO. By simply paying a $75 membership fee to join a newly formed labor union, anyone could participate in an AFL-CIO-backed health-and-welfare plan, Garvin told clients. Through Lloyd's, Garvin related, the union plan offered better coverage than the best insurance policies in America. And the premiums, he said, were about 40 percent lower than traditional health insurance.