Legal Advice

For people who think legal advice is an expensive investment, the Delaware County Bar Association is offering a solution. To celebrate Law Day, the association will offer free advice this week in person and by phone. Tuesday is the 33d anniversary of the event, established by former President Eisenhower. "Law Day is not a national holiday, nor is it a lawyers day," said Elizabeth C. Price, executive director of the bar association. "Rather, it is an occasion to learn more about our rights and responsibilities as citizens and to reflect upon our legal heritage and the principles of our democratic government.

About 35 members of Harmony Lodge 985 got some free financial and legal advice last week. The group gathered Tuesday in a conference room at the Liberty Bank branch at Bustleton Avenue and Loney Street. They were there to hear guest speakers Stuart Ettingoff, a vice president of investments for Prudential-Bache Inc., and Arlen Tompkins, an attorney with the Abrahams & Lowenstein law firm. Ettingoff gave advice on financial planning to members of the lodge, a Brith Sholom fraternal organization of Jewish singles 40 years and older that is based in the Northeast.

Veronica Glackin has seen the future, and she is worried. About seven years ago, her mother entered an Elkins Park nursing home, and Glackin, 57, expects that she, too, will need help with daily tasks someday. Glackin, a resident of Northeast Philadelphia, said she was particularly concerned about what would happen to her home and who would pay her funeral expenses. Glackin was one of about 20 people who attended a meeting organized by the Community Legal Services Elderly Law Project at the Township Manor Nursing Home on Wednesday night.

In January, a Philadelphia law firm seemed destined to become the first for-profit firm in the nation to win a federal contract to provide legal advice to a county's low-income residents. But now, the firm has withdrawn its bid to provide such services in Montgomery and Delaware Counties. In a statement yesterday, the federal Legal Services Corp., which had established competitive bidding on legal services contracts for the first time last year, said that Dessen, Moses, & Sheinoff had decided not to accept the contracts for the two counties it won. Federal officials had said that the firm was picked over its competitors, both of which had been awarded contracts for many years, because it could provide superior service through a high-tech telephone screening system that it had perfected in handling group-services contracts with large organizations such as the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

The Chester County commissioners yesterday agreed to seek legal advice on a decades-old policy that allows county workers to punch ballot cards for voters who don't follow write-in instructions. In cases where voters have written in a name but have not completed the step of punching the card, the county's Voter Services Bureau employees have been poking out the chad so the vote can be machine-read, a practice known as "administrative punching. " County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman called for a review of the practice after it came to light in a contentious Coatesville City Council primary election that was decided by two votes.

A day after learning that an ethics complaint filed against him was faxed from Democrat Fred Madden's campaign headquarters, State Sen. George Geist said yesterday he would seek legal advice on the issue. But Geist, the Republican who lost to Madden by 63 votes last month, stopped short of saying he would take legal action and said he would not contest the election results. "I wish the voters knew these revelations before the election," he said. "Respectfully, I move on, but the controversy continues about the conspiracy.

Question: We hear from lots of men complaining about not getting enough sex. But what about women who want more? Before our 15th anniversary, and after some very spotty years, my husband completely stopped having sex. No kisses, no hugs, no touching. When I asked him to attend counseling with me, he said he is fine with the way things are and if I have a problem, then I should deal with it myself. Now, at 35 years of marriage, I am wondering if I would prefer a life alone.

These agencies and organizations can provide advice and information to senior on heating issues: StayWarmPA 1-866-550-4355 www.StayWarmPA.com General heat assistance, information and resources for Pennsylvanians Philadelphia Corporation for Aging www.keepseniorswarm.org 215-765-9040 Heat assistance, information, referrals and guidance for Philadelphia seniors Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly 215-545-5728 www.carie.

Camden County Freeholder Steven M. Petrillo got a reprieve yesterday in his bid to keep secret the names of several people who he says told him about improprieties in the Sheriff's Department. Justice Alan B. Handler of the state Supreme Court granted an emergency stay of a Superior Court judge's order that Petrillo reveal the names Monday to a county grand jury. Handler's ruling clears the way for a hearing next week at which the full court is to consider Petrillo's request to keep the names confidential.

It is not surprising that WCAU (NBC-10) has pulled ahead in the 11 p.m. weekday news slot (article, March 1). The city lost its mind on South Street - why not also have poor judgment choosing which news program to watch? WCAU is talked about at my workplace, not because of their news quality, but because of their sensationalizing local news - much like a grocery store tabloid. While WPVI (ABC-6) delivers the news in a composed, professional, down-to-earth manner, Renee Chenault on Channel 10 is giving legal advice, Larry Mendte has a snide sidebar comment about just about everything and John Bolaris gets worked up over an extremely questionable "snowstorm of the decade" five days away.

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. said Thursday it regrets that Human Genome Sciences Inc. rejected its $2.59 billion takeover offer, which was made public earlier in the day. HGS is based in Rockville, Md., and has been a partner with Glaxo for about 20 years in development of the lupus drug Benlysta and other pharmaceuticals. Its share price doubled after the Glaxo offer. "We are disappointed that Human Genome Sciences has rejected our offer without discussion and are confident that our offer is in the best interest of shareholders of both companies," Glaxo chief executive officer Sir Andrew Witty said in a statement.

Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts will pay a $500,000 civil penalty for failing to report under Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust rules 338,000 Comcast shares he acquired through his compensation package and 401(k) plan. The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department said on Friday that Roberts' neglecting to inform them of his additional Comcast stock ownership between 2007 and 2009 was a mistake. They said it was the apparent result of bad outside legal advice, but it also was the CEO's third violation - though the previous two did not lead to fines.

Question: We hear from lots of men complaining about not getting enough sex. But what about women who want more? Before our 15th anniversary, and after some very spotty years, my husband completely stopped having sex. No kisses, no hugs, no touching. When I asked him to attend counseling with me, he said he is fine with the way things are and if I have a problem, then I should deal with it myself. Now, at 35 years of marriage, I am wondering if I would prefer a life alone.

TRENTON - Two-thirds of those who contact Legal Services of New Jersey and qualify for its help are not being assigned lawyers because the agency doesn't have the money to meet the demand, its president told legislators Wednesday. Melville Miller Jr. told an Assembly Judiciary panel examining state budget cuts that he expects to lay off 100 staff members, close at least three offices, and serve 10,000 fewer clients than last year because Gov. Christie cut the agency's appropriation by $5 million for the budget year that began July 1. The cut comes atop a $9.7 million reduction last year.

Carl Greene's troubled tenure as CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority is the gift that keeps on giving. Acting PHA commissioner Estelle Richman was expected to consider a proposal Friday that offers $500,000 to settle a fourth sexual harassment suit arising from Greene's alleged behavior. If it's approved, the bill for Greene's harassment cases will reach $1.2 million. The proposed settlement with Elizabeth Helm, who complained of a series of unwanted advances by Greene, will be twice what she was offered a year ago, provided she kept quiet about the deal.

Michael J. "Mickey" Moyle, 64, vice president of corporate and fiscal operations for Gaudenzia Inc., a provider of drug- and alcohol-treatment services, died of cardiovascular disease Friday, July 1, while working out at the health club near his home in Linfield. Mr. Moyle joined Gaudenzia's staff in 1998 as director of fiscal operations. He helped the not-for-profit program grow into the largest provider of its kind in Pennsylvania and extend services into Maryland and Delaware, said Michael Harle, president and chief executive officer.

A local philanthropist has waded into the controversy surrounding the city's proposed settlement deal with the regional Boy Scouts, making a $1.5 million offer to buy the Scouts' headquarters. Real-estate investor Mel Heifetz is offering more than the city would get from the Scouts. Under the city's settlement deal - which follows a legal dispute based on the national organization's ban on gay Boy Scouts - the Scouts would pay $500,000 for the Logan Square building and then drop a claim for up to $960,000 in legal fees.

WASHINGTON - Hunched over the telephone in his office two blocks from the White House, Bill Coleman offers sage advice born of years whispering into the ears of presidents and prime ministers. He tells the organizer of a Trilateral Commission conference on Europe's burgeoning financial crisis that it would be distracting if Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended. "I was tempted to call the secretary of state and ask her to send one of her key people," Coleman says.

The nominee to be the chief federal prosecutor in Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania, Zane D. Memeger, specialized in providing legal advice to companies facing government investigations during his four years in private practice. As a partner in the Philadelphia head office of the international law firm Morgan Lewis L.L.P., his "typical clients are medium-size to large corporations seeking legal advice as to government investigation matters," Memeger told the Senate Judiciary Committee in written answers to a questionnaire.