Maria

DEFENSE attorneys for two men charged with murdering four people with a car speeding away from an armed robbery persuaded a judge Thursday to bar the most graphic death-scene photos from the trial. The photos of the severed limbs and crushed bones of the three children and young mother killed on the sidewalk at 3rd and Annsbury streets on June 10, 2009, would serve no purpose other than to inflame jurors' passions, said attorneys for Ivan Rodriguez, 23, and Donta Craddock, 21, who are charged with four counts of second-degree murder.

Benefiting from a rapid and hotly contested pace, Valid Goddess circled her field and captured last night's $87,050 Maria Handicap at Garden State Park. Red Hot Iron, in from Philadelphia Park, turned in a gritty effort to finish 1 3/4 lengths back in second, with Canadian invader Scotzanna a neck farther back in third in the field of seven fillies and mares. Culver City, the 6-5 favorite and early pacesetter, set blistering early fractions of 21 2/5 for the quarter and 44 3/5 for the half-mile but faded to finish fifth.

The two young women were sitting at a window table inside the Max Brenner restaurant on 15th Street, near Walnut, sharing chocolate fondue after some shopping. The streets were vibrant. The weather was nice. "The city had a good vibe," remembered one of the women, Maria, who requested her full name not be printed. But their night on the town was about to become frightening. Heading their way was a pack of teens roving through Center City after leaving a North Philadelphia music festival.

The case of a 12-year-old North Philadelphia girl who had been reported missing for two weeks before she was found Wednesday in a basement closet took a twist yesterday as people at the girl's home said she apparently had been hiding inside the house. Police reported that they found Guirlene Dupuy, a Haitian immigrant, about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in a crawl space under the basement stairs of the home on Sixth Street near Butler Street. She had been missing since May 4. The case was still under investigation, police said, and no charges had been filed.

Maria and Greg Mitchell are typical of many young Delaware County couples. They met three years ago "down the shore" and dated for two years before Greg, 26, popped the question and Maria, 25, said yes. For one year, they planned their Dec. 3 wedding at St. Madeline Church in Ridley Park. About 200 people attended the wedding and reception. "It was an absolutely beautiful day," Maria recalled. "You always hear stories of things going wrong, but that didn't happen to us. " Not, at least, until after the honeymoon, she said.

(Above) Singer Kenny Loggins and some of his pals have some fund during Winnie the Pooh Friendship Day at Penn's Landing yesterday. The festival was held to celebrate the true meaning of friendship. (Below) Dennis Gallagher takes a picture of wife Maria and their 8-month-old son Matthew.

This is "Victims' Rights Week. " But we have a long way to go before the rights of crime victims are really honored in Philadelphia. I want to tell you about a woman I know - a victim of crime - and a very specific way "the system" let her down. And the frustrating part of it is that 23 organizations who care about crime victims have been working together in a coalition, trying to change that system. But time and again, we've come up against a stone wall. Maria (not her real name)

The two young women were sitting at a window table inside the Max Brenner restaurant on 15th Street, near Walnut, sharing chocolate fondue after some shopping. The streets were vibrant. The weather was nice. "The city had a good vibe," remembered one of the women, Maria, who requested her full name not be printed. But their night on the town was about to become frightening. Heading their way was a pack of teens roving through Center City after leaving a North Philadelphia music festival.

The production of The Sound of Music at the Walnut Street Theatre is selling so well that the president of the theater company's board announced at Wednesday's opening that more people would see this show than any in the Walnut's 20-year history. The Walnut's holiday musicals, with their long runs and popular appeal, are aimed at drawing large audiences - indeed, the theater's financial health depends on their doing so. So it is no surprise that the Walnut is presenting The Sound of Music, or that theatergoers, even before word of the worth of the production gets around, are briskly buying tickets.

KYLER VANNOCKER died last weekend at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, enveloped in so much love it seemed impossible its power wouldn't pull him through his latest medical crisis. But Kyler's lungs, damaged by the treatment he'd received over the past three years for neuroblastoma, could no longer support his small body. By Sunday, it was clear to his parents, Paul and Maria, and to his extraordinary medical team at CHOP, that this was to be his final setback. Calls were made, and loved ones made a surreal race, through Sunday's glorious sunshine, to Kyler's bedside in the ICU, to weep goodbyes.

Villa Maria put the finishing touches on the girls' team championship by winning the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, at the PIAA Class AA state swimming championships on Saturday at Bucknell University. Molly O'Brien, Lauren Law, Julie Dobson and Sarah Hitchens registered a meet-record time of 3 minutes, 36.39 seconds, eclipsing the 15-year old mark of 3:36.99. The Hurricanes, who won the 200 freestyle relay on Friday, also got third places from Hitchens in the 100 backstroke and by Olivia Tierney in the 100 breaststroke.

Before the second half of Saturday's state quarterfinal, Prep Charter point guard Ciani Cryor told coach Paul Rieser what any point guard would tell her coach. "Coach, I'm trying to share the ball," Cryor said as the two walked down the Norristown High School stairs leading from the locker room to the court. "To [heck] with that," Rieser responded. Rieser knew exactly where the ball needed to go: into the hands of all-American guard Kahleah Copper. The Huskies fed her the ball just enough, as the 6-foot-2 senior scored 17 of her 29 points after the break in a tense, 53-50 victory over Villa Maria in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.

Sarah Hitchens and Julie Dobson each placed in the top five in the 50-yard freestyle and swam the first two legs on Villa Maria's winning 200 freestyle relay in the PIAA Class AA girls' state championships at Bucknell University on Friday. Hitchens and Dobson joined Kaitlyn Alvanos and Julia Murphy for a meet-record time of 1 minute, 36.39 seconds in the relay, breaking a 15-year old mark by six-tenths of a second. In the 50 freestyle, Hitchens (23.48) placed second behind a meet-record 23.20 by Mifflinburg's Adrianna Grabski, and Dobson (24.38)

Villa Maria put the finishing touches on the girls' team championship by winning the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, at the PIAA Class AA state swimming championships on Saturday at Bucknell University. Molly O'Brien, Lauren Law, Julie Dobson and Sarah Hitchens registered a meet-record time of 3 minutes, 36.39 seconds, eclipsing the 15-year old mark of 3:36.99. The Hurricanes, who won the 200 freestyle relay on Friday, also got third places from Hitchens in the 100 backstroke and by Olivia Tierney in the 100 breaststroke.

Sarah Hitchens and Julie Dobson each placed in the top five in the 50-yard freestyle and swam the first two legs on Villa Maria's winning 200 freestyle relay in the PIAA Class AA girls' state championships at Bucknell University on Friday. Hitchens and Dobson joined Kaitlyn Alvanos and Julia Murphy for a meet-record time of 1 minute, 36.39 seconds in the relay, breaking a 15-year old mark by six-tenths of a second. In the 50 freestyle, Hitchens (23.48) placed second behind a meet-record 23.20 by Mifflinburg's Adrianna Grabski, and Dobson (24.38)

Balanced scoring, effective defensive pressure, and key bench contributions paved the way for Villa Maria's sixth PIAA District 1 Class AAA basketball championship in the last nine seasons. On top of that, the Hurricanes shot 22 for 23 from the free-throw line in knocking off Villa Joseph Marie, 52-39, and defending their crown Saturday at Haverford College. "Winning never gets old," said Villa Maria coach Kathy McCartney, whose squad beat the Jems for the fourth time this season.

Balanced scoring, effective defensive pressure, and key bench contributions paved the way for Villa Maria's sixth PIAA District 1 Class AAA basketball championship in the last nine seasons. On top of that, the Hurricanes shot 22 for 23 from the free-throw line in knocking off Villa Joseph Marie, 52-39, and defending their crown Saturday at Haverford College. "Winning never gets old," said Villa Maria coach Kathy McCartney, whose squad beat the Jems for the fourth time this season.

The chant began as soon as Villa Joseph Marie coach Chris Clark emptied his bench to wrap up the last minute of a double-digit victory. "We are Villa!" the Jems' cheerleaders and fan section shouted in unison from the Harriton High School bleachers. Villa Joseph Marie's 41-23 win over St. Basil on Tuesday night in a District 1 Class AAA semifinal earned the team a chance to prove it is the best Villa team of this girls' basketball season. In the semifinal that followed, rival Villa Maria topped Nazareth Academy, 61-47, setting up a rematch of last year's district final.

Maddie McTigue made sure her Villa Maria teammates did not suffer another heartbreaking loss to Mount St. Joseph on Monday night. McTigue led a fourth-quarter comeback and carried the Hurricanes to the Catholic Academies basketball championship with a 39-35 thriller over top-seeded Mount St. Joseph in the title game at Philadelphia University. Mount (20-4) had beaten Villa Maria by 34-31 and 31-30 in a pair of regular-season matchups and had won the league title in three of the previous five years.

Maddie McTigue made sure her Villa Maria teammates did not suffer another heartbreaking loss to Mount St. Joseph on Monday night. McTigue led a fourth-quarter comeback and carried the Hurricanes to the Catholic Academies basketball championship with a 39-35 thriller over top-seeded Mount St. Joseph in the title game at Philadelphia University. The Mount (20-4) had beaten Villa Maria (20-4) by 34-31 and 31-30 in a pair of regular-season matchups and had won the league title in three of the previous five years.