Grocery Store

A 27-year-old man was shot in the head in front of a grocery store near the intersection of Fifth and Rockland Streets in the city's Olney section late Saturday. He was listed in critical condition Sunday at Albert Einstein Medical Center, police said. A woman told police she heard four gunshots before spotting the victim lying on the ground, according to police. She said she did not see the shooter and did not know the nature of the dispute. Police are still searching for a suspect.

Picking up a lost wallet in a Chester County grocery store proved costly for a Philadelphia woman, police said Tuesday. Natashia Greennagh, 20, was charged Friday with theft of mislaid or lost property and receiving stolen property after she allegedly helped herself on Wednesday to a wallet left at a self check-out register in the Giant supermarket in the Dilworthtown Crossing shopping center on Route 202, police said. Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Det. William Cahill said the victim reported that a single credit card in the wallet was used for three unauthorized purchases a short time after surveillance cameras showed the wallet being taken by Greennagh.

Samuel Plasky, 95, of Maple Shade, a retired businessman who worked as a local basketball referee and is a member of the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame, died of an infection Saturday, Aug. 21, at Virtua Marlton. After being recognized as a basketball all-star while in high school, Mr. Plasky continued to play in various adult leagues in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas. He won many games and tournaments and in 1940 was named most valuable player in the Jewish League.

With the Philadelphia market already brimming with grocery stores and still adjusting to the recent addition of meat, vegetable, and dairy aisles to Target and Wal-Mart outlets, now another competitor wants your shopping allegiance. Bottom Dollar Food, a discount grocer based in Salisbury, N.C., announced plans Wednesday to open at least 17 stores in Philadelphia and the surrounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs, starting this fall. An additional four are planned in Allentown and Reading.

"He doesn't spend any money. If he spends 10 cents, it's a major event. " - Donald Trump, on his rival for control of three Atlantic City casinos, Carl Icahn "We don't ever really get any personal stuff, other than 'I'm going to change my grocery list.' " - Heather Reilly, an employee at The Pub inside the Wegmans supermarket in Collegeville "Politics I think ended up trumping practical common sense. " - President Obama, on why his health-care efforts stalled "We believe we have a better idea.

State Sen. John Rafferty (R., Montgomery) has been knocked down before in the bare-knuckle bar fight that breaks out every time someone in Harrisburg proposes reforming Pennsylvania's outmoded beer-sale laws. But what's important is that the senator is willing to pick himself up off the floor again and again. So after sponsoring a similar measure that was decked by special interests during the last legislative session, it's good to see Rafferty back with a bill that would drag beer sales in the state into the 21st century.

Inside a sparkling supermarket in West Philadelphia, top members of the Obama administration gathered with local officials and activists yesterday to hail efforts to increase the number of supermarkets in underserved parts of the city. The secretaries of agriculture and commerce, as well as other federal officials, toured the Parkside ShopRite store, which opened in 2007 on 52d Street near Parkside Avenue, and lauded it as an example of what community partnerships with government can accomplish.

It was a boutique grocery that specialized in quality meats and produce, and that anchored the Chestnut Hill shopping strip for nearly a century. Last month, Caruso's Market, 8418-24 Germantown Ave., closed abruptly, leaving many residents recalling bygone days of personal service and a family-friendly atmosphere, and wondering what will become of the property. Fran O'Donnell, head of the Chestnut Hill Business Association, lamented the loss. "I think the closing brought great concern to the community as far as being a fixture there, but also as a necessity," O'Donnell said.

It was as if the fates had conspired to give Barack Obama the kind of foreign affairs photo-op that a campaign manager would see only in his wildest dreams. Berlin was alive with sunshine. A crowd police estimated at more than 200,000 filled the heart of the city. They cheered not only when he talked about global warming or called for a world without nuclear weapons, but also when he spoke of the fight against terrorism and the need for Europe to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq.