Maria

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.

LISA VIOLA and her daughter, Maria, have award-winning talents in the cupcake-decorating department. After 14 years building a career as a computer programmer/analyst in the pharmaceutical industry, Viola, of Warrington, decided in 2008 to become a stay-at-home mom and spend more time with her children. She also became a baked-goods-decorating expert. Viola already had been making gingerbread houses for several years, "just for fun - a project with the kids" around the holidays.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Freshman Maddi Abbott struck out nine batters and recorded her 100th strikeout of the season on Wednesday afternoon to lead Villa Maria past host Mount St. Joseph, 7-0, in a Catholic Academies softball game. She allowed just three hits and walked one in seven innings. She has 102 strikeouts this season. Ches-Mont. Brigette Nordberg had just one hit, but it was a two-run double in the third to key Downingtown East's 4-2 win at Bishop Shanahan. Kristen Owens added a pair of hits and a run scored.

When Molly Scullion saw teammate Brittany Colombo hit a triple that one-hopped the fence in the first inning Thursday, she said to herself that she wanted to do that, too. Instead, the senior outfielder for Nazareth Academy did one better. She sent a pitch sailing over the center-field fence for a two-run home run a couple of innings later. Scullion's blast was one of many displays of hard hitting for the Pandas, as they continued to roll through the Catholic Academies league, defeating Villa Maria, 13-3, in a game called after five innings because of the mercy rule.

LISA VIOLA and her daughter, Maria, have award-winning talents in the cupcake-decorating department. After 14 years building a career as a computer programmer/analyst in the pharmaceutical industry, Viola, of Warrington, decided in 2008 to become a stay-at-home mom and spend more time with her children. She also became a baked-goods-decorating expert. Viola already had been making gingerbread houses for several years, "just for fun - a project with the kids" around the holidays.

You won't find Maria Sharapova's Flirty gummy candy (shaped like lips) or her Sporty gumballs (shaped like tennis balls) at your corner store. The rollout of the Russian-born tennis star's new upscale confections, priced at $5.99 for a 5-ounce bag, seems to have skipped the immediate Philadelphia area. It's available in London and Australia, with plans for Russia, China and Japan, but her Silly's not in Philly. To buy the likes of Cheeky, Chic (shaped like high heels and handbags)

CHICAGO - Maria Tallchief, 88, one of America's first great prima ballerinas who gave life to such works as The Nutcracker , Firebird , and other masterpieces from legendary choreographer George Balanchine, died Thursday in Chicago, her daughter Elise Paschen said Friday. Ms. Tallchief danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1942 to 1947, but her career was most associated with the New York City Ballet, where she worked from 1948 to 1965. Balanchine, the Russian-born dance genius, was not only the company's director; in 1946, he became Ms. Tallchief's husband for some years.

ACTRESS MARIA BELLO is pulling double-duty when she's in town this week. The Norristown-born actress, whom you can see next playing a much-hotter wife to Kevin James ' "hey-didja-know-this-guy-is-fat?" character in "Grown Ups 2," will speak Thursday at the fourth-annual 95.7 WBEN-FM Woman of the Week Luncheon. The event - hosted by Marilyn Russell , who interviews powerful ladies about town (including me!) - is part of the station's series, broadcasting Sundays at 7:30 a.m. Check it out in podcast form at ilikebenfm.com.

Behind Nora McCallion's five goals and two assists on Thursday, Notre Dame held off visiting Villa Maria, 9-7, in a Catholic Academies girls' lacrosse game. Courtney Donovan added three goals and one assist, and Delaney Tuite had two assists and a goal. Megan Parsons scored twice for Villa. Also in the Catholic Academies, Olivia Gannon and Christie Mischler scored four goals each, and Mount St. Joseph rolled at Villa Joseph Marie, 18-3. Natalie Bohner, Emily Ehret, Meg McCabe, and Kaitlin Meister scored twice each.

It seemed the most serendipitous of discoveries when it came to light. In 2011, a Georgia descendant of the Gratz family - prominent civic and philanthropic leaders in post-Revolutionary Philadelphia - stumbled on a blog post referring to a "lost portrait" of Maria Gratz sought by the Rosenbach Museum and Library, the Delancey Street treasure house of decorative arts and rare books and manuscripts. Maria was married to Benjamin Gratz, whose 1831 portrait by Thomas Sully was already at the Rosenbach - a lonely half of a portrait pair, or pendant grouping.

When you lose four starters from a team that reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament, you don't necessarily enter the next season expecting a lot of success. But the more basketball Villa Maria played this girls' basketball season, the more the Hurricanes accomplished. By the time they captured the District 1 Class AAA title, they found themselves in the state tournament as an underdog and loving every minute of it. They won three straight games in impressive fashion.

When a team loses four starters from a squad that reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament, it doesn't often enter the next season expecting a lot of success. But the more Villa Maria played this season, the more the Hurricanes accomplished. By the time they captured the District 1 Class AAA title, they found themselves in the state tournament as an underdog and loving every minute of it. They won three straight games in impressive fashion. Their astounding effort continued Tuesday night at William Tennent.