Family Friend

NEW YORK - A road game in New York usually means a busy pregame for 76ers guard Royal Ivey as he's frantically hitting teammates up for tickets to distribute to his family and friends. But Sunday was different. The Queens native didn't have to scamper and plead and beg because not many, if any, of his family and friends could make it to Madison Square Garden for the game Sunday against the Knicks. They had more important tasks to deal with than watching a basketball game. "Everybody is safe and sound," said Ivey of his family, perched in the Jamaica section of Queens.

FOR THREE DAYS, Raghunandan "Ragu" Yandamuri seemed the most caring of friends. After someone killed Satyavathi Venna and kidnapped her 10-month-old granddaughter, Saanvi, from the family's King of Prussia apartment Monday, Yandamuri attended a candlelight vigil and helped create and distribute fliers offering a reward for the baby's safe return. To show support for the family, he even visited the Upper Merion Police Department, where Saanvi's parents, Venkata Venna and Chenchu Latha Punuru, camped out with investigators, desperately waiting for any word of their missing infant.

The body of a missing 10-month-old child has been found at the King of Prussia apartment complex where she was snatched as her grandmother tried to save her life, authorities said today. The body of Saanvi Venna was discovered at 4:30 a.m. in a basement area of the apartment building, said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman. Police arrested Raghunanean Yandamuri, a family friend, who they said had sought a $50,000 ransom. Yandamuri, who lives in the same Marquis apartments complex, left a chilling ransom note.

More than 60 family members, friends, and fellow officers of slain Philadelphia policeman Moses Walker Jr. gathered Sunday night on the sidewalk where he was gunned down a day earlier and held a candlelight vigil, as authorities continued to hunt for his killer. In what detectives say may have been a robbery attempt, Walker was shot and killed early Saturday as he walked to catch a bus after finishing his shift at 22d District headquarters. The reward for information leading to an arrest increased Sunday from $30,000 to $35,000.

DEAR ABBY: When I was a child, my mother — a bipolar schizophrenic — abused me. At 12, I decided I had had enough of her mental and physical abuse. A family friend helped me to leave and be placed with my father. I am now 35 and haven't seen my mother since then. A few years ago I wrote her a letter. In it I included pictures of my children, saying I would like her to know her grandchildren. She ripped the photos into pieces and sent them back with a note telling me to leave her alone and that I had "made my choice in life.

No degree of adversity could stop Thelma Renee Stevens from living life to the fullest.   Thelma suffered from a brain injury that caused seizures throughout her life, but her spirit never wavered. "She was a fighter," said an aunt, Patricia Fletcher. "She never gave up. " Thelma Stevens, who worked as a teacher's aide at a day-care center and as a housekeeper, died after a seizure on May 31. She was 25 and lived in West Philadelphia. Despite her physical problems, Thelma's death was unexpected and shocked the family.

Andrew Fasy is chairman of the Committee to Preserve Ocean City On Tuesday, Ocean City residents voted overwhelmingly to reject a Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) ordinance that would have allowed beer, wine, and malt beverages to be brought to local restaurants. The proposal was a classic case of substantial risk far outweighing a very limited and very dubious reward. Ocean City is one of the most successful destinations along the Jersey Shore because of its long-standing reputation as "America's Greatest Family Resort.

Despite my love for our miniature dachshund, Mr. Lucy, I refuse to pile-on the story concerning Mitt Romney's treatment of his Irish setter, Seamus. By now the facts have been widely circulated. In 1983, then 36-year-old Romney packed his wife and five sons into the family station wagon for a 12-hour drive to his parents' cottage in Ontario, Canada. Romney fashioned a windshield to a dog carrier and then strapped the crate to the roof of the car. Midway into the drive, there was a cry "Gross!"