Society

ASSAULT CHARGES were filed Tuesday against a Westfield, N.J., man who allegedly participated in a brawl between two wedding parties at the Society Hill Sheraton this month. Meanwhile, the attorney representing the family of a man who died of a heart attack following the melee said he will investigate concerns that there was a defibrillator on site that didn't work and that the hotel may have irresponsibly served guests alcohol. Brian Lanza, 29, of Westfield, Union County, was one of two men originally issued a disorderly conduct citation following the early-morning fight Oct. 7 that was captured by a hotel guest on a video that has received more than 1 million views on YouTube.

The American Cancer Society presented its Southeast Region Distinguished Service Award to St. Joseph's men's basketball coach Phil Martelli on Oct. 3. The award is the highest regional honor given to a volunteer who has contributed to the American Cancer Society for a minimum of 10 years. Martelli, who is entering his 18th season as the Hawks' head coach, serves as the national chairman of the Coaches vs. Cancer Council. While also serving as the Coaches vs. Cancer of Philadelphia chair since 1999, he has helped make the program the most successful one in the nation.

The Roxy Theater has gone dark. But not for long. The Rittenhouse Square-area twinplex, which closed Friday - after 15 years under lawyer-turned-movie-house-operator Bernard Nearey - has a new tenant waiting in the wings. The Philadelphia Film Society, the nonprofit group behind the Philadelphia Film Festival, has secured a 16-year lease with the Roxy's landlord, John Ciccone, who owns multiple properties on the block. The PFS is set to move into the Roxy, at 2023 Sansom St., on Jan. 1. Andrew Greenblatt, the Society's executive director, said Tuesday that upgrades will be made - new seating, new screens - and that the theater will be equipped with a digital projection system.

First came the bride, then the party, then police swinging their nightsticks. When the melee in Society Hill was over early Sunday morning, one wedding guest was dead from an apparent heart attack. And it was all caught on a video posted on YouTube. "Did someone just deck the bride?" is heard on the video of the chaos at the Sheraton Hotel as Philadelphia police break up the brawl. Although who was hit can't be clearly seen, police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said it was not the bride, but rather a bridesmaid who had been "running her mouth.

THEY SAY a bride on her wedding day should wear "something blue" for good luck. For attendees from two weddings over the weekend in Society Hill, more than one thing was blue and none of it was lucky. Guests became black-and-blue fighting with each other - and with the officers in blue who arrived at the Society Hill Sheraton early Sunday to break up the brawl. One man had a fatal heart attack and three people were arrested . Part of the melee, which spilled into the hotel's lobby, was captured on an iPhone by a boy from Camp Hill, Cumberland County, who was in the city for his 15th birthday.

The Hambletonian Society knows a good thing when it sees it. The Society, which oversees the prestigious Breeders Crown series, is bringing back the "biggest day in harness racing" to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs for the second time in four years. The 30th annual edition of the Breeders Crown will be held Oct. 13, 2013 with more than $6 million in purses. "We couldn't wait to come back," said Moira Fanning, director of publicity for the Society, at a news conference at Mohegan Sun on Wednesday.

The sign out front - "These doors are open to you" - and a downpour eight years ago caused Jennifer Childs to scurry into a historic Society Hill church with timber roof trusses as old as the 250-year-old brick building. Childs was trying to lull her then 1-year-old daughter to sleep that day. It was quiet inside St. Peter's Church. She began what became a weekly tradition of reading printed sermons there - her private worship, she called it. At a fund-raising kickoff party Sunday, Childs joined several parishioners who shared stories of the church's impact in their lives to encourage parishioners and supporters to donate to a campaign to repair the rotting trusses and replace the roof at the city's second-oldest Episcopal Church.

DEAR ABBY: America's tradesmen - plumbers, masons and others - get very little respect. The only time these professionals get attention is during an emergency. This lack of regard is leading our nation down an unfortunate path, as fewer young people pursue those jobs. On Sept. 21, we have a chance to thank those people on National Tradesmen Day. Drop a box of doughnuts at the job site near your home. Call your plumber and say, "Thank you. " Invite a tradesman to speak at school. Abby, would you help to get the word out?

Investigators suspect robbery was the motive in the Society Hill shooting that claimed the life of a Fishtown man early Sunday. Police responding to a report of an unconscious man found Michael Hagan, 32, with a gunshot wound to the chest on the 400 block of South Fourth Street about 3:30 a.m. Hagan, of the 1500 block of Earl Street, was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, but he died at 4:31 a.m., police said. Police have not yet released a description of the shooter.