Parade

Crowds lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Chestnut Street yesterday to watch the Puerto Rican Week Festival parade. The parade, which started at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and proceeded to Independence Hall, wrapped up the festival.

Even paraders need a rest. Pet owners and their pets did just that July 11 at Charlestown Nature Center. The pets and owners had gathered for the sixth annual pet parade.

Pop singer Anita Baker belts out a hit at the Mann Music Center last night.

Marching bands, horse soldiers, Army tanks and costumed dancers highlighted yesterday's Pulaski Day parade in honor of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Casimir Pulaski. Tourists who were locked out of the Liberty Bell pavilion and Independence Hall because of the U.S. budget impasse joined thousands of other parade watchers for the colorful spectacle. The parade marked the 10th anniversary of Solidarity and was dedicated to Polish presidential candidate Lech Walesa.

Bristol Borough's Christmas parade hit the streets Saturday for the first time since 1988. The tradition had been stalled after merchants complained that the parade cut into time that holiday shoppers could spend in their stores and disagreements broke out about who would portray Santa. This year the parade was moved to Farragut Avenue and Pond Street instead of the business district on Mill Street. And spectators lined its route.

Polish-Americans yesterday celebrated Pulaski Day with a parade in Center City and ceremonies later at Independence Square. The day's program began with a memorial Mass at St. Hedwig Roman Catholic Church, 24th and Brown streets, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the General Casimir Pulaski memorial statue at the Art Museum quadrangle. Pulaski was a Revolutionary War hero. The parade featured military and ROTC units, police officers and firefighters.

The Veterans Committee of We the People 200 Inc., which had complained about disabled veterans' participation in the Sept. 17 bicentennial parade, has resolved its differences with parade planners, its chairman said yesterday. "The veterans are very happy," said Philip Rein, head of the veterans' group. The committee met Monday with Willard G. Rouse 3d, chairman of We the People 200 Inc. The committee and Rouse worked out an arrangement for some disabled veterans to ride in vehicles behind the war floats in the second, or "Preamble," section of the parade, said We the People spokesman Sam Rogers.

No security blankets were needed at the 10th Annual Teddy Bears Picnic, held at Peddler's Village in Lahaska on July 10.

Dozens injured at Va. parade DAMASCUS, Va. - An elderly driver plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Saturday parade in a small Virginia mountain town, and investigators were looking into whether he suffered a medical emergency before the accident. About 50 to 60 people suffered injuries ranging from critical to superficial, but no fatalities were reported. Three of the worst injured were flown by helicopter to area hospitals. Another 12 to 15 victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance, and the rest were treated at the scene.

NEW ORLEANS - Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a neighborhood Mother's Day parade in New Orleans yesterday, wounding at least 19 people, police said. The FBI said that the shootings appeared to be "street violence" and weren't linked to international terrorism. Many of the victims were grazed, and most of the wounds weren't life-threatening, police spokeswoman Remi Braden said. No deaths were reported as of last night. Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told reporters that a 10-year-old girl was grazed in the shooting about 2 p.m. She was in good condition.

MANCHESTER, England - Tens of thousands of Manchester United fans lined the streets on Monday to celebrate their team's 20th English league title and catch another glimpse of manager Alex Ferguson before he retires. Jubilant United players were spending a second day with the Premier League trophy after lifting it Sunday following the 2-1 win over Swansea - Ferguson's final game at Old Trafford after nearly 27 years in charge. A custom-designed, open-top bus bearing a "Champions 2013" logo set off from the stadium under overcast skies and wound its way through the packed streets in a parade that will last more than an hour before arriving at Albert Square in the center of the city.

DUBLIN, Ireland - A chilly, damp Dublin celebrated St. Patrick's Day with artistic flair Sunday as the focal point for a weekend of Irish celebrations worldwide. More than 250,000 revelers braved the occasionally snowy, sleety skies to line the streets for the traditional holiday parade, a two-mile jaunt through the city's heart involving performers from 46 countries. Unusually, 8,000 tourists in town for the festivities led the procession in a "people's parade. " Many donned leprechaun costumes or deployed banners and flags of their home nations or U.S. states, with the Texans making the biggest impression, sporting "Happy St. Paddy's Day, Y'All!"

The second oldest parade in the country will make its 243d march in Philadelphia on Sunday in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a week ahead of time. The parade has been a tradition since 1771 and typically occurs on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, except when the holiday falls on a Sunday, said Bob Gessler, president of the St. Patrick's Day Observance Association. About 20,000 people will march from 16th Street and JFK Boulevard at 12 p.m. down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in this year's parade, including 180 groups and organizations such as the D.C. Fire Department Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, Timoney Irish Dancers, Cairdeas Irish Brigade, Celtic Flame School of Irish Dance, Emerald Isle Academy of Irish Dance, and Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band.

The city's historic St. Patrick's Day Parade got off to a slow start Sunday morning. As the first troupes lined up at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard, seats and space were plentiful. It was not much different as the parade, dating from 1771, got underway at noon. There were a few guesses to explain the light crowds: People thought it would be held next Sunday, the actual holiday. Or would-be attendees got up late, forgetting an hour was lost overnight due to daylight savings time.

Paul J. Phillips Jr., 89, whose Irish Catholic heritage was reflected in his longtime nurturing of Philadelphia's St. Patrick's Day Parade, died Tuesday, Feb. 26, of heart failure at Sunrise Assisted Living in Media. Mr. Phillips became a member of the DeSoto Council No. 315, Knights of Columbus, in 1948 and rose to grand knight. The chapter elected him chairman for its annual participation in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Thus was born a lifelong devotion to the event. In 1960, Mr. Phillips joined the St. Patrick's Day Observance Association.

What the video showed was "disturbing," conceded Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan. But by itself, Dugan said, the 10-second video that shows police Lt. Jonathan Josey walk up behind and hit Aida Guzman was not enough to convict Josey of simple assault after last year's Puerto Rican Day Parade. "This was a real-life situation, there was no slow-motion," Dugan said in announcing Josey's acquittal Tuesday. "Life doesn't have a remote control. " The not-guilty verdict triggered an explosion of cheers - so loud that Dugan reminded the overflow crowd of police that they were in a courtroom and asked them to leave.

Triggering a deafening eruption of cheers from a courtroom packed with scores of Philadelphia police, a city judge this morning found ex-police Lt. Jonathan Josey not guilty of simple assault for swinging at and decking a woman during an unruly street party after last year's Puerto Rican Parade. Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan said he remained troubled by Josey's conduct on the 10-second video that shows Josey hit Aida Guzman from behind and knock her to the ground during the Sept.