News Conference

Anthony Morelli has dodged a rush of reporters again. The Penn State quarterback did not attend yesterday's Alamo Bowl news conference, leaving the offensive players who showed up with the task of explaining his whereabouts instead of talking about how the Nittany Lions plan to deal with Texas A&M on Saturday. Because it has been 46 days since Morelli last met with the media - on Nov. 10, after Penn State beat Temple, 31-0 - the remaining Lions braced for the "Where's Anthony?"

Just a day after an all-but-forgotten President Clinton felt compelled to insist that he remained relevant, the bombing in Oklahoma City proved it. Since Wednesday, he has been the voice of the nation, his sometimes choking voice expressing sympathy for the victims, his steely gaze personalizing the anger at the criminals. His administration has moved quickly and decisively, helping the rescue effort, searching for suspects. Speaking after the first arrest Friday afternoon, he assured the country: "We will solve this crime in its entirety.

Before the fancy apartment in the Wanamaker House, there was the rundown brownstone on stately St. James Place. For years, neighbors there knew Ed Savitz only too well. When the "For Sale" sign went up on the house on St. James two years ago, they waited a few months, then worked up the nerve to tour the place that had for so long attracted a parade of street-wise young men. Even now, it is the basement of the mild actuary's property that sticks in the mind of one woman.

The 12-year-old sister of one of the men charged with plotting to attack Fort Dix alleges that she was punched and choked during an apparent bias incident at her Cherry Hill school, according to an Islamic civil rights group and the girl's family. The sister of Mohamad Shnewer, one of six men arrested in May in connection with the alleged terrorist plot, was punched and choked at the Carusi Middle School on Sept. 19, said the girl's older sister and a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations at a news conference yesterday.

President Clinton said yesterday that he probably would sign a bill to allow the sale of food and medicine to Cuba if Congress approves it, a move that would ease sanctions that have been in place nearly 40 years. Before he committed himself to an agreement reached Tuesday by House Republicans, however, Clinton said he needed to make sure that the measure did not tie the hands of U.S. presidents in conducting foreign policy and that it did not place new restrictions on travel to Cuba.

Seth Joyner's mouth, that AK-47 of verbal warfare, fired blanks yesterday. The Eagles linebacker - his head newly shaved, his eyes shaded by dark glasses - made several critical comments about the team at his first news conference of the preseason, but he left no trail of devastating sound bites. Two days after coach Rich Kotite issued a gag rule, threatening to fine any player a game-day salary for derogatory statements about the club, Joyner's paycheck remained intact. "It's not going to make a difference anyway because the gag is really illegal.

When challenged, Gov. Christie sometimes yells like a Marine gunnery sergeant, calling reporters, citizens, and opponents alike stupid. Judging by his stratospheric poll ratings, voters love that shtick. He's "Jersey Strong. " And how often did former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell say something outrageous, such as opining in 2006 that many old people love casinos because they "lead very gray lives"? After a brief flare, the outrage faded, as it always did; it was just Ed being Ed. Last week, Gov. Corbett mentioned in a radio interview that he had heard some employers say they have trouble finding workers who can pass a drug test - and for that moment of candor, he caught three days of hell, both from Democrats running to replace him in 2014 and from media commentators.

BALTIMORE - It was just like the old days, Mike Trout sitting in the backseat of the car, being driven to another baseball game by his parents, Jeff and Debbie. Trout, the Los Angeles Angels outfielder from Millville, N.J., who woke up Tuesday leading the American League in batting and stolen bases, got to spend an off-day in his hometown on Monday. He took a redeye from Los Angeles to Philadelphia Sunday night with his parents, who were visiting him in Anaheim, Calif., on Monday, Trout stayed at the family's Millville home.

Darryl Reynolds, a 6-foot-8 power forward who helped Lower Merion High School reach the PIAA Class AAAA state championship game in 2012, said Tuesday that he will continue his career at Villanova. Reynolds, who spent last season at Worcester (Mass.) Academy, committed to play for the Wildcats in a news conference at Lower Merion's Downs Gymnasium. He considered Seton Hall, South Carolina, and Utah. He made an official visit to Villanova this month. Reynolds is a three-star recruit, according to ESPN.

MY TIME in the makeup and costume trailers over, I was told to head toward the "Secretariat" movie set, the tunnel underneath the grandstand at historic Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. It was a year ago, a perfect fall morning. They were setting up a shot of a news conference before the 1973 Belmont Stakes. The connections of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Secretariat were to be there, along with the people behind Derby and Preakness runner-up Sham. Actually, the real people weren't there.