Breathing

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

This may come as a surprise, but City Council has almost done something right. The trash-to-steam plant bill has been moved from the Rules Committee, and could come before the full Council for a vote in two weeks. That in itself is reason for celebration - especially after eight months of David Cohen trying to convince the world the trash-to-steam proposal amounted to cooking nuclear waste in an open pit outside South Philadelphia day care centers. There are legitimate health and safety concerns about burning millions of tons of trash within breathing distance of residential areas.

It's as easy as breathing, the old saying goes. But breathing isn't as simple as you might think, especially during intense activity. In fact, when we're in the midst of an intense workout, we tend to forget how to do the little things, such as breathing properly. In an age in which athletes are trained to perform to their utmost, it seems strange to place a task as simple as breathing on their training agendas. But improper breathing has caused many a competitor to drop out of a match or to fall short of potential.

Everybody is in favor of breathing, right? That's why so many people in the world take an interest in preserving the Amazon rain forest (most of it in Brazil), the largest single source of oxygen on land. Most Americans don't realize, though, how preserving the rain forest dovetails with widely unpopular efforts like United States foreign aid. Brazil has agreed with the World Bank and World Wildlife Fund to protect 10 percent of the rain forest by 2000. The carrot part of that equation - World Bank economic support - depends significantly on United States contributions.

Margarita Rabin's asthma is so bad some days that she heads to the nurse's office as soon as she arrives at Stewart Middle School in Norristown. When the 12-year-old is in gym class or playing basketball, she often has trouble breathing after a few minutes of activity. She is plagued by the attacks even though she takes asthma medicines. "You can't breathe and it makes your chest real tight," Margarita said Thursday as she took part in an asthma screening program in the school auditorium.

In 1985, the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors was created to recommend ways to meet the nation's future recreational needs. In addition, it was hoped the 15-member commission, which included some western Republicans, would do some image-building for an administration generally regarded as anti- conservation. A draft of the commission's report, released late last year, called on the federal government to spend $1 billion annually - up from the current $20 million - for a trust fund to improve recreational opportunities, acquire public lands and encourage local and state park development.

In a bit of a shocker, Sharon Osbourne tells London's Daily Mirror that hubby Ozzy stopped breathing after his quad bike accident Monday. "He had stopped breathing for a minute and a half, and there was no pulse," she said. "But thank God the security guard was there to revive him. He resuscitated him and got him breathing and his pulse going again. " Osbourne, 55, who fractured eight ribs and a neck vertebra, remains on a ventilator. Doctors say he is progressing well, but slowly.

A tracheotomy is a procedure that is commonly done when severely ill people have problems breathing, said Joseph Spiegel, an otolaryngologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. It is seen as the most stable way to reestablish breathing in someone with a blockage and may be done either as a planned or emergency procedure. A tube is inserted into a hole cut in the windpipe below the vocal cords. That tube may or may not then be attached to a ventilator, a machine that breathes for the patient.

The word autodidact is not a bad one to describe saxophonist Tim Armacost. As he was being interviewed, Armacost was working on remodeling his home in Manhattan. As has happened in his career as a musician, Armacost had basically learned to do the work himself, but had had a good teacher overseeing him. "I am doing 70 percent of the work myself," Armacost said. "We bought this place three years ago. We were looking for a place that needed work, and we bought this with the idea of doing the work ourselves.

They look like they could be brothers, a couple of 6-foot-4 towheads with high cheekbones and, on this afternoon, big country smiles. Hunter Pence and Jake Diekman went through a whirlwind of emotions on Tuesday afternoon. Pence drew boos for a costly error, his second defensive misadventure of this homestand, then cranked the game-winning home run in the 10th inning. The homer - which for added delight came at the expense of old pal Brett Myers - earned a victory for Diekman in the young lefthander's major-league debut.

  An American Lung Association report on the nation's air quality has turned up a puzzling blip: In this heavily urbanized region, comparatively rural Chester County has the highest annual average for fine-particle pollution - the sooty stuff that carries chemical pollutants and lodges deep in the lungs. However, the county still meets air quality standards for the pollutant. It's one of many seeming dichotomies found in the report, which is to be released today. Overall, the air we breathe is getting much better.

The equipment that could add years to Kevin Neary's life came in a flat gray box the size of a frozen taco dinner. His father, Joe, pulled the device out of a backpack and placed it on the desk in a nondescript medical office park in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. "Let's do this," said Neary's surgeon, Matthew Kaufman. "I'm ready," said Neary. The 29-year-old graduate of the University of Pennsylvania had been on a ventilator since Nov. 15, when he was shot during an attempted robbery in Northern Liberties and left quadriplegic.

PITTSBURGH - Exhale, Philadelphia. The spring training of achy knees and infected heels, of gritted teeth and wrung hands, is finally behind the Phillies. They traveled across the commonwealth to play a game that counted, No. 1 of 162 on your pocket schedule. They were without the power of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, and their offense was as low-wattage as in your worst fever dream. Freddy Galvis, tasked with replacing Utley at second base, grounded into two inning-ending double plays.

ALMOST SINCE the day it was announced back in 2006, Revel, the $2.4 billion pleasure dome on the eastern end of Atlantic City's boardwalk, has been seen as a "game-changer. " That is, gaming industry observers and insiders have pinned the mega-resort as the Great Blue Hope (for its acres of azure exterior glass) that will restore AyCee's former glory as the epicenter of East Coast gaming and entertainment. Whether or not Revel can compel former Atlantic City visitors to return while simultaneously creating a new customer base of those who heretofore have resisted the seaside gambling capital's particular charms can be charted as of April 2, when the 6.5 million-square-foot behemoth begins welcoming the public.

For the last six years, Discovery Laboratories Inc. has seemed to be a living-dead company. The tiny Warrington drug firm had been seeking approval for its first product, called Surfaxin, from the Food and Drug Administration since April 2004. Surfaxin is a synthetic substance that hospitals use to prevent a respiratory illness that affects premature infants. But Discovery Labs encountered a series of setbacks, involving manufacturing and quality-control data, that led the FDA to delay approval several times.

It's not just about the story, it's also about the way you tell it. The French playwright Edmond Rostand gave us the story of Cyrano de Bergerac 115 years ago, and he told it in French rhyme - this great tale of unrequited passion, beauty, and ugliness, and the virtues and dangers of being larger than life. The play itself, about a cocky, eloquent swordsman whose Renaissance-man flair competes with his ungainly nose, sprawls, beginning in a theater, eventually moving to a theater of war, and finishing in a convent 15 years later.

Even those most committed to their practice deserve a reward. Each order (pick chocolate, sugar or gingerbread) features nimble cookie men showing off 10 different poses, from Downward Dog to Triangle. The New York-based bakery also sells the yoga cookie cutters, so you can perfect your moves in the kitchen, too. - Ashley Primis Yoga cookies from Baked Ideas, $35 for 10, bakedideas.com .

Mike Barretta is a veteran member of the Brotherhood of the Barbell. He opened one of the first free-weight gyms in South Philly back in 1981, he says, when bodybuilding was considered "uncool" and "the only people lifting weights were freaks and weirdos. " One of those "freaks" was his brother Rich, who won the 1987 Mr. America title. Though he respects the rigors of the pursuit, Barretta never much cared for bodybuilding. "It's a beauty contest," he says dismissively. Instead, he focused on powerlifting.

The rumors about which Catholic high schools are on the chopping block have been swirling for some time. As a result, wherever Brian Fluck and Jack Techtmann go, they are asked about the respective futures of West Catholic and Conwell-Egan. "This has been the elephant in the room at Conwell-Egan for two years," said Techtmann, the school's football coach. "To be honest with you, we're looking for this thing to be resolved one way or another. " Said Fluck, West's athletic director and football coach: "I've heard between 10 to 12 rumors.