Glory

Back in the days of William Penn, the creek that meandered through the growing village of Newtown anchored the town common, powered the gristmill, and provided water for animals and crops at nearby farms. But the center of the Bucks County town shifted over the centuries, and now the creek is barely visible, running largely out of sight along parking lots behind the main shopping district of what was the county seat from 1726 to 1813. A plan by local residents, however, could restore the creek to prominence.

In the world of do-it-yourselfers, who would argue that among the bravest are those who would renovate a house that has been rented to college students? Meet Al and Paula Imperial of West Chester. They not only took a trashed, century-old brick Victorian in the borough and restored it to its former glory, they stripped and restored chestnut doors, trim, flooring, and fireplaces - then continued to rent to students. And they love doing so. "We just have a great time here," says Al, 51. "People say, 'How can you live with students?

GEN. GEORGE WASHINGTON played wicket with the troops at Valley Forge in early May 1778. Wicket involved a bat and a ball and a manicured path from the pitcher to the hitter, the sort of landscaping you saw back in the day in bygone ballyards, before AstroTurf, before high-def scoreboards, before $126 million contracts. You didn't know that, did you? You thought baseball was invented in America in a Cooperstown pasture by a U.S. Army officer named Abner Doubleday. And if it wasn't Doubleday, then it must have been Alexander Cartwright, because there's a plaque in the Hall of Fame that credits him "with establishing many of the rules of baseball and adapting it from a children's game to an adult sport.

On this, the first day of spring, match the quote with its author. Answers, D3. 1. "It is a natural resurrection, an experience of immortality. " 2. "In the spring I've counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of four-and-twenty hours. " 3. "Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. " 4. "I want to do to you what spring does with the cherry trees. " 5. "I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.

Including Penn Wood, which hosted District 2 runner-up Wyoming Valley West in a Class AAAA play-in game Tuesday, there are 30 area boys' teams in the four classifications of the PIAA state basketball playoffs. We'll take a look at the first-round matchups later this week, along with predictions for each game. We'll also tell you which teams we expect to wind up at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center the weekend of March 25. For now, here's an overview of the state tournament and what some schools can anticipate on the road to State College.

Vic Carstarphen still remembers the first game of his sophomore year. He still remembers the last game of his senior year, too. In between, the sleek Camden guard fashioned one of the finest careers in South Jersey boys' basketball history. Carstarphen was front and center for the greatest era of South Jersey's greatest program - first as the little guy who wormed his way into playground games with the big boys, then as a star player who led Camden to back-to-back Group 4 state championships.

Being a glutton for punishment, last week I went twice to City Council, the people's community theater I'm tempted to label "free" except taxpayers pay so dearly for it. Consider the holiday - excuse me, Christmas - break. This year's last session occurs Dec. 16; the first next year, Jan. 27. That's 41 silent days in between, six weeks in which Philadelphia's legislative body will not legislate. This is either a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view.

David Eisenhower's new book, Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961-1969 , offers many poignant, illuminating stories. This one stands out: It was Thanksgiving, 1967, and he and Julie, both all of 19, had just gotten engaged. David Eisenhower knew that his grandfather was fond of Julie Nixon - he called the daughter of his former vice president "an angel" - but he also knew that his grandfather thought marriage should wait until David was older and more "established.

FLEMINGTON, N.J. - One day you're a freshman and it's all ahead of you. The next day you're a senior and it's all behind you. "I feel like I was a freshman yesterday," Eastern senior Cori Allen said after leading the Vikings to an emphatic 7-1 victory over Bishop Eustace on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions in field hockey. That's the great allure of scholastic sports. That impermanence is what makes this stuff so special - that keen understanding that it all passes in "the blink of a young girl's eye," as Bruce Springsteen sings in "Glory Days.

GLORY DAZE. 10 tonight, TBS. TBS, IT SEEMS, really would like Conan O'Brien and his viewers to feel at home. For the host of "Conan," that means a new Tuesday night lead-in whose stars are from roughly the era he is. For his fans, at least the young guys TBS hopes will stick like glue as the first-week ratings glow wears off a little, it's an hour-long comedy about, well, young guys. In a frat house. Doing crazy frat-house things. OK, so the setting for TBS' new "Glory Daze" is a college in Indiana called Hayes.