Langhorne

If there were a manual on how to properly protest a war, Presley Brown could contribute a few pointers. As he stood in the hot noon sun this week, handing out leaflets denouncing the faraway conflict in the Balkans, Brown knew the police were probably on their way. But he was confident of his right to stand on this apron of concrete. His solitary vigil in front of the Langhorne post office was carefully planned, researched and choreographed. The 69-year-old Langhorne resident had called postal authorities as far away as Washington to ask about protesting on post office property, studied his legal and constitutional rights, and warned local officials a week before he showed up. On Monday, he opened the post office door for people whose hands were full of packages, never raised his voice, and said a polite "good morning" to all as he handed out antiwar flyers.

Robert A. Bondello has always been a loving and enthusiastic father. A little too enthusiastic, however. In 1993, the Langhorne mechanic took his 5-year-old daughter, Krystle, and disappeared. Late last year, he came across a mailing from a missing child foundation with Krystle on it. Bondello turned himself over to authorities in the California town where they had settled and waived extradition to Pennsylvania, where he faced a charge of concealment of the whereabouts of a child.

After months of fearing embarrassment and guilt, a 9-year-old Langhorne girl has reported that she was raped by a man while she walked in a wooded area near Virginia Avenue in December, police said yesterday. Detective David Kemmerer said the girl confided in a friend over the weekend. The girl's parents were subsequently apprised and police notified, Kemmerer added. Now police are looking for a white male in his 20s, with a thin build, brown hair in a bowl cut, and a moustache.

Seven-year-old Matthew Edwards of Langhorne seems to have bitten off a bit more than he can chew. Matthew was taking part in a pie-eating contest held at Styers Orchards in Langhorne on Saturday.

The death of a Neshaminy High School junior who was struck by a Regional Rail train in Langhorne on New Year's Day was ruled an accident Wednesday. Trevor Newman, 16, of Fairview Avenue, Langhorne, tried to jump out of the way of a Trenton-bound train about 2:20 p.m., but was hit and suffered multiple injuries, authorities said. Newman was pronounced dead at the scene, south of the Langhorne station. It was an accident, Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell said pending a toxicology report that could take four to six weeks.