Minors

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

After calling nearly 50 witnesses and presenting close to 1,900 documents over eight weeks, prosecutors rested their case Thursday in the landmark trial involving child sexabuse by Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests. The team of district attorneys ended by letting jurors handle what they contend is the closest thing to a smoking gun in the case: a tattered gray folder that had been hidden away in a locked safe at archdiocesan offices for more than a decade. Inside were handwritten and typed records, including a list that Msgr.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Valeria Galarza, program manager for the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids, did not need Thursday's high-profile announcement by the U.S. Census Bureau to learn that minorities now account for more than half of American newborns. The Garden State crossed that statistical frontier in 2006. "I am not surprised at all" that the country as a whole is catching up, said Galarza, 33, of Voorhees. The daughter of immigrants from Central America and now the mother of a 2-year-old, she has watched the percentage of minority babies rise steadily over the years - in Camden, where she works, and across New Jersey.

After calling nearly 50 witnesses and presenting close to 1,900 documents over eight weeks, prosecutors rested their case Thursday in the landmark trial involving child sexabuse by Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests. The team of district attorneys ended by letting jurors handle what they contend is the closest thing to a smoking gun in the case: a tattered gray folder that had been hidden away in a locked safe at archdiocesan offices for more than a decade. Inside were handwritten and typed records, including a list that Msgr.

TREVOR CAHILL took a four-hit shutout into the eighth inning, and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks beat Washington, 5-1, Tuesday night to stretch the Nationals' losing streak to five games. Teenager Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 in his home debut for the Nationals. The 19-year-old Harper, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, is 2-for-9 since being recalled from the minors on Saturday. Cahill (2-2) allowed one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. Arizona starters are 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA over the past five games.

READING - Truth be told, the conversion of Jiwan James began in the spring of 2008. Drafted in the 22nd-round as a pitcher the previous June, the lanky righthander was attempting to battle through a forearm injury that had relegated him to the sidelines during extended spring training. Dusty Wathan, who at the time was a first-year minor league coach, felt bad for the kid and offered to throw him some pitches in the cage. "You could tell he had a good swing," Wathan said.

ALLENTOWN - Bryce Harper is one of the few minor-league players who are major attractions. Despite being in only his second year of professional ball, the Washington Nationals farmhand creates the suspicion that he will be playing at Citizens Bank Park, Citi Field, and other major-league venues before the season is over. The road show for Harper took the 19-year-old this week to Coca-Cola Park, where his triple-A Syracuse Chiefs will conclude a three-game series Friday with the Phillies' affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The New Jersey State Police announced Thursday that it would start accepting job applications in May for its next class of troopers - the first in more than two years - and is reaching out to encourage diverse applicants. The State Police have been criticized in the past by the NAACP for failing to hire more minorities. New Jersey NAACP President James Harris said he saw the outreach effort as an opportunity for correction but would wait to see if it panned out. Whites make up 82 percent of the nearly 2,800 troopers in the state.

LAKEWOOD BLUECLAWS Level: Class A League: South Atlantic League Location: Lakewood, N.J. Website: lakewoodblueclaws.com Ballpark: FirstEnergy Park Directions from Philadelphia: Take Ben Franklin Bridge, merge onto Route 30 E. Merge onto Route 38 E and follow to Route 73 S. Follow 73 S to N.J. Turnpike. Take turnpike N to I-195 E. Merge onto US-9 S (Exit 28A) toward Lakewood. Turn left onto Hurley Avenue. Turn right onto CR-528/S Clifton Avenue.

Ten years ago, Mayor John F. Street took the podium at a NAACP convention and declared: "The brothers and sisters are running this city. Running it! Don't you let nobody fool you; we are in charge of the City of Brotherly Love. " Yet when it came to city contracts, most black-owned companies were getting no love. They were getting a ridiculously thin slice of a huge pie. Between 1998 and 2003, only 2.3 percent of city-contract dollars went to minority-owned firms and 2.2 percent to women, according to Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. Companies owned by white men handled 95.5 percent of the work in a city that is about 43 percent black and 41 percent white.

TEN YEARS ago, then-Mayor John Street took the podium at a NAACP convention and declared: "The brothers and sisters are running this city. Running it! Don't you let nobody fool you; we are in charge of the City of Brotherly Love. " Yet, when it came to city contracts, most black-owned companies weren't getting any love. They were getting a ridiculously thin slice of a huge pie. More like crumbs, actually. Between 1998 and 2003, only 2.3 percent of city-contract dollars went to minority-owned firms, and 2.2 percent to women, according to Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. Companies owned by white men handled 95.5 percent of the work.