Park Rangers

After punching a National Park Service ranger in the mouth last October in Independence National Historic Park, Faron Bruce May continued resisting arrest while the ranger tried to handcuff him. Two other rangers were called to the scene and twice fired their Tasers at May, but he continued to wrestle with them. May was finally subdued and handcuffed. May, 31, formerly of Cheltenham, who has been in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 8, 2009, pleaded guilty in federal district court yesterday to two counts of forcibly assaulting two park rangers.

I READ YOUR Yo! cover story of May 27 by Donna Williams Vance on colonial-era stories, "The Lure of the Lore," and I was horrified, shocked and dismayed to read the comments of Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corp., in the article. To quote Ms. Levitz, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if all those lost stories . . . [came] to light from people who were trained, devoted and enthusiastic about telling them?" Well, Ms. Levitz, I can only assume that you haven't visited Independence National Historical Park in more than a half-century.

AN ANTI-ABORTION protester arrested for refusing to move to another spot on Independence Mall in 2007 can't collect damages from two park rangers who detained him, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The three-judge panel upheld a 2011 lower court ruling to dismiss a lawsuit that Michael Marcavage had brought against Independence National Historic Park rangers Alan Saperstein and Ian Crane. The lawsuit stemmed from an October 2007 protest on the sidewalk near the entrance to the Liberty Bell Center, at 6th and Chestnut.

Applications for the the new Philadelphia Ranger Corps - which will do in the 8,700-acre Fairmount Park system what park rangers do in national parks - are already rolling in from recent high school graduates, Alexander L. Hoskins, the park's executive director, said after a Fairmount Park Commission meeting yesterday. Nearly 300 people across the nation have applied for the position of executive director of the corps, which is about to be created by the commission through a $1 million program being funded by the William Penn Foundation.

In a landscape filling fast with houses, office buildings and stores, Tyler State Park remains a patch of thriving green. "We're like the oasis in the desert, except our desert is nothing but developments," said John Costello, a Tyler ranger since 1981, about the 1,700-acre park in Newtown Township. The park provides a refuge and a respite from suburban sprawl for an estimated 800,000 visitors a year. But some of those visitors bring into the park the familiar problems of the world outside: alcohol abuse, drugs, and burglaries.

It started with a fracas at a softball game. Three years and several lawsuits later, the Gloucester County park rangers have gotten what they wanted: They have earned police powers, and perhaps a little more respect. Until nearly two weeks ago, when they graduated from the county's police academy, the rangers saw their mission as a paradox. They were assigned to protect county parks, but they had no official police training. When they saw trouble happening, the most they could do was take notes and call police.

They won't carry guns and they won't ride horses, but their wide-brimmed Smokey the Bear hats will identify them as park rangers: the urban - not the forest - variety. About 40 such rangers - members of the Philadelphia Ranger Corps - are expected to start working for the Fairmount Park Commission in the spring, directing visitors to park attractions and traveling to city classrooms to offer students information about the park. The rangers' training, which includes a two-year course at Temple University, and their duties were described during a news conference yesterday.

After punching a National Park Service ranger in the mouth last October in Independence National Historic Park, Faron Bruce May continued to resist arrest while the ranger attempted to handcuff him. Two other rangers were called to the scene and twice fired their Tasers at May, but he continued to wrestle with them. May was finally subdued and handcuffed. May, 31, formerly of Cheltenham, who has been in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 8, 2009, pleaded guilty in federal district court Tuesday to two counts of forcibly assaulting two park rangers.

The fledgling Philadelphia Ranger Corps, formed to train young people to serve as Fairmount Park rangers, received almost $10 million from the William Penn Foundation yesterday. The grant will fund the non-profit program through at least its first three years. "It's seed money," said corps executive Peter Engbretson yesterday, "to set up a model program. " The corps, formed in November, will have no law enforcement powers. Instead, rangers will serve as interpreters and conservators of the park, offering tours and directions and educating visitors in historical and natural facts about the sprawling 8,700-acre system.

Looking for work? The new Philadelphia Ranger Corps is looking for a few good men - and women. The pay is not terrific, but the job - being a uniformed Fairmount Park ranger - should be more enjoyable than most spots available to recent high school graduates. And the job includes a two-year scholarship to Temple University. "I had a baseball scholarship at the University of Tampa in Florida, but this looked a lot more interesting," said Dennis Lee, 18, of Overbrook, a June graduate of the Robert E. Lamberton School in West Philadelphia and a member of the first class of 40 ranger trainees who met park and city officials at a Memorial Hall reception yesterday.

AN ANTI-ABORTION protester arrested for refusing to move to another spot on Independence Mall in 2007 can't collect damages from two park rangers who detained him, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The three-judge panel upheld a 2011 lower court ruling to dismiss a lawsuit that Michael Marcavage had brought against Independence National Historic Park rangers Alan Saperstein and Ian Crane. The lawsuit stemmed from an October 2007 protest on the sidewalk near the entrance to the Liberty Bell Center, at 6th and Chestnut.

An antiabortion protester who was arrested for refusing to move to another spot on Independence Mall in 2007 can't collect damages from two park rangers who detained him, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled Thursday. The three-judge panel upheld a 2011 lower-court ruling to dismiss a lawsuit Michael Marcavage brought against Independence National Historic Park rangers Alan Saperstein and Ian Crane. The lawsuit stemmed from an October 2007 protest on the sidewalk of 6th Street near the entrance to the Liberty Bell Center at Chestnut.

Bucks County authorities are working to verify the identity of a man's body found Sunday afternoon in the Churchville Park reservoir in Northampton Township. The body, of a white male in his 50s was found at about 2 p.m. about 20 yards off shore near Churchville Lane, which crosses the lake. It had been there, for several days, Buck County district Attorney David Heckler said. County public information officer Christopher Edwards said a car found parked on nearby Hidden Cove Drive had been there since Thursday.

"Philadelphia is the Wild West of tow-trucking," says Mickey Caban at the start of the Discovery Channel's new Wreck Chasers. Tell us something we don't know. Since summer, one truck driver, competing for a tow, shot another one. Another driver got into a late-night fight near a bar and repeatedly ran over, and killed, one of his competitors. "A couple of bad apples who don't follow the system," says Redz Elliott. "They're painting the whole Philadelphia tow-truck business bad because of them.

After punching a National Park Service ranger in the mouth last October in Independence National Historic Park, Faron Bruce May continued resisting arrest while the ranger tried to handcuff him. Two other rangers were called to the scene and twice fired their Tasers at May, but he continued to wrestle with them. May was finally subdued and handcuffed. May, 31, formerly of Cheltenham, who has been in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 8, 2009, pleaded guilty in federal district court yesterday to two counts of forcibly assaulting two park rangers.

After punching a National Park Service ranger in the mouth last October in Independence National Historic Park, Faron Bruce May continued to resist arrest while the ranger attempted to handcuff him. Two other rangers were called to the scene and twice fired their Tasers at May, but he continued to wrestle with them. May was finally subdued and handcuffed. May, 31, formerly of Cheltenham, who has been in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 8, 2009, pleaded guilty in federal district court Tuesday to two counts of forcibly assaulting two park rangers.

N.Y. cleric decries alleged bias acts NEW YORK - New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said he was saddened by a spate of suspected bias attacks on Hispanics that has left Latin American immigrants fearing for their safety. Dolan made the remarks during a Spanish-language sermon at St. Mary's of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island. The borough's Port Richmond neighborhood is home to most of its Mexican immigrants, who have been the targets of most of the 11 attacks since April.

"Most people who want to be park rangers want to be in places like Yellowstone National Park. I think they want to get on a horse and ride around. But I love the city. I love that you can leave here and get on a bus. " "It's a great day, a good shot in the arm for the port. " - Bruce Boyett, general superintendent at South Phila.'s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, where 1,811 new vehicles from South Korea were unloaded "We did it. I think it's just as important that we maintain it. We have a lot of people that want to roll this back.

That I should have Michael Marcavage to thank for preserving my constitutional right to gripe on city sidewalks strikes me as slightly hilarious. But I am appreciative, even if he has condemned me to hell. Marcavage, 30, is an evangelical P.T. Barnum, a sin-slaying showman who says Satan "has invaded our communities" via America's acceptance of abortion, homosexuality, and TV's South Park . The Lansdowne preacher eschews a cassock for T-shirts and baseball caps. He wields a bullhorn and fetus photos and records each graphic spectacle for YouTube and www.repentamerica.

Soon after an attack on a woman in Wissahickon Valley Park in August, an anonymous person began posting large, ominous signs. "DANGER WOMEN, DO NOT RUN/WALK ALONE!" the signs read, giving the impression that Philadelphia's parks are dangerous places. In fact, rapes are not common in Fairmount Park, but even one violent incident is too many. To make our parks safer, we need to use them more, not less. There is safety in numbers. Running, hiking, and biking clubs know this. Groups such as the Wissahickon Wanderers and the Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association meet in the park regularly to run or ride in groups for the camaraderie, but the practice provides safety as well.