Minors

A nearly unanimous City Council passed a new youth curfew Thursday after a long and raucous hearing dominated by often-heated testimony against the measure. The 15-1 vote sent a chamber full of opponents into chants of, "Shame! Shame!" As they filed out, they chanted, "We need schools, not the curfew. " The bill's sponsor, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, praised those who spoke out, but said many of their concerns had been addressed in a bill the city needed.

The manager of a pool hall in Doylestown Borough and another man have been charged with providing beer to minors during a New Year's party that got out of hand, borough police said Thursday. Manager Victor Mayda, 39, of Philadelphia, and Brian Best, 21, of Furlong, were charged Tuesday under the state Liquor Control Act for serving beer to minors during a private party at the Billiard Club on Atkinson Drive, which Best had organized, said Sgt. Joe Kissel. Best had bought soda for the youths, who were 15 and older, and some cases of beer for those of legal age, but other youths came whom Best did not know, Kissel said, and "the party got out of control.

After just four games against the Phillies, Atlanta's Mark Wohlers was sent to the minors. Again. The righthanded closer was a flop in two relief appearances in the Braves' first four games of the season. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said Wohlers would report to triple-A Richmond. The 29-year-old, who lost his closer job last season when he couldn't throw strikes, agreed to go back down to the minors to try to regain his form. Wohlers was not available for comment. He faced three batters in Thursday night's 6-3 loss to the Phillies, walking two batters on four consecutive balls and throwing a sacrifice wildly over first baseman Ryan Klesko's head before Cox removed him. The Phillies tied an NL record by using five pitchers in the eighth inning of their win Thursday night against the Braves.

Fund-raising events are given in such forms as chance drives, carnivals or beef-and-beers in different parts of Philadelphia. Organizations initiate these events for the benefit of a needy foundation. They are all rather harmless, except for beef-and-beers. A beef-and-beer, sometimes known as a ten-dollar night, consists of a donation ($10 or more) entitling the purchaser to four hours of food, beer and dancing. These beef-and-beers sound harmless and very enjoyable and profitable for the host, but to neighbors of the Port Richmond area they are nothing but problems.

Paul Graeser would ply the two 12-year-old girls with liquor, make them dance naked and wait for them to pass out. Then he would rape them. How do authorities know? Graeser, 47, made it easy. He videotaped the encounters at his home on Smedley Street near Moyamensing Avenue in South Philadelphia. Yesterday, after Graeser, a tow-truck operator, pleaded guilty to rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corrupting the morals of minors, Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich asked Common Pleas Judge Anne E. Lazarus to view the tapes before the scheduled July sentencing.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons' game with Columbus was halted because of rain last night in Moosic, Pa., after the top of the third inning. It will be resumed as part of a doubleheader tonight. The Red Barons were leading, 3-2, when the triple-A Alliance game was stopped. The teams will meet at 6 tonight to complete the game, which will go nine innings. The game originally scheduled for tonight will last just seven innings, the standard length of league games that are part of doubleheaders.

The Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday sent 14-year NHL veteran Wilf Paiement to Muskegon of the International Hockey League "to get his game back in order," said general manager Eddie Johnston. Paiement, a 32-year-old right winger, has only two goals and five assists in 17 games this season. He has never played a minor-league game in his pro career. Paiement was signed as a free agent in July after scoring 20 goals and collecting 17 assists for Buffalo last season. Former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Jiri Bubla has been convicted in an Austrian court for playing a role in an international drug-smuggling ring, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman in Vancouver said.

Phillies righthander Todd Frohwirth said last night he's considering becoming a free agent rather than reporting to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. All major league teams had to reduce their rosters from 27 to no more than 25 by midnight yesterday. Called in to get the bad news after last night's game were righthander Brad Moore and Frohwirth. "They were the two that weren't getting enough work," manager Nick Leyva explained. "Todd Frohwirth needs to pitch on a daily basis to be successful and there's no way he could do that here.

Salomon Torres, San Francisco's struggling rookie righthander, was optioned to triple-A Phoenix, ending a tumultuous 24-game stint in the majors. Torres, 22, was sent down to make room for Mark Portugal, who was activated from the disabled list. "I told him, 'Just go down and work hard and learn to relax,' " Giants manager Dusty Baker said. Torres (2-8) had lost six straight starts. Frustrated, he left the Giants on June 19 without permission, missing a team flight to Cincinnati.

The Phillies appear ready to dispatch Floyd Youmans to the minor leagues rather than release him. General manager Lee Thomas said last night that he was leaning in that direction, although a decision on the disappointing pitcher is not likely until Friday, when the Phillies will return home. "One option would be to release him or outright him," Thomas said. "Another option would be for him to go to the minors, and we will decide in the next day or two what to do. "He's not going to start for us right now, with the way he's been throwing.

1. Lakewood shortstop Roman Quinn, The Inquirer's No. 4 Phillies prospect, has played well recently after a difficult start. In the last seven games entering the weekend, Quinn went 11 for 27, raising his average from .196 to .237 and scoring six runs. Among the fastest players in the Phillies system, the 20-year-old Quinn had 18 stolen bases entering the weekend. "I had a talk with him about being a good leadoff hitter, seeing pitches, getting deeper into the count," Lakewood manager Mickey Morandini said.

After a hiring cycle that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called disappointing, the NFL hosted a career development symposium Tuesday at Penn's Wharton School. Eight new head coaches and seven new general managers were hired this offseason, but none of them was a minority candidate. In March, Goodell identified the symposium as way to improve the Rooney Rule, which was established in 2003 and requires a minority candidate to be interviewed in a head-coaching search. The rule was upgraded in 2007 to include searches for general managers.

The Philadelphia Office of Inspector General has found 11 prime contractors that used the same supply company as a "pass-through" to circumvent the city's minority-contracting rules on work done for the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. The contractors paid JHS & Sons Supply Co., a certified minority-owned business, merely to satisfy the requirement, while JHS provided no work on the jobs. Inspector General Amy L. Kurland's office has found 19 PHDC contracts that included JHS as a pass-through.

1. The rivalry between Germantown Friends School and Germantown Academy could one day carry into the big leagues. It's been well-documented in these pages that Jesse Biddle, the pride of Friends, is dominating at double-A Reading. Sean Coyle, representing Academy, has been equally as dominating as an outfielder for Boston's high-A affiliate, Salem of the Carolina League. Coyle entered play Saturday hitting .313 with seven home runs, 12 RBIs, and a 1.086 OPS. 2. The price tag for the acquisition of Michael Young from Texas was hard-throwing righthanders Josh Lindblom and Lisalverto Bonilla.

When NFL owners convened for the annual league meetings in March 2003 at the plush Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix, they implemented league legislation that has become known as the "Rooney Rule. " It initially required teams hiring a head coach to interview a minority candidate, and was expanded in 2007 to include general manager searches. Ten years later, the NFL owners met at the same resort for another round of the annual meetings. The Rooney Rule was again discussed. But the conversation this past March was about refinement, because even though the rule was followed, the results were unsatisfactory for the league during this past hiring cycle.

1 Reading catcher Sebastian Valle , The Inquirer's No. 9 Phillies prospect, has gotten off to a slow start. Valle, who is also playing some outfield due to the presence of catcher Cameron Rupp, entered the weekend batting .163 (Rupp was hitting .191). "Sebastian has been working hard and his catching has been solid," Reading manager Dusty Wathan said. "We are trying to tweak something with his swing and it's still early and we are confident that Sebastian will be back soon to the success he had last year.

A large fire in Darby Borough forced the evacuation of an apartment building as the walls of a grocery store collapsed and heavy smoke filled the area. Several people were treated at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital for minor injuries and released, fire officials said. Two of the evacuees planned to stay overnight in housing provided by the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania, officials at the relief agency said. Ten others planned to stay at Darby Borough Hall because the electricity in their apartments had been turned off, Red Cross spokesman Dave Schrader said.

A Delaware County teacher has been charged with furnishing alcohol to two of her students. State Police arrested Katherine Leigh Preusser, 33, an English teacher at Ridley High School, on March 23, after a car in which she was a passenger was pulled over and open beer cans were found inside. Two students were in the car at the time, one of them driving, officials said. Preusser was charged with corruption of minors, furnishing alcohol to minors, drug possession, and other related crimes.

Gov. Christie has signed legislation that bars anyone under 17 from using tanning beds in New Jersey and anyone under 14 from getting a spray tan. The measure signed Monday night allows 17-year-olds to use a tanning salon provided their parent or guardian accompanies them on their first visit and gives their consent. The legislation was developed after a North Jersey mother was charged with child endangerment in April 2012 for allegedly bringing her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The new reality for Roy Halladay started well before 10:59 a.m. Saturday, when he launched an 89 m.p.h. fastball on a back field at the Carpenter Complex. Each time Halladay threw, pitching prospect Jonathan Pettibone clicked the radar-gun trigger. He tilted it so pitching coach Rich Dubee could see the two digits. This happened 81 times Saturday while Blue Jays minor-leaguers smashed Halladay's sinkers and cutters. The first digit of the velocity reading was nine just once or twice.