Program Manager

Ralph Collier, 91, of Society Hill, a sophisticated voice in Philadelphia radio who interviewed celebrities and newsworthy figures, died Tuesday, Jan. 29, of heart failure at Pennsylvania Hospital. Until this month, Mr. Collier was writing a weekly travel column for the Main Line Times. For two decades until 1988, Mr. Collier hosted a daily interview program on classical-music WFLN-FM. "He had a knack for opening people like a book," said his wife, Birtan. "He was never confrontational," said Dave Conant, the station's program manager during part of Mr. Collier's tenure.

If you're looking for a way to culturally broaden your horizons, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts has just the ticket. It's a program called Discover Jersey Arts. When you sign up for a free membership, you will receive a Jersey Arts Ticket that looks like a colorful credit card. The ticket opens the doors to discounts and premiums at numerous attractions in New Jersey including museums, plays and concerts. According to Jim Atkinson, program manager for Discover Jersey Arts for the last decade, the program is cosponsored by the arts council and the Art Pride New Jersey Foundation.

Linda McGee has been deluged with phone calls since Monday night, when the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers announced its plan to strike at the end of school Friday if it does not have a new contract. The callers have wanted to know what will happen to Friday's Public League games, and what will happen to the fall sports schedules if the teachers strike. "I've talked to a lot of people," said McGee, the school district's athletic program manager. McGee said Friday's games will be played as scheduled.

Wanda Stonebraker, who began her counseling career in Indiana in 1988, has been named director of the Chester County Department of Aging. A native of Wrightsville, York County, Stonebraker, 58, was deputy director of the agency from 2005 until she was named acting director in February. The agency's goals are "to develop, coordinate and support comprehensive community-based services which assist persons age 60 and older to remain independent and self-sufficient in the community," according to its Web site.

Bancroft NeuroHealth will pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a middle-age African American worker who contended that he was denied a promotion based on his age and race. Kolma Tobey, 50, of Woodlyn, Delaware County, was denied a promotion to program manager three times at Bancroft Brain Injury Services in Mullica Hill, according to a statement released yesterday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The position was awarded to a younger, white employee each time.

A Philadelphia-area landmark has been desecrated. WIOQ has fired John Harvey (Harvey in the Morning). It has sacrificed quality programming in the name of the Almighty Rating. It has laid the blame of its decline in the ratings not on the doorstep of the program manager where it belongs, but squarely on the shoulders of the one morning DJ in the entire area who offered an oasis of friendly, intelligent humor in the midst of a vast desert of fast-talking, denigrating hype-mongers whose unfathomable popularity surely must come from the same audience that made Laverne and Shirley the nation's No. 1 television show for so many years.

The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware Minority Supplier Development Council , the Philadelphia affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, has elected the following to its board: Jessica Choi, director of supplier diversity at Aramark Strategic Assets; Rajil Chopra, manager of supply operations at Peco Energy Co.; Sherry Nacci, diversity manager at Skanska USA Building Inc.; Sherry A. Robison, supplier diversity program...

The "Mac Man" was unplugged yesterday on WIP (610-AM). Jody MacDonald, the noon-to-4 p.m. host on the station, abruptly vanished from the radio dial because his contract has expired, according to program manager Tom Bigby. Glen Macnow, the new 10 a.m.-to-noon host, stayed over and worked with Craig Carton until 3 p.m. MacDonald's absence wasn't mentioned at the beginning of his normal shift. Asked if he is optimistic that MacDonald will sign a new deal with WIP, Bigby said, "I like to think so. " MacDonald was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has named former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli as the new chairman of the Archdiocesan Review Board, which advises him on matters of child sexual abuse and misconduct with the five-county archdiocese. Chaput also named Arnold Gordon, a former Philadelphia first assistant district attorney, as the board's vice chairman. Both men have served on the 12-member panel since June 2011. Christine Campbell, trauma program manager at St. Christopher's Hospital, and the Rev. Stephen Leva, pastor of St. Timothy's parish in Mayfair, were also appointed to the board.

Robert N. Brey Jr., 91, of Chestnut Hill, a designer of control systems for spacecraft and power plants, died of pneumonia Monday, July 25, at Chestnut Hill Hospital. Born in East Falls, Mr. Brey graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1938, attended Bowdoin College, and earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. During World War II, said his son, Robert N. III, Mr. Brey was a Navy engineering officer on several destroyers in the South Pacific.

Ralph Collier, 91, of Society Hill, a sophisticated voice in Philadelphia radio who interviewed celebrities and newsworthy figures, died Tuesday, Jan. 29, of heart failure at Pennsylvania Hospital. Until this month, Mr. Collier was writing a weekly travel column for the Main Line Times. For two decades until 1988, Mr. Collier hosted a daily interview program on classical-music WFLN-FM. "He had a knack for opening people like a book," said his wife, Birtan. "He was never confrontational," said Dave Conant, the station's program manager during part of Mr. Collier's tenure.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has named former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli as the new chairman of the Archdiocesan Review Board, which advises him on matters of child sexual abuse and misconduct with the five-county archdiocese. Chaput also named Arnold Gordon, a former Philadelphia first assistant district attorney, as the board's vice chairman. Both men have served on the 12-member panel since June 2011. Christine Campbell, trauma program manager at St. Christopher's Hospital, and the Rev. Stephen Leva, pastor of St. Timothy's parish in Mayfair, were also appointed to the board.

Comcast Cable , Philadelphia, hired Thomas J. Wlodkowski as vice president of accessibility, a new role that focuses on the usability of the company's products and services by people with disabilities. He previously led accessibility efforts at AOL Inc. Luke Thomas was hired as account executive in the Philadelphia officer of Structure Tone . He was a project manager for Turner Construction Co. Electronic Ink , a Philadelphia design consultancy, hired Gareth Pryce as vice president of client strategy.

Haynes International Inc., a Kokomo, Ind., developer, manufacturer and marketer of high-performance alloys, elected Michael L. Shor as a board member and member of the Compensation Committee. Shore retired as executive vice president-advanced metals operations and premium alloys operations, of Carpenter Technology Corp., Wyomissing. First Savings , a mutual banking company based in Perkasie, elected Cheri Hutchinson Freeh to its board. She is a principal with Hutchinson, Gillahan and Freeh P.C., Quakertown.

One could easily say Philadelphia's Brewerytown neighborhood was tailor-made for the Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a nationally acclaimed state program that funnels tax dollars to help develop grocery stores in underserved communities. Decades after Prohibition idled the brewing hub, the enclave near the Philadelphia Zoo lost its last supermarket in the 1990s. Year after year, residents of battered rowhouses sought a full-fledged replacement, only to be turned down again and again by companies that said the urban math didn't add up to a good investment for them.

Robert N. Brey Jr., 91, of Chestnut Hill, a designer of control systems for spacecraft and power plants, died of pneumonia Monday, July 25, at Chestnut Hill Hospital. Born in East Falls, Mr. Brey graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1938, attended Bowdoin College, and earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. During World War II, said his son, Robert N. III, Mr. Brey was a Navy engineering officer on several destroyers in the South Pacific.

YOUR RECENT article about the Gulph Mills tragedy ("Why Kill Family?" March 8) that quoted me unfortunately didn't include factors I cited that contribute to these very rare instances of violence by individuals with mental illnesses, such as substance abuse. In addition, the statistic I offered was based on one source. Other sources paint a very different picture of a complicated issue. According to an article in Hospital and Community Psychiatry, "the absolute risk posed by mental illness is small and only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to the mentally ill. " In fact, individuals with mental illnesses are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime.

Albert E. Rose, 70, a former manager at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia and at the New Jersey Network, died of lung cancer Wednesday, June 16, in the hospice of Chandler Hall, a retirement community in Newtown Township, Bucks County. Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Rose earned a bachelor's degree in history at the University of Pennsylvania in 1961 and graduated in 1962 from the Annenberg School for Communication, where he was a lecturer for 20 years. Mr. Rose began at WCAU-TV (now NBC10) in 1962, when it was a CBS affiliate, and worked as a production assistant, associate producer, and assistant director in public affairs.