Fairmount Park

Sister Mary Scullion, cofounder of Project HOME and an influential voice on the issue of homelessness, has withdrawn her support of Mayor Nutter's ban on public feedings in parks until the city comes up with a viable plan for moving meals for the homeless indoors. In a letter sent Wednesday to the mayor, Scullion said the new rules that took effect Friday amount to a "ban on street feeding," given the absence of additional indoor venues for providing meals to people. After two warnings, the city intends to fine groups that serve free meals to homeless individuals in open space that belongs to the Fairmount Park system.

This weekend's traffic hotspots include South Philadelphia this evening, Kelly Drive on Saturday, and the route of Sunday's bike race, from Logan Square to Kelly Drive to Manayunk. Shore-goers have two reasons to get an early start today. The Phillies take on the Florida Marlin at 7:05 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park, which could jam major roads near the sports complex. Also, showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast, with heavy rain more likely after about 9 p.m. To check the forecast, go to Philly.com's weather page . On Saturday, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., traffic will be detoured away from Kelly Drive because of the Independence Dragon Boat Regatta.

?1? Charred remains of dog found in park 33rd Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue Animal-welfare officials were investigating the death of a dog whose burned body was found Tuesday afternoon in Fairmount Park in Strawberry Mansion. The Pennsylvania SPCA said a necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. The male pit-bull-type dog had been wrapped in a blanket and set on fire, the SPCA said. Tipsters are asked to call the Pennsylvania SPCA's anti-cruelty hotline at 1-866-601-7722.

Animal welfare officials are investigating the death of a dog whose burned body was found this afternoon in Fairmount Park near 33rd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in the Strawberry Mansion section. The Pennsylvania SPCA said a necropsy will be performed to determined the cause of death. The male pit-bull type dog had been wrapped in a blanket and set on fire, the SPCA said. Anyone with information was asked to the Pennsylvania SPCA's anticruelty hotline at 1-866-601-7722.

With Philadelphia recently singled out for national praise for its park system, this should be a good time to put out the call for top-notch individuals to volunteer for the panel that provides oversight for Fairmount Park and recreation policymaking. That's certainly the hope of both Mayor Nutter and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, who made personal appeals several weeks ago for applicants for nine slots on the Commission on Parks and Recreation. Six city officials round out the 15-member commission.

JAMES HARRIS is a man tormented. He dreams often of suffocating, choking as he wakes, unable to catch his breath. He keeps a knife tucked into his waistband almost always, a desperate defense against horrors he can easily imagine because he says he has lived them. He hesitates to get into anyone's car, unwilling to surrender control to the person behind the wheel. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia. Although five years have passed since the incident that changed his life, his torment doesn't end because his tormentor is still out there.

I think of Cooper River Park as South Jersey's version of Fairmount Park, along the Schuylkill. "It's a park everyone feels very strongly about," observes landscape architect Joseph R. Cairone, who spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the Camden County Boathouse on North Park Drive last week. The audience had come to hear about his firm's $23 million "Vision Plan," the first phase of which will be voted on by Camden County freeholders Thursday. The project will enhance the heart of the park: the postcard-esque area that offers great Philly skyline views and features the renowned, 1.3-mile rowing course between Cuthbert Boulevard in Cherry Hill and Route 130 in Pennsauken.

Man shot dead on I-76 * Eastbound lanes, near Montgomery Drive exit A man driving a Buick LeSabre was shot and killed about 2:50 a.m. Sunday by a person in another car that pulled up alongside on the Schuylkill Expressway. Someone fired numerous rounds into the Buick's passenger side, hitting the driver, identified as Kareem El, 29, of Philadelphia, State Police Lt. Paul Gustaitis said. The Buick was brought under control and stopped in the left lane of the highway, Gustaitis said.

Philadelphia Police have identified a man found shot to death this morning in Fairmount Park. Montague White, 26, of N. 38th Street in the city's Mantua section, was discovered unresponsive around 6 a.m. on the 4000 block of Cedar Grove Drive in West Fairmount Park, according to a Philadelphia Police spokeswoman. White had been wounded twice in the chest and once in the hip. Police believe the shooting occurred following an argument with an unknown assailant. Contact Kevin Smith at smithk@philly.com .

A COP COMES up to you on the street. Tells you to stop what you're doing immediately and cites you for … dancing cheek-to-cheek?! If you lived in Philly in the 1920s and you encountered Miss Marguerite C. Walz, you might just get in trouble for such offenses as not wearing a coat and collar or too much body wiggling, "hip dips" or close embraces at the public dances held on the Parkway. Walz, a dance teacher, became the first female police officer deputized in Philadelphia.