Daily News

RICHARD DeCoatsworth, a five-year veteran police officer who was hailed as a hero after being shot in the face by a suspect in 2007 but who more recently drew controversial headlines, left the force last week. DeCoatsworth, whose most recent assignment was with the Marine Unit, took disability retirement from the department after it was determined that injuries from the 2007 shooting prevented him from continuing to do police work, said spokesman Lt. Ray Evers. After he caught the shotgun blast to the face as a rookie cop in 2007, DeCoatsworth was invited to attend a February 2009 presidential speech.

RON JAWORSKI treats opportunity like a Doberman treats prime rib. So when Tim Tebow was released by the New York Jets on April 29, Jaworski took a shot by reaching out to the unemployed quarterback and offered him a roster spot with the Soul. He's still waiting for a reply. "I haven't heard back from him and I'm not going to push it," said Jaworski, one of the Soul's owners. "If he decides he wants to play Arena Football, we'll make a spot for him. " Jaworski and Soul coach Clint Dolezel sent Tebow a list of plays they had in mind for him, most were around the goal line.

THE FORECAST looks like unemployment for John Bolaris. The Fox 29 meteorologist, who two years ago survived an encounter with a Russian and Eastern European organized-crime group, could not survive the storm winds of office politics. Bolaris had been suspended since Dec. 22, but yesterday a Fox spokeswoman confirmed: "We mutually agreed that it was time to part ways. " She declined to comment further on the parting. As we reported on PhillyGossip.com on Dec. 23, Bolaris was suspended indefinitely just days after Playboy magazine published an article about his being drugged and scammed by two European hotties in Miami Beach in March 2010, a story first reported by the Daily News last May . In Playboy, Bolaris was quoted as saying that he had gone with the women because "I'm a guy. There was the thought I might get laid," and he discussed his reputation as a ladies' man. He also shared nude photos of women on his cellphone with writer Pat Jordan.

D EAR HARRY: A number of years ago, it was recommended that we attend a seminar given by an insurance company regarding long-term-care insurance. The speaker was convincing. He placed less emphasis on the need than on the low premiums we would have if we got the insurance at a young age. I bought the insurance. Over the years, the premiums increased several times. I understood that this was a result of a declining value of the dollar and the increases in life expectancy. I recently received a notice that my next premium would show an increase of 30 percent.

JOURNALISM is an art. But it parades its words as a science at times. We in the news business take printed words and give them to what we hope is an eager public wanting facts. We try to do that in an interesting way without being sensationalistic. When the news is something completely new, like the recent SARS epidemic, we give as much information as possible and as many viewpoints. I learned this from Daily News editor Zack Stalberg and former editorial page editor Richard Aregood.

Staff writer Bob Warner and the Daily News should be ashamed of themselves for the article on June 21, about Joseph F. Hoffman Jr. Hoffman, who is a son of a Democratic ward leader, threw out "more than twice as many tickets as anybody else" in a six-year period. Does the Daily News commend Hoffman on his excessive productivity? No. Does the Daily News give credit to Hoffman for saving the city at least another person's salary and benefits costs for that six-year period?

Richard Aregood, whose take-no-prisoners editorials helped define the Daily News for two decades, is leaving the paper to take a job with The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. Aregood's decision to leave the Daily News was prompted in part by disagreements with editor Zachary Stalberg over the mission of the editorial and opinion pages, as well as cutbacks in his department. During his years on the Daily News, Aregood won journalism's top awards for editorial writing, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1985.

The Daily News loves to fight for the little guy. Well, score one for the Daily News and two of its fearless reporters. Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism Monday for a series of stories that exposed a rogue police narcotics squad. Kudos, too, to Inquirer cartoonist Tony Auth, a Pulitzer finalist for his drawings "expressing consistently fearless positions on national and local issues. " The awards once again affirm the important role that vibrant newspapers play - even in tough times - not just here in the Cradle of Liberty, but across America.

Attorney and former mayoral candidate Charles W. Bowser has filed suit against the Daily News and Daily News associate editor Don Williamson, charging that he was the victim of false and defamatory statements in a column written by Williamson. In a suit filed in Common Pleas Court, Bowser accused Williamson of describing him as a black bigot and of making other disparaging remarks in a column about last summer's Urban Journalism Workshop for minority high school students, sponsored by the Daily News and the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund.

THE Daily News had the Phillies making the playoffs on the Monday before the season ended, and we know how that turned out. On Nov. 1, six days before the election, your headline said, "All over but the voting. " Headlines like these are more hurtful than helpful. Perhaps the third time you're inclined to predict the future, you'll bite your tongues and think how you might have blown it for us twice before. Stan Gibell Philadelphia

I AM disappointed by the logic of several recent fellow Daily News letter writers. Of course Dr. Gosnell's actions are inexcusable, and every effort should be made to prevent something like this from ever happening again. But to suggest that further restricting women's access to health services is the answer cruelly ignores the fact that more restrictions will only lead to the greater risk that women will seek care at rogue, law-evading providers, because those are the only ones in their area or the only ones they can afford.

IN WASHINGTON, as in any seat of power, most acts of folly begin with hubris. Government leaders usually don't intend to do the wrong thing, but they become so certain of their purpose that they are blinded by their pride. Perhaps that's the root of the problem infecting the Justice Department, where officials secretly obtained months of telephone records of journalists working for the Associated Press. That Attorney General Eric Holder or anyone else there could find that action acceptable is frightening, to say the least.

A gentleman suggested that you change your name to the "Republicans bad - Democrats good" paper. Maybe he can't handle the truth. I watch political shows daily and most of them offer different views from all sides. Ironically what I hear from them is the same stuff I read in the Daily News . Obviously this person gets his info somewhere else, otherwise he would be glad that the Daily News prints the truth whether it hurts or not. Thank you, Daily News . Rus Slawter Philadelphia Cellphones, cigarettes, marijuana and other contraband reportedly being smuggled into the city's prisons.

CRIMINAL investigators descended on Delaware County's troubled Colwyn Borough yesterday in connection with a probe of a former Philadelphia cop who was secretly hired to oversee the suburban police department. The latest raid in Colwyn, a dysfunctional little burg on the border of Southwest Philly, appeared to be focused on Rochelle Bilal, who recently left her city job but has been quietly working a side gig in the borough since September, apparently in violation of city police rules, the Daily News reported last month.

D EAR HARRY: A number of years ago, it was recommended that we attend a seminar given by an insurance company regarding long-term-care insurance. The speaker was convincing. He placed less emphasis on the need than on the low premiums we would have if we got the insurance at a young age. I bought the insurance. Over the years, the premiums increased several times. I understood that this was a result of a declining value of the dollar and the increases in life expectancy. I recently received a notice that my next premium would show an increase of 30 percent.

I AM A single father of two and I am about to graduate from college, as well. I have applied for thousands of jobs. I have not failed a drug test and have no criminal record, and I am finding it hard to get a job. I do not wish to be on unemployment, but due to the fact that Gov. Corbett is not doing his job of creating jobs instead of giving businesses tax breaks and CEOs higher pay, I struggle just like thousands of other willing-to-work Pennsylvania residents....

D EAR HARRY: We are going to move to a retirement community this summer. Reluctantly, after 47 years, we are selling our lovely home. The problem we are facing is one of choosing a broker to represent us on the sale. The house is a semi-custom one we had built with small modifications to a builder's plan. Similar homes in the area recently have sold for about $225,000. Can you please tell us what we should look for in a real-estate broker? WHAT HARRY SAYS: The market in real estate has shown some renewed vigor in the last year.

THE UNION was shut out by the New England Revolution, 2-0, in an MLS game Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The Revolution (2-3-2) scored twice in the second half to secure the win. The Union is 3-3-2. "That was not reflective of the kind of game we are capable of playing. And it was probably our worst performance on the year so far," Union manager John Hackworth said. "In a lot of ways, it's frustrating because we've been playing consistent and at least the way we tried to play tonight - it just wasn't the same.

Enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card by picking the first round of the NFL Draft:  Play the Daily News' Draft Challenge.  (Use promo code F73W.) NEW YORK - E.J. Manuel met his idol, Donovan McNabb, 2 years ago through quarterback guru George Whitfield. McNabb, a versatile, star quarterback long ago at Syracuse, counseled Manuel on focusing on development at Florida State. Manuel dined with McNabb on Tuesday night in New York, 2 days before Manuel will be drafted.

THE Daily News ' Jill Porter and Bob Warner first exposed the stolen-house scam in 2000. Here's what has happened since: * In 2001, the District Attorney's Office assigned a grand jury to investigate suspicious deeds, and 20 people were indicted. City Council held hearings on the issue. * In 2004, the Records Department began alerting owners whenever a new deed was recorded on their property. It also photographed anyone who recorded a deed. * In 2007, former Common Pleas President Judge Darnell Jones established a program to expedite fraudulent-deed cases through the civil-court system.