Burger King

SO OBAMA didn't make the obligatory stop at Pat's or Geno's. I applaud him on skipping the two tourist traps that are the McDonald's and Burger King of cheesesteaks in the city. There are other joints to get a great cheesesteak, including Jim's, D'Allessandro's and John's Roast Pork. Bryan Flannery, Chalfont

This week, I reached out for a Hickory Smoked Whopper, offered for a limited time only at Burger King. Here's the blueprint: Start with a regular, fully loaded Whopper off the assembly line, then crown it with a slice of hickory-smoked Cheddar cheese and four half-slices of hickory-smoked bacon. Voila! A Hickory Smoked Whopper. And the sweet hickory really does kick the burger up a notch. In a related development, the seventh president of the United States was Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson.

To you, a french fry may only be an accompaniment to a hamburger. But to McDonald's and Burger King, it is the ultimate weapon in the fast-food wars. And the $39 billion burger battle between the fast-food giants is heating up this week as McDonald's is starting to test-market a new hamburger - called the MBX or Big Extra - in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and parts of Delaware. But in a major strategic assault, Burger King is determined to wrest some of McDonald's french fry faithful away.

Bartholomew J. Simpson, this year's favorite sociopath, is disrupting things again. This time, two TV networks are refusing to air Burger King commercials featuring the Simpson family. Representatives from NBC and ABC say it is the networks' policies "not to accept commercials featuring characters from competitive programs while they are in character" or commericals that make a blatant mention of a competing show. CBS and Fox will run the ads. "We just don't run commercials with characters from competing shows," says David Horowitz, a spokesman for ABC, who adds that the "policy is currently under review.

Bucks County health officials yesterday inoculated more than 700 people who feared they had been exposed to type-A hepatitis at a Burger King in Doylestown or a drive-in theater in Warrington Township. A food handler at the Bucks County Drive-In theater on Route 611 and an employee at the Burger King on Main Street have contracted type-A hepatitis and may have infected some patrons, health officials said. The two workers are friends. County Health Director Lewis Polk said thousands of people were exposed.

The Whitpain Township Planning Commission has recommended approval of two proposed subdivisions that would total more than 100 single-family houses. During its meeting Tuesday night, the commission reviewed requests by Plymouth Meeting builder Michael Nolen for a 50-lot subdivision on Skippack Pike near Belfry Drive and for a 66-lot subdivision on North Wales Road near Pulaski Drive. Nolen plans to build estate homes, with lots of about three-quarters of an acre or more, on the 46.66-acre Skippack Pike tract.

Just ask Philadelphia narcotics cops: They'll take hamburgers with their coke anytime. Narcotics investigators conducted a drug raid in North Philadelphia yesterday and seized $15,000 worth of cocaine, crack and heroin, police said. On the way back, officers noticed a man in a Burger King cap struggling with a heavy duffel bag labeled "Burger King" on Fairmount Avenue near 11th Street. They stopped him and took him back to the Burger King on Broad Street near Mount Vernon, where he was identified as employee Kevin Watson, 34, of Gratz Street near 67th Avenue.

A suspect was arrested and more than $2,600 was recovered minutes after a holdup last Thursday at the Burger King at West Chester Pike and Victory Avenue, Upper Darby. Police said the suspect was a 17-year-old Philadelphia youth. They gave this account: A Burger King employee was taking out trash about 11:05 p.m. when a youth approached with what appeared to be a gun and told the employee he wanted to go into the office. He entered the restaurant, which was closed for business, and told the three people inside to lie on the floor, threatening to kill them if he did not get what he wanted.

Two brothers were shot in the parking lot of a Pennsauken fast-food restaurant Friday night after becoming involved in a fight with two other men, Pennsauken police said yesterday. Luis Burgos, 17, of Camden, was shot in the neck and suffered multiple fractures. He was listed in fair condition yesterday at Cooper Hospital- University Medical Center. Antonio Rivera, 22, of Collingswood, his brother, was listed in critical but stable condition at Cooper Hospital. He was also shot in the neck area and suffered facial injuries.

Police said yesterday that they plan to charge a 15-year-old male freshman with making two bomb threats at Pottsgrove High last week, forcing the school's evacuation. The boy is also considered a suspect in a bomb threat that prompted the Pottsgrove superintendent to close five district schools on Tuesday, Police Chief Ray Bechtel of Lower Pottsgrove Township said. The suspect, identified to authorities by a schoolmate, was released to his parents last night, Bechtel said.