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A PHOTO of Emmett Till's casket that I saw on Facebook last week chilled me to my core. I was reminded of that tragedy from our nation's history of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi during the summer of 1955, who offended a white woman and who wound up paying with his life. Next, I found myself staring at a photo of the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market, where Till and the shop owner's wife, Carolyn Bryant, whom Till is said to have whistled at, had encountered each other.

In the 1960s, drug dealers and street crime came to Thomas Glennon's North Philadelphia neighborhood, a place rapidly earning its nickname - the Badlands. "People who had walked their dogs every night for 40 years suddenly were being assaulted on the street for the change in their pockets," said Glennon, who grew up at Fifth and Allegheny. His family moved away, along with anyone else who had the means to do so. These days, Glennon, 65, and 400 other members of the Nicetown-Tioga diaspora are back together on Facebook.

Neil Geckle posted on his Facebook page that he likes to come home and "relieve myself of the days stresses" by looking at his Twi'lek bikini calendar. According to "Wookieepedia" — the Star Wars version of Wikipedia — the Twi'leks are a humanoid race of aliens, and the females are considered exceptionally beautiful. As strange as that is, Radnor police said Geckle, 19, had an even more disturbing pastime. He allegedly took photos of high school girls from Facebook, masturbated to them and then took pictures of his penis next to each girl's photo after the act. He then posted those photos to the girls' Facebook pages, police said.

THE PAGAN stationed on a corner of Atlantic Avenue in Wildwood stood with his burly arms crossed over his belly, guarding the infamous motorcycle club's hotel-turned-fortress like a living, breathing gargoyle. Behind him, yellow caution tape and blue tarps draped the Binns Motor Inn - a signal from the Pagan's Motorcycle Club for "citizens" and nosy cops to keep out during the 2011 Roar to the Shore biker rally this month. It's the same hotel where federal prosecutors say that leaders of the Pagan's Long Island chapter at last year's rally told their minions to prepare for death or prison as they plotted a hand-grenade attack on the rival Hells Angels.

SEARCHERS returned from the forests and fields Sunday night, their voices hoarse from calling Autumn's name, and those who loved her the most huddled close together in Clayton, holding fast to hope. Meanwhile, at 8:16 p.m., a 15-year-old Clayton boy logged onto Facebook and, along with nearly 17,000 other people across the country, clicked "Like" on the FIND AUTUMN PASQUALE page. But authorities say Justin Robinson knew exactly where Pasquale was - because he allegedly had lured her to his home on East Clayton Avenue on Saturday afternoon and then beat and strangled the seventh-grader with the help of his brother, Dante Robinson, 17, before they stuffed her into a blue recycling container.

It is not your typical five-minute wait. With each second ticking by, your Facebook page stays the same. Then the red notification flag flashes on your blue screen. Congratulations, you have received your first like on your post. As people post their status, photos, or videos, competition begins with the number of likes or comments they receive. Whether that competition is healthy for teenagers is an open question. For some teens, the problem arises when they realize that their friends get way more likes or comments than they do. Many people have argued that social media websites enhance a person's self-esteem instead of deflating it. Others disagree, saying that social media websites are not a good place for people with low self-esteem.

To the Bock family of Chester Springs, the Bernese mountain dogs Fiona and Argus were happy, loving pets. To neighbor Gabriel Pilotti, they were apparently pests. And when he found them loose among his sheep last week, he shot them dead. "It was just really vicious," Mary Bock said. The dogs had not touched the sheep. Pilotti could not be reached for comment. As of Thursday evening, the Chester County District Attorney's Office and the West Vincent Township police still were trying to determine what happened the morning of Feb. 12 in a part of Chester County where sheep, horses, and alpacas amble in yards larger than the patches of green in more urbanized suburbs and smaller than more rural farms.

AFTER FIGHTING lawsuit after lawsuit filed by developers irked by their decisions, the Old City Civic Association waved a white flag yesterday and announced it has disbanded its developments and liquor committees because it no longer could afford skyrocketing liability insurance. "OCCA will continue its various community improvement and outreach activities, such as its semiannual tree planting, cleanup and 'hazmat' removal days, social events and tours of historical places," association President Ryan N. Berley wrote on the group's Facebook page.

A 21-year-old Delaware County man was nabbed by Denver police last night after fleeing some 1,700 miles from where cops say he murdered his boss at a landscaping company while he was having an affair with the boss' wife. Stephen Shappell, 21, spent two days on the lam before he was captured by police about 6:10 p.m. A Denver Police public information officer had few details last night but did say Shappell had been captured on foot. When he's returned here, Shappell will face homicide and related charges for the death of landscape company owner Kevin Mengel Jr., of West Goshen, Chester County, police said.

Gone are the days of just buttons and banners for politicians to reach their constituents. Welcome to the new political arena full of commercials, blog posts, and hundreds of tweets. Through social media, politicians are now able to constantly display their message through endless commercials, see direct responses to their actions via Facebook or Twitter, and connect with a single person at the push of a button. As State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester) introduced legislation last year that would strengthen Pennsylvania's animal cruelty laws, his camp was overwhelmed with positive feedback from the animal-loving community.

MAYBE "Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker" likes his caramel lattes with an extra shot. The homeless 24-year-old - who was launched to YouTube fame in February after a bizarre television interview he gave about using a hatchet to stop a madman from attacking a woman - was arrested on a murder charge in Philadelphia about 6 p.m. last night after being spotted at a Center City Starbucks. Officials in Union County, N.J., announced earlier yesterday that the hitchhiker was wanted in the bludgeoning death of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy Jr., who was found beaten to death Monday morning inside his Clark home.

For the family of Sunil Tripathi, the prolonged and painful vigil ended Thursday. Authorities identified a body found in the Providence River as that of the 22-year-old Brown University student from the Main Line who disappeared in Rhode Island last month. Tripathi, 22, left his Providence apartment on March 16 without his wallet, identification, and cellphone. The Radnor Township native left behind a vague note that hinted at suicidal intent. Members of Brown's crew team found the body in the river Tuesday.

OXFORD, Miss. - The investigation into poisoned letters mailed to President Obama and others has shifted from an Elvis impersonator to his longtime foe, and authorities must now figure out whether an online feud between them might have grown into something more sinister. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from a north Mississippi jail on Tuesday, and charges against him were dropped, nearly a week after authorities charged him with sending ricin-laced letters to the president, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and an 80-year-old Lee County, Miss., Justice Court judge, Sadie Holland.

AFTER FIGHTING lawsuit after lawsuit filed by developers irked by their decisions, the Old City Civic Association waved a white flag yesterday and announced it has disbanded its developments and liquor committees because it no longer could afford skyrocketing liability insurance. "OCCA will continue its various community improvement and outreach activities, such as its semiannual tree planting, cleanup and 'hazmat' removal days, social events and tours of historical places," association President Ryan N. Berley wrote on the group's Facebook page.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - In a tiny room on the fourth floor of Brown University's student center, Sunil Tripathi's family is waiting for him to come home. The Brown student and Radnor native went missing a month ago, and the Tripathis have been plastering the town with photos ever since. Nicknamed "Sunny," the 22-year-old smiles from the windows of campus eateries and downtown businesses. In the student center, his family has been running Facebook and Twitter campaigns, looking for any clues into his disappearance.

BOSTON - Like many overseas Chinese, she had taken an American first name: Dorothy. On Wednesday, after her family confirmed her death in the Boston Marathon bombing, she received an American tribute. Outside the Daniel Marsh Chapel on the campus of Boston University, students placed bouquets in memory of Lu Lingzi, a graduate student who studied statistics. Someone set down a pair of Reebok running shoes. Someone else left a green hat with a shamrock. Nearby, U.S. and university flags flew at half-staff.

Q: I went to my high-school reunion last weekend and met an old lover I hadn't seen in 20 years. We chatted, caught up with each other. I told him I'm happily married and gave him no hint of interest at all, but when the evening came to an end, he made a pass at me! It was as if he thought he could have me again, just because of the past. I was more annoyed at his presumption than insulted. Did I make a mistake even talking to him? Steve: As Proust observed, "Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them.

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - It was only a small rectangle made of bronze. And compared with all she lost in the last several years - her husband to a car accident, their Mantoloking beach house to Hurricane Sandy - the loss of the bronze could have seemed insignificant. But to Lori Juliano-Slack it was everything, a touchstone to her husband's memory that had been placed on the wooden railing along their beach pathway by the town. So it was heartbreaking when the commemorative plague honoring Steven F. Slack'stragic 2007 passing washed away in the storm.

Gone are the days of just buttons and banners for politicians to reach their constituents. Welcome to the new political arena full of commercials, blog posts, and hundreds of tweets. Through social media, politicians are now able to constantly display their message through endless commercials, see direct responses to their actions via Facebook or Twitter, and connect with a single person at the push of a button. As State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester) introduced legislation last year that would strengthen Pennsylvania's animal cruelty laws, his camp was overwhelmed with positive feedback from the animal-loving community.

It is not your typical five-minute wait. With each second ticking by, your Facebook page stays the same. Then the red notification flag flashes on your blue screen. Congratulations, you have received your first like on your post. As people post their status, photos, or videos, competition begins with the number of likes or comments they receive. Whether that competition is healthy for teenagers is an open question. For some teens, the problem arises when they realize that their friends get way more likes or comments than they do. Many people have argued that social media websites enhance a person's self-esteem instead of deflating it. Others disagree, saying that social media websites are not a good place for people with low self-esteem.