Phila

The Philadelphia PGA prevailed by a one-point margin in 26 singles matches yesterday at the Aronimink Golf Club and regained the Yamaha Cup from the Middle Atlantic PGA. The Philadelphia PGA players, from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, beat the players from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., 23 1/2-15 1/2, in the two days of play. THE RESULTS PHILA. 13 1/2, MID. ATLANTIC 12 1/2 Woody FitzHugh, MA, d. Gary Hardin, 2 and 1; Rick Osberg, Phila., d. Fred Gibson, 3 and 2; Webb Heintzelman, MA, d. Stu Ingraham, 1-up; Glen Barrett, MA, d. Brian Kelly, 1-up; Jim Booros, Phila.

Ethel Brown went back to Hazel Avenue yesterday to retrieve items left behind when her house collapsed Friday. But the contractor who was to let her in did not show up, she said.

Whales have been sighted in Philadelphia. Wyland, anenvironmentalist/ artist, started painting a life-sized mural on the west wall of the Marketplace Design Center at 2400 Market St. He plans to finish today.

The Kiyohari Dance Group performs the dance at the Japanese House in Fairmount Park. Dancers Tomio Hirono (left) and Mutsuko Hakoishi complete some last-minute preparations before going on. The Japanese deer dance, a tradition at least 700 years old, lives on as a plea for good harvest.

Five Below Inc., Philadelphia, said it will open three more stores in Ohio on Friday - one in Columbus and two in Cleveland. The retailer entered the Ohio market with five stores in Cleveland earlier this year. With the outlets, the company will have 133 stores in 13 states. Five Below sells low-priced merchandise, such as fashion accessories and DVDs, to teens and preteens.     - Paul Schweizer

Quentin Griffith of the Pennsauken Golf Club shot a 5-under-par 66 to win the pro honors in the Philadelphia PGA Pro-Member Tournament yesterday at the Riverton Country Club. Russ Davis of the Atlantic City Country Club teamed with Bill Schmidt, Rich Meehan and Jim Landgraf to win the pro-member event with a two-best-ball score of 116.

Rebecca Macree from England, the No. 2 seed, defeated Penn coach Demer Holleran, the U.S. champion, 3-2, in the quarterfinal round of the Philadelphia Open Softball Squash Championship yesterday at the Racquet Club. In the men's championship, Martin Heath of Scotland and Mark Chaloner of England advanced to the semifinals, and top-seeded Craig Rowland of Australia reached the quarterfinals. Karen Kelso, a former Penn player, lost in straight games to Senga Macfie of England in women's singles.

Dottie Porter of Riverton and Gertrude Dunn of Radley Run shared the lead with scores of 82 yesterday after the opening round of the 36-hole Philadelphia Senior Class A Golf Championship. Porter, a former U.S. Amateur champion, and Dunn played their rounds at the Brookside Country Club in Pottstown, each shooting 42-40-82. They play their final rounds tomorrow at the Sunnybrook Golf Club. In the other half of the tournament, played yesterday at Sunnybrook, Sheila Selby of Huntingdon Valley finished first with an 86 and Meg Devitt of Rolling Green second with an 87. They play their concluding rounds tomorrow at Brookside.

A man who died in a fire Sunday night in the city's West Oak Lane section ehas been identified as 72-year-old Edward Drinks. The cause of the fire that claimed Drinks' life in his home on the 7000 block of Georgian Road is under investigation. The house was fully engulfed in fire when firefighters arrived at 7:36 p.m. but they brought it under control within 20 minutes, officials say.   Contact the Inquirer Online News Desk at online@phillynews.com or 215-854-2443.

Yesterday's rain played havoc with the 100th Philadelphia Amateur Golf Championship, but not before defending titleholder Jim Kania and former champ Chris Lange advanced to the second round of match play at the Manufacturers Golf and Country Club in Oreland. Fifteen of the 16 first-round matches were completed, but the scheduled second round could not be finished. Kania played a 1-over-par round in defeating Mike Dougherty, 6 and 4, and was 1 up on Chris Krueger at the end of six holes in the second round.

When Mitt Romney came to West Philadelphia on Thursday morning to discuss improving the American educational system, he dropped into a neighborhood that was none too happy to welcome him. Romney's campaign bus pulled up early outside the Universal Bluford Charter School on 57th and Media Streets, much to the surprise of most locals. Philadelphia, after all, is a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 6-1. As word spread that Romney was there to discuss education reform in a closed-door, 90-minute roundtable, neighbors gathered outside the school to protest the visit.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is scheduled to discuss his vision of education reform Thursday morning in one of the most heavily Democratic neighborhoods in the nation: West Philadelphia. The former Massachusetts governor will visit the Universal Bluford Charter School in the 5700 block of Media Street, for a roundtable discussion and a tour of classrooms. The 8:45 a.m. program is not open to the general public. The visit follows Romney's rollout Wednesday in a Washington speech of policy changes that would encourage more charter schools, and turn $26 billion in federal grants for special-education and low-income students into a type of voucher they could apply to tuition at any public school in their state, as well as online schools and private schools.

As Jerry Jordan blasted School Reform Commission restructuring plans Tuesday night, heads turned to the back of the room, to a line of children, sporting a poster with a simple message: "We need better schools. " Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, spoke out against SRC proposals to overhaul the Philadelphia School District's structure and planned layoffs to nurses and other professionals at an "emergency community meeting" held at Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia.

The police squad repeatedly swooped down on bodegas and smoke shops, saying they were searching for the small plastic bags often used to package drugs. But merchants complained that the officers made off with cash and merchandise after disabling security cameras to mask their conduct. The actions of the Narcotics Field Unit - in one case graphically captured by a camera with a backup hard drive - triggered a major scandal in the city in 2009. The result was an FBI investigation of the officers, dropped charges against some defendants, and numerous federal civil right lawsuits filed by people who said they were abused or framed by the squad.

New charges await two men with long criminal records who were shot and wounded, one critically, by Philadelphia police officers Saturday in separate confrontations. Vernon Walker, 49,was shot in the leg Saturday afternoon after he pointed a silver-colored toy gun at an officer, police said. Officers had chased him into a weedy lot after a holdup at a state liquor store in the 6000 block of Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. The other, Sidney Clayton, also a robbery suspect, was shot eight times as he beat a police officer with his own baton in West Philadelphia.

Philadelphia police Sunday are investigating two shootings that occurred overnight. Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, police were called to the 500 block of West Cumberland because of gunshots. They found a 33-year-old man lying in the road next to his vehicle with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:23 p.m. The second shooting occurred shortly before 5 a.m. in the 900 block of Conestoga Street in the Kingsessing section.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Sunday announced that it had found two more priests unsuitable for ministry following claims that they had sexually abused a minor. The Archdiocese said it had substantiated the claim against Msgr. George J. Mazzotta, who most recently served at Stella Maris Parish in Philadelphia and Saint Madeline Parish in Ridley Park. Msgr. Hugh P. Campbell, who was retired but most recently served at Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish in West Chester, told the Archdiocese himself in December that he had sexually abused a minor, according to a brief release from the Archdiocese.

A Philadelphia police officer broke his leg while running after a suspect Friday night in the Point Breeze section of South Philadelphia. The injured officer alerted a radio operator at 8:21 p.m. that he was down in the area of 22d and Mountain Streets. An "assist officer" alert was declared and police rushed to the officer's aid. The fleeing suspect was apprehended. It was not immediately known why the suspect was being pursued. A medic unit took the injured officer to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Profitability at hospitals in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs improved slightly last year, but the revenue growth rate continued sliding, according to an annual report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council to be released Thursday. The report, which is appearing as hospital interests are lobbying hard in Harrisburg to undo funding cuts proposed by Gov. Corbett in February, showed that the overall operating profit margin at 41 area for-profit and nonprofit hospitals edged up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.

To the sound of protests and drum beats that could be heard inside the Prince Music Theater, Gov. Corbett on Tuesday stuck to his message of budget austerity and no-new-taxes in a one-hour question-and-answer session hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Corbett repeated a folksy analogy to the business suit-and-tie audience, saying that state revenue amounted to an eight-inch pizza pie before the 2008 financial crisis. Now, he said, it's a six-inch pie "but with the same mouths to feed.