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THE RESTAURANTS and merchants of Rittenhouse Row are gathering again on Walnut Street this Saturday, and that means about 50,000 area residents and guests will be joining them for one of Center City's largest street fairs. The Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival will close Walnut from Broad to 19th streets (from noon until 5 p.m.) and feature food, fashion, entertainment and fun for children. It's big. It's crowded. It's fun. And this year there's a lot of new stuff. * Dunkin' Donuts will be giving out free iced coffee on the 1400 block of Walnut.

LOS ANGELES - If the Oscars need a host, Billy Crystal is ready to talk. That was the message that came across over the weekend when Crystal, who hosted the show eight times between 1990 and 2004, answered a fan who asked an Academy Awards question after a 20th anniversary screening of City Slickers in Santa Monica, Calif. Crystal, from the stage of the Aero Theatre, admitted that he got "itchy" after last year's cameo on the Oscars and that he'd be ready to talk about a return to the global stage of the gala.

The Union will host Barclays English Premier League club Aston Villa on Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. at PPL Park, the team announced. One of the oldest clubs in England, Aston Villa has won the FA Cup and First Division Championship seven times. Included on the roster are Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj, Emilie Heskey and Darren Bent, although it is unknown whom will be available for the game at this point. The game is included in the Union full season ticket package at no additional cost.

Drexel will host the 2013 NCAA men's lacrosse championships at Lincoln Financial Field and the 2012 quarterfinals at PPL Park. The 2006 championships were held at the Linc.

PITTSBURGH - The Flyers will host the 2014 NHL entry draft at the Wells Fargo Center, the league announced Friday. It is the first time the draft will be held in Philadelphia. "We are truly excited to host the 2014 National Hockey League entry draft at the Wells Fargo Center," Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luukko said in a statement. "This is further testament that Philadelphia truly is a hockey town. We just hosted a wonderful Winter Classic last season and, in addition to hosting the 2014 NHL entry draft, we soon will be preparing to also host the 2014 NCAA Frozen Four at Wells Fargo Center.

ROLLING GREEN Golf Club, of Springfield, Delaware County, has been named the host site for the 2016 U.S. Women's Amateur championship, the USGA announced on Monday. The tournament will be held Aug. 8 to 14. It will be the second USGA event held at Rolling Green. In 1976, the U.S. Women's Open was played there. Joanne Carner won the event. "The USGA is very happy to bring another national championship to Rolling Green," said Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., USGA vice president and championship committee chairman.

John Rovick, 93, the beloved host of a children's show in Los Angeles throughout the 1950s and '60s, died Saturday in Boise, Idaho, after a brief illness, his former station, KTTV-TV, told the Associated Press. For nearly two decades, Mr. Rovick appeared on the daily Cartoon Time show that earned him an Emmy Award for outstanding children's program. It was so popular that KTTV said it added another Rovick show, Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade , that stayed on the air until 1970.

Seven years ago, Philadelphia was among five U.S. cities seeking to qualify to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, but it failed to make it to the medal round. The U.S. Olympic Committee wants to know if the city is ready to get back in the game. Letters went out this week to gauge interest for 2024 among the nation's 25 largest cities - including Philadelphia - and 10 others, the USOC said. Mark McDonald, Mayor Nutter's spokesman, was noncommittal Wednesday about whether the city would apply, but he spoke enthusiastically about what an honor it would be to host the Games.

VILLANOVA'S basketball team will host Jeff Ruland's District of Columbia team on Nov. 9, and Marshall 2 days later, in the regional rounds of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project. The Wildcats, as had previously been announced, will then meet Purdue on Nov. 15 in the second half of the semifinal doubleheader at New York's Madison Square Garden. They'll get either Alabama or Oregon State the following night, in either the consolation or title matchup. All the games from up there will be on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The NFL will celebrate its 50th Super Bowl in northern California, where its newest, most high-tech venue is being built. That makes South Florida, in the midst of a spat over expensive stadium renovations, a loser for the 2016 game. And Miami took a double defeat when Houston was awarded the 2017 championship game. In two separate votes, NFL owners Tuesday went with the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston on the first ballot at their spring meetings in Boston. The 49ers' new home is set to open next year in Santa Clara, and will host the first Super Bowl in the area since 1985.

The U.S. Open will attract the attention of the golf world to the Philadelphia area, and that provides the First Tee of Greater Philadelphia with an excellent opportunity to show people the fine work it does for youths through the sport. The local chapter is going all-out by having former President George W. Bush as its special guest at a fund-raising gala June 15 - the Saturday of U.S. Open weekend - at the ACE Club Conference Center in Lafayette Hill. John MacDonald, executive director of The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia, said former President George H.W. Bush has been an active participant in the national program as honorary chair.

ROBIN LEACH , the former host with the golden voice of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," will be in Atlantic City this weekend as a "Millionaire Maker" to crown the first of four guaranteed millionaires through Harrah's, Showboat, Bally's and Caesars. But Leach suggested that the winners' best move is not to take their winnings back to the slots. "Bank the money and don't spend it all at once . . . I've seen so many people crash and burn in my time, but this time I'll give some advice to stay newly rich and famous," Leach told me from his Las Vegas home.

Before the season, Nazareth Academy's softball players told coach Bob Keating that they wanted a certain message on the back of their navy blue practice T-shirts. "Tradition never graduates," they said. Keating made it happen, in yellow print, to match the school colors. Thursday afternoon, the Pandas defined that message as they clinched their seventh straight Catholic Academies crown with an 11-1 win at Merion Mercy. Junior righthander Taylor Lichtenhahn battled a wet pitching circle to strike out four in five innings for the win. Brittany Colombo, a junior third baseman, had a homer and five RBIs.

LINWOOD, N.J. - There's "Breaking News" on the website of James M. Kauffman, board-certified endocrinologist, but it is not the news all of Linwood seems to be expecting. "Now accepting Tricare. New patients welcome," according to the site. One year after his wife, Shore radio personality and veterans advocate April Kauffman, 47, was found shot to death in the bedroom of their home in this leafy community just over the bridge from Margate - a year after the prosecutor at the time confidently suggested the case would be solved - there has been no arrest, no breaking news.

As comfortable in the role of Miss Claire on the Romper Room children's television show as she was mingling with presidents as the wife of U.S. Sen. Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvania, Claire Coleman Schweiker gracefully embraced the dual roles of broadcast pioneer for women and traditional Washington hostess. Mrs. Schweiker, 81, died Sunday, April 28, in McLean, Va., of respiratory complications after she was hospitalized for a broken arm. The daughter of John C. and Claire Binder Coleman, Mrs. Schweiker grew up in Glenside and was valedictorian of Springfield High School in Montgomery County.

Ben Youngberg hit a go-ahead RBI double in the 12th inning to help visiting Delran take down Holy Cross, 2-1, Thursday in a Burlington County League Patriot Division baseball clash. Youngberg, who went 2 for 6 with two RBIs, roped the double to left-center field, allowing Justin McFadden to score. Bears starter Zach Youngberg allowed one run and totaled 13 strikeouts in nine innings. Also in the Burlington County Patriot, Austin Papp struck out four over six innings as host Cinnaminson prevailed over Bordentown, 10-2.

Who needs to bother with singles when you can just hit home runs? That's the question West Deptford might have been asking after its 4-0 win Thursday at Gateway in a Colonial Conference softball game. The Eagles had only six hits, but half of them were home runs. Marissa Linquist, Alexis Anderson, and Eireann Canning hit solo shots. Katherine Ziegler added a double. Linquist tossed seven innings, striking out eight and allowing just four hits. Also in the Colonial: Alyssa Briggs' first career start was a successful one as Overbrook beat visiting Lindenwold, 12-0.

Penn Charter softball coach Don Mittica described the scene in the Quakers dugout on Wednesday afternoon: "Nobody talked about it. A couple kids didn't know. . . . I think the team handled it very well. " "It" was the pitching performance of Kayla Quinn, who threw a perfect game to power Penn Charter to a 7-0 victory over host Notre Dame in the Inter-Ac League. The sophomore got out of a jam in the fifth inning, after falling into a 3-0 count, to preserve the gem. Mittica heaped praise on his pitcher, saying: "She knew she had to come back.