Fences

Philadelphia is being shipped - piece by piece - to wherever there's an insatiable demand for decorative items from old houses. That's how Daily News staff writer Scott Flander described the widespread theft of Philadelphia wrought-iron fencing, ornamental grates, brass doorknobs and front-door lights, even cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks. These are stolen, for the most part, by street people or others on the edge of society who pick up a few bucks from dealers and others specializing in antiques.

The Edgewater Park Township Committee has introduced an ordinance that would amend the community's zoning regulations for fences and will consider passage of the ordinance at its monthly meeting Sept. 17. One section of the ordinance would prohibit so-called privacy fences, or solid fences of any sort, in front yards. Forbidden would be any fences that are not at least 50 percent "open," allowing a view of the yard from the other side of the fence. Township administrator D. Robert Heal said this provision also would bar the insertion of plastic slats in chain-link fences in front yards.

In the last three months, Mantua Township has approved three ordinances that officials have said were needed to control the problems of population growth. They are a law controlling use of all-terrain vehicles, one to regulate shooting and a third designed to save the trees on lots under development. Now the township is dealing with fences. Specifically, Mantua committeemen at their meeting June 13 presented an amendment to the zoning code that would lift the 4-foot limit allowed for property fences.

Homeowners in Haverford will be allowed to put up 6-foot solid fences if their neighborhoods are contiguous with commercial districts. The township previously allowed 6-foot fences, but the top 2 feet had to be open. Residents not contiguous with commercial districts still will be prohibited from building solid fences. The new ordinance was passed 6-0 by the Board of Commissioners on Monday night without discussion. Several residents living near commercial areas who were upset over the lack of privacy had pressed for the measure.

"Maybe I shouldn't say this," I began. Carole Shorenstein Hays interrupted me with a nervous laugh. "Please don't," she said. And I didn't. We'd been on the phone hardly 10 minutes last week, but she knew what I was going to say. I was about to tell her that Fences would surely win the Tony Award for best play. I hesitated because theater people tend to be superstitious, to the extent that you're not even supposed to wish them good luck. I could have asked what she would wear to the Tony Award ceremonies last night (a maternity dress designed by Pauline Trigere)

TRENTON - Gov. Chris Christie says he's not offended by the profanity-laced tirade directed at him by the Democrat who leads the New Jersey Senate. The Republican governor says he and Senate President Stephen Sweeney have "a passionate relationship," so things said in the heat of emotional battle should be forgiven. Sweeney exploded after Christie cut $1.3 billion from the budget Democrats had sent him. The cuts included programs for AIDS patients, sexually abused children and blind students.

It appeared to be a simple request before the Cheltenham Township Zoning Board: Some residents wanted to build a 6-foot-high fence around their back yards. The residents, many of whom purchased houses in a recently completed development called Homes of Elkins Park near two busy streets, Washington Lane and Ashbourne Road, said they wanted to keep the public from "invading their privacy. " "People can look right down your throat," said Graham Murphy, who lives on the 7800 block of Caversham Road.

Jose Guillen apologized to his Anaheim Angels teammates yesterday, two days after ripping them for not backing him up after he was hit by a pitch. Guillen went on a profanity-laced tirade after the Angels' 6-5, 10-inning loss to Toronto on Monday. The Angels were off Tuesday. Guillen apologized yesterday during a team meeting, and manager Mike Scioscia said the outfielder initiated the session. "I just want to apologize to my teammates and the whole organization for those comments," the leftfielder said.

The fences at Daytona and Talladega will be raised from 14 to 22 feet following a safety analysis conducted after Carl Edwards' airborne flight into the Alabama track's safety barrier. A wreck on the last lap in April's race at Talladega sent Edwards sailing into the fence. It bowed, but held and his car shot back onto the track. Debris from the accident injured seven fans in the stands, the most serious a broken jaw suffered by a teenage girl. The frontstretch fence at Talladega will be raised before the Nov. 1 race, and the backstretch will be completed during the offseason.

James Earl Jones in "Fences," a new drama by August Wilson. Directed by Lloyd Richards, set by James D. Sandefur, costumes by Candice Donnelly, lighting by Danianne Mizzy. Presented at the 46th Street Theatre, 226 W. 46th St., New York. The so-called "magic moments" come all too seldom in the commercial theater. It happened Thursday night at the Broadway opening of August Wilson's "Fences," a drama about a black laboring man of the 1950s with a macho problem. In one of the few quiet times in a play taken most of the evening at full cry, James Earl Jones modulates his rich voice to an unselfconsciously intimate hush in conversation with his stage wife, Mary Alice, as they sit together on the back steps of their forlorn little house against a skyline that clearly spells Pittsburgh.

A car struck three men painting a fence Saturday in Northeast Philadelphia, killing one of them and injuring the others, authorities said. The crash happened about 6:45 a.m. in the Bustleton section of the city, police said. A 42-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after he was hit by the car. His name was not released. Two other painters were taken to Aria Hospital-Torresdale for treatment of minor injuries,officials said. Police said the 22-year-old driver was also taken there for treatment of shoulder pain.

The 82d Radnor Hunt Races, featuring established and budding star horses in U.S. steeplechase racing, will be run Saturday on the grounds of the Radnor Hunt in Malvern. Six races worth a total of $180,000 in prize money will be conducted over the W. Burling Cocks Memorial Racecourse, where a crowd of close to 20,000 is expected. The two most lucrative races are the $50,000 National Hunt Cup at 23/8 miles over brush fences, and the $40,000 Radnor Hunt Cup at 3¼ miles over timber fences.

The Radnor Hunt races are scheduled for Saturday at the race course, which is about 45 minutes from Philadelphia at 826 Providence Rd., Willistown Township, Malvern. There are six races, starting about 1:30 p.m., with about a half-hour between races. The course is roughly a mile around, and the horses run clockwise around the circuit two or three laps, depending on the race. Here are the races: Milfern Cup: 23/8 miles over brush fences. Purse $25,000. Vita C. Thompson Memorial Steeplechase: 23/8 miles over brush fences.

It is still pitch dark as our caravan of 16 photographers and two instructors passes the entrance gate of Everglades National Park. We have come here on this February weekend to photograph birds on the Anhinga Trail. Escaping the Pennsylvania winter is an added bonus. By the time we arrive at the Royal Palm Visitor Center, the darkness has given way to early dawn light. Countless vultures perch on the branches of palm trees near the visitor center and along the short trail. The sun has not risen yet, but nature never sleeps.

The Radnor Hunt races are scheduled for Saturday at the race course, which is about 45 minutes from Philadelphia at 826 Providence Rd., Willistown Township, Malvern. There are six races, starting about 1:30 p.m., with about a half-hour between races. The course is roughly a mile around, and the horses run clockwise around the circuit two or three laps, depending on the race. Here are the races: Milfern Cup: 23/8 miles over brush fences. Purse $25,000. Vita C. Thompson Memorial Steeplechase: 23/8 miles over brush fences.

In case you missed it while mowing your lawn or washing the car, Saturday was National Beer Day. And in a perfect relationship no marketing exec could have invented, it was the first full weekend of baseball. As best-selling author Peter Richmond once noted: "Beer needs baseball, and baseball needs beer - it has always been thus. "   Age is just a number Former Phillie fave Jamie Moyer gave up the 512th home run of his career, the most all time. The slugger was Jordan Schafer, who had not been born when the Souderton native, 49, made his MLB debut in June 1986.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., who has publicly demanded that Sunoco Inc. account for its decision to exit refining, appears to have mended fences with the Philadelphia oil company. The Pennsylvania Democrat met with the new Sunoco chief executive, Brian P. MacDonald, on Thursday at his office in the capital, and both parties had conciliatory statements afterward. "I think it's important that we look forward now," Casey said in a telephone interview. "Having this discussion today was for me, just speaking for myself, very helpful.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Max Pons is already anticipating the anxiety he'll feel when the heavy steel gate shuts behind him, leaving his home isolated on a strip of land between America's border fence and the violence raging across the Rio Grande in Mexico. For the last year, the manager of a sprawling preserve on the southern tip of Texas has been comforted by a gap in the rust-colored fence that gave him a quick escape route north in case of emergency. Now the U.S. government is installing the first gates to fill in this part of the fence along the Southwest border, and Pons admits he's pondering drastic scenarios.