Official Visit

Mayor Wilson Goode, who is campaigning for re-election, chats with a youngster who is staying at the newly opened Hare Krishna Food for Life Shelter for Women. The mayor participated in the official opening of the center for the homeless at 918 N. Broad St.

Jason Lawson now will take a closer look at his neighborhood college, La Salle University. Lawson, the 6-10 Olney High center who lives a few blocks from La Salle, will make an official campus visit Nov. 20 and 21. Lawson had planned to make only an unofficial visit to La Salle. He changed his mind after canceling an official visit to the University of Massachusetts. That was to have been made last weekend. "UMass told me they got a verbal commitment from another big guy," Lawson said, referring to 6-11 Marcus Canby, of Hartford.

Editor's note: The following piece appeared in only one edition of The Inquirer on Dec. 17. We thought it was good enough to rerun so more readers could enjoy it. Ten minutes is not enough time to have a pint in an Irish pub. So President Clinton ordered only a half-pint of lager when he stopped in at Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's regular watering hole in Dundalk, Ireland. Clinton was touring Ireland at an American fast-food pace during the last official visit of his administration.

The latest episode of As Terrelle Turns has taken another twist. Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top recruit, will not make an official visit to Penn State this weekend, according to rivals.com. Last Friday, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound quarterback wrote in his Pittsburgh Post-Gazette diary that he "probably" would visit State College for his second official visit. Instead, Pryor, of Jeannette High just outside Pittsburgh, will visit Michigan on Friday. He also said he wasn't sure whether he would visit another campus, though Florida, Oregon and Louisiana State were possibilities.

It was Linda Ronstadt vs. Robin Quivers on The Tonight Show. First, Jay Leno asked Howard Stern's sidekick, who is black, if she thought she should stand up for women and black people, two frequent targets of the shock jock's jokes. "People tell me I'm supposed to, but I don't find it necessary," Quivers responded Thursday night. When Quivers moved over a chair, and Ronstadt took her seat after singing a song, she told Leno: "It's not my place to take issue with one of your guests, but I felt deeply upset about what she said.

Temple is a front-runner for the one of the nation's premier basketball prospects. Even before playing in his first high school game, William Tennent freshman center Horace Spencer III can envision playing for the Owls. "Anything can change," Horace Spencer Jr. said of his son, "but right now, Temple and Rutgers are probably the best two schools, I think personally, that are fitted for his game, because of the coaching staffs there. " There will be a lot of elated fans at the North Broad Street campus if Spencer does indeed become an Owl. The 6-foot-9, 200-pounder is regarded as the nation's top prospect in the Class of 2015, according to recruiting analyst Van Coleman.

Tyreke Evans, the super-talented American Christian Academy guard and MVP of the McDonald's All- American Game, said last night that he was leaning heavily toward picking Villanova after making an official visit with the basketball coaching staff Tuesday night. "After eating with Jay and talking to Jay, he kept it real with me," Evans said of the meeting with Villanova coach Jay Wright. "He told me the things I wanted to hear and some things I didn't want to hear but will make me a better player.

President Obama is swooping into the Philadelphia region Tuesday morning for a quick visit to the Yeadon Regional Head Start Center in Delaware County, White House officials say. The president is scheduled to tour a classroom at 11:30 a.m. and then make remarks about Head Start, the federal early-childhood education program. It's an official visit rather than a campaign trip, though everything a president does has unavoidable political overtones. Tuesday is Election Day, and Delaware County Democrats are hoping to break the GOP's hold of more than three decades on the County Council.

The final football team at Monsignor Bonner High has produced at least one player who's bound for a Division I school. Dom DiGalbo, a 6-4, 270-pound center, has committed to Coastal Carolina, according to his father, Anthony, a Bonner assistant. "We were there this past weekend for an official visit and Dom was very impressed," Dad said, via email. "Their facilities blew Temple's and Maryland's out of the water, and he just wasn't feeling Army or Navy. "They have a brand new coaching staff that is very good and, hey, who wouldn't want to be in Myrtle Beach all year?

Julius Davis, a running back from Holy Cross High in Delran, has made an oral commitment to attend Villanova on a football scholarship. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Davis said he made the decision after an official visit to the school over the weekend. "It's a great school, I will get a great education, and I liked the campus and the football program," Davis said last night. In the fall, Davis helped lead Holy Cross to a 10-2 record and its first state Parochial 4 championship.

WILL PARKS now has a new opinion about how much influence college coaches have on high school football players' decisions. "I always thought it was 80 percent," he said. "Now I'm going with 85. " The 6-1, 175-pound Parks, a first-team Daily News All-City defensive back from Germantown, has switched his commitment from Pitt to Arizona. He gives much of the credit to assistant Tony Gibson, who recently joined Arizona's staff and beforehand coached at - you got it - Pitt.

Skyler Mornhinweg might wind up sticking with his commitment to Penn State, but two other schools, sources say, are in the mix to land the St. Joseph's Prep quarterback. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior also is considering Florida and Virginia Tech. He is in Florida this weekend for an official visit. Mornhinweg, a three-year starter for the Hawks, was in State College last weekend and, along with about a dozen other recruits, met with new coach Bill O'Brien. The two spoke one-on-one for 20-30 minutes.

The final football team at Monsignor Bonner High has produced at least one player who's bound for a Division I school. Dom DiGalbo, a 6-4, 270-pound center, has committed to Coastal Carolina, according to his father, Anthony, a Bonner assistant. "We were there this past weekend for an official visit and Dom was very impressed," Dad said, via email. "Their facilities blew Temple's and Maryland's out of the water, and he just wasn't feeling Army or Navy. "They have a brand new coaching staff that is very good and, hey, who wouldn't want to be in Myrtle Beach all year?

Late last month, Tommy Schutt said he was sticking by his commitment to Penn State, but was taking a wait-and-see approach. He apparently has seen enough. Schutt, one of the nation's top defensive tackles, has switched his commitment to Ohio State after a weekend campus visit, according to Rivals.com. Schutt, 6-3 and 301 from Glen Ellyn, Ill., is ranked as the top player in Illinois. "I am really glad I made the official visit," Schutt said, according to the website.

President Obama is swooping into the Philadelphia region Tuesday morning for a quick visit to the Yeadon Regional Head Start Center in Delaware County, White House officials say. The president is scheduled to tour a classroom at 11:30 a.m. and then make remarks about Head Start, the federal early-childhood education program. It's an official visit rather than a campaign trip, though everything a president does has unavoidable political overtones. Tuesday is Election Day, and Delaware County Democrats are hoping to break the GOP's hold of more than three decades on the County Council.

Temple is a front-runner for the one of the nation's premier basketball prospects. Even before playing in his first high school game, William Tennent freshman center Horace Spencer III can envision playing for the Owls. "Anything can change," Horace Spencer Jr. said of his son, "but right now, Temple and Rutgers are probably the best two schools, I think personally, that are fitted for his game, because of the coaching staffs there. " There will be a lot of elated fans at the North Broad Street campus if Spencer does indeed become an Owl. The 6-foot-9, 200-pounder is regarded as the nation's top prospect in the Class of 2015, according to recruiting analyst Van Coleman.

THREE OF the colleges that made Brendan Kilpatrick's personal final four can be found in New England. Hmm, what have we here, a closet skier? "Not even close," he said, chuckling. "And I don't even plan on learning. When guys come back from skiing or snowboarding, they all seem to have broken arms or broken legs. I don't think that's for me. " Kilpatrick, a 6-5, 195-pound senior at Malvern Prep, is a quality basketball player and his next stop will be the University of Vermont.

VIENNA, Austria - Iran has allowed a top U.N. atomic inspector access to a site where it is developing advanced centrifuges that can be used to make nuclear fuel and to arm warheads, diplomats told the Associated Press on Tuesday. The diplomats said Deputy Director-General Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency also was allowed to tour Iran's heavy-water production plant for the first time. Heavy-water reactors - like the research unit Iran is building - produce plutonium, which, along with enriched uranium, can be used for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

TOKYO - Japan's new disaster-reconstruction minister submitted his resignation today after making remarks widely criticized as offensive during a visit to the earthquake-devasted northeast coast, where he refused to shake a governor's hand, scolded the official and threatened to withhold aid. In meetings with local governors over the weekend, Ryu Matsumoto, appointed last month, appeared arrogant and uncaring, angering local residents and political opponents....

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Wooing Hispanic voters back home, President Obama kept his campaign pledge to become the first president since John F. Kennedy to make an official visit to this recession-battered U.S. territory. "The aspirations and the struggles on this island mirror those across America," Obama declared yesterday. On a sweltering day, thousands crowded the main roads and waved flags as Obama's motorcade roared by. A huge banner filled eight stories of a building, featuring the images of Kennedy and Obama.