Block Party

IN A CITY where justice frequently is thwarted by a no-snitching culture, Rodney Ramseur did what others are too scared or too heartless to do: He spoke up and told what he allegedly saw, fingering a former friend at a court hearing last week as the gunman who shot a neighbor in 2010. But Monday night, someone gunned down Ramseur and his girlfriend as they sat in a springtime drizzle on the porch of his Olney home. Now, police are probing whether a retaliation-minded murderer targeted Ramseur for his role in helping authorities prosecute the neighbor's slaying.

A playoff block party is scheduled for 4 p.m. today outside the AT&T Pavilion on the 11th Street side of the Wachovia Center in advance of the Stanley Cup finals. Doors to the arena will open at 6 p.m. Game time is 8 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early. The Phillies host the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park at 7:05 p.m. On the air An hourlong edition of "Flyers Pregame Live" will air on the Comcast Network, beginning at 7 p.m. The Phillies game will air on Comcast SportsNet.

A great Philadelphia institution - the block party - is having a resurgence this summer. There are signs of a block party revival all over the city, from the traditional bingo and cotton candy fests in South Philadelphia and Overbrook, to upscale restaurant shindigs in Center City. They are also becoming more common in quasi-suburban Northeast Philadelphia. The city has issued 642 block party permits so far this year, up about 25 percent from 1985, according to Barbara Kirgan, the Streets Department official who handles the permits.

For the last 12 years, the residents of the dead-end section of Dickinson Avenue in Swarthmore have held an annual block party in the turnaround at the end of the street. This year's event is scheduled for Sunday at 4:30 in the afternoon. If things run true to form, the weather will be hot and sticky, and the party will start slow. The big plastic garbage cans often show up first. They're followed by a grill of coals for the hot dogs and hamburgers, a cooler of ice and soda, another of ice and beer.

You don't have to be Latino to enjoy two high-energy Puerto Rican Festival Week events this weekend. But it will help if you like to dance. Three full orchestras and six supporting acts - all local talent - will gather tomorrow at an all-day block party (from noon to 9 p.m.) to help dedicate the new home of the Latin American Musicians Association (called AMLA after its Spanish initials), at Fifth and Somerset Streets. The bands at tomorrow's party include the brassy salsa orchestras Salseate (Salsa You)

"Daily News Live" on Comcast SportsNet will be broadcast at 5 p.m. today from the AT&T Pavilion at the Wachovia Center in advance of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final. Host Michael Barkann will be joined by Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann and Flyers beat writer Ed Moran as well as a Flyers player and broadcasters Bill Clement and Steve Coates. The show is part of the block party that begins at 4 p.m. inside and on the 11th Street side of the arena. The block party features live music, food, interactive games and celebrity appearances.

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat: Craig LaBan: We had an awesome block party Saturday with a long table of great pot-luck eats. My contribution was aglio-olio with zucchini laces, toasted garlic chips, and ricotta salata. And because the produce was so darn irresistible at the Rittenhouse farm market, I followed a day later with my favorite quick tomato sauce: cook a pint (or two) of halved yellow and red cherry tomatoes down fast and hard in EVOO and golden garlic, for about as long as it takes to boil the pasta.

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Andrew Bynum posted the Lakers' first playoff triple-double in 21 years with an NBA postseason record-tying 10 blocked shots, and Los Angeles controlled the tempo in a playoff-opening 103-88 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Bynum, the Lakers' all-star center coming off his best regular season, also had 10 points and 13 rebounds while blocking 11 percent of the Nuggets' 90 shots. While Bynum had the Lakers' first playoff triple-double since Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals, fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol added 13 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists for the playoff-tested Lakers, who never trailed while forcing the NBA's highest-scoring team to play Los Angeles' preferred half-court style.

Temple blocked 13 Florida State shots at the Leon County Civic Center, tying an 11-year-old school record. Sophomore center Kevin Lyde had eight of them, which was four more than his previous career high. It was only two off the school record set twice (both times against Penn State) by Duane Causwell a decade ago. Senior Lamont Barnes had four, which gives him 13 in three games. These are good things, no? Well, not to the only guy whose opinion really counts. The way John Chaney reacted last night, you might have thought his team had just tied a school best for airballs, behind-the-back passes or bargain-basement neckties.

The Houston Rockets reached down for something extra Tuesday night as Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson reached up and swatted 11 of the Los Angeles Lakers' shots between them. All told, the Rockets returned 12 L.A. shots to sender. A dirty dozen. And with Houston's 112-102 victory in Los Angeles, the NBA's Western Conference finals are deadlocked at 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for tomorrow night here at the Summit. "I would beat one of their big men, and the other one would come over and block my shot," the Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said.

IN A CITY where justice frequently is thwarted by a no-snitching culture, Rodney Ramseur did what others are too scared or too heartless to do: He spoke up and told what he allegedly saw, fingering a former friend at a court hearing last week as the gunman who shot a neighbor in 2010. But Monday night, someone gunned down Ramseur and his girlfriend as they sat in a springtime drizzle on the porch of his Olney home. Now, police are probing whether a retaliation-minded murderer targeted Ramseur for his role in helping authorities prosecute the neighbor's slaying.

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Andrew Bynum posted the Lakers' first playoff triple-double in 21 years with an NBA postseason record-tying 10 blocked shots, and Los Angeles controlled the tempo in a playoff-opening 103-88 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Bynum, the Lakers' all-star center coming off his best regular season, also had 10 points and 13 rebounds while blocking 11 percent of the Nuggets' 90 shots. While Bynum had the Lakers' first playoff triple-double since Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals, fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol added 13 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists for the playoff-tested Lakers, who never trailed while forcing the NBA's highest-scoring team to play Los Angeles' preferred half-court style.

YOU DON'T HAVE to be a technical whiz or science smarty to dive into the two dueling festivals kicking off in Philadelphia on Friday. The bigger 10-day Philadelphia Science Festival welcomes all comers, said Steven Snyder, vice president of exhibits and program development for the fest-planning Franklin Institute. "Our goal is to underscore how much of a science city Philadelphia is and how science plays into every aspect of our lives. The festival is geared for anybody who's interested in anything.

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat: Craig LaBan: We had an awesome block party Saturday with a long table of great pot-luck eats. My contribution was aglio-olio with zucchini laces, toasted garlic chips, and ricotta salata. And because the produce was so darn irresistible at the Rittenhouse farm market, I followed a day later with my favorite quick tomato sauce: cook a pint (or two) of halved yellow and red cherry tomatoes down fast and hard in EVOO and golden garlic, for about as long as it takes to boil the pasta.

Wes Pentz isn't a household name - yet. But the Philly DJ, label owner, and artist who performs under the name Diplo has nearly 300,000 Twitter followers and can be seen talking and crowd-surfing in a BlackBerry television ad. He has produced hit records by M.I.A. and had his stuff sampled by Beyoncé. The Roots' ?uestlove may have his own sushi roll at Zama, but Diplo has an action figure based on his musical collaboration as Major Lazer. Beyond commercial endorsements and cartoon toys, Diplo has a brand.

Friday-Saturday Scrapbooking The Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention, a gathering for scrapbookers and paper crafters, will offer shopping, classes, and time to work on projects at the Valley Forge Convention Center. Classes all day Friday and Saturday aim to present new techniques and ideas to participants. The Vendor Faire, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, allows guests to shop for an array of materials. Admission is free for children 9 and under, $7 to $10 for others.

At least five were killed and 12 others were wounded by gunfire around the city Saturday and Sunday. Among the wounded were three girls, ages 6, 10 and 15, who were hit by stray gunfire in a shooting Sunday night at an unauthorized party at a rec center at 33rd and Diamond Street in Strawberry Mansion. The apparent intended target - a man in his 20s - was hit six times and killed, police said. (Read more here .) And in another multiple shooting, a man who was booted from a Nicetown bar for smoking returned early Sunday and opened fire, killing one patron and wounding five others.

First came a shooting last Sunday. The same day, the former mayor was robbed. On Monday and Tuesday, there were more shootings. On Wednesday, a car chase ended in a midday gunfight between a robbery suspect and police. Five gun crimes occurred in 36 hours. But it wasn't until the wee hours of Friday, when someone fired shots into a car on the eve of a block party on Edgehill Road, near a cemetery and elementary school, that officials in beleaguered Darby decided that enough was enough.

Trade deficit, job losses aren't tied Donald Barlett and James B. Steele made a good case against government ineptness ("Why jobs keep vanishing," Sunday), but failed to correlate the trade deficit with unemployment. From 1984 to 1997, the deficit remained about the same, but unemployment varied between about 7.5 percent to 5.1 percent. By 2001, when the deficit ballooned to $390 billion, unemployment was about 4 percent, and after the North American Free Trade Agreement passed, job losses decreased - for the next seven years.