Swamp

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

Here comes a holiday weekend: barbecues, swimming, fireworks and all that jazz. Meanwhile, thousands of citizens will spend part of the Fourth of July weekend serving the principle of self-government: They will be circulating petitions demanding that Congress end the unseemly influence of special-interest money. Hundreds of thousands have already signed, but many more are needed to make political insiders give up their corrupting, financial advantages. The best, bipartisan plan to make that happen is the McCain-Feingold bill.

  Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scored 22 points each, and the Boston Celtics rebounded from a lopsided loss and handed one to Portland, beating the Trail Blazers, 104-86, in Boston Friday night. The win came after Boston lost by 32 points to the 76ers on Wednesday, its worst setback in more than six years. Kevin Garnett grabbed seven defensive rebounds to move into second place on the NBA's career list since the league started keeping the stat in 1973-74. Elsewhere: Ersan Ilyasova scored 26 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks held on for a 119-114 victory over the New York Knicks in New York.

Fire ravaged most of a 70- to 90-acre expanse of dry cattails, thick swamp grass and reeds on the northwest border of the Coastal Refinery here Saturday afternoon, authorities said. No one was injured in the blaze, which started at 1:34 p.m. and took about 25 firefighters nearly four hours to extinguish. The cause of the fire, which was reported by refinery security officers, is still under investigation, said Jeff Bilger, second assistant chief of the Verga Fire Department.

The season ended too soon for Archbishop Wood as the Vikings, led by Marc Schaller's 20 points and Dave Fareno's 19, defeated the Bishop Egan Eagles, 62-48, yesterday. After struggling through the first half of its Philadelphia Catholic League Northern Division schedule, the Vikings (8-17, 5-11 division) had come on in the second half of the season to knock off North Catholic and Bishop McDevitt, while losing at the buzzer to Archbishop Ryan and Cardinal Dougherty, all playoff contenders.

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A plane that tows advertising banners made an emergency landing in a Cape May County swamp Thursday, officials said. The pilot was not injured. The plane came down off Route 47 in Middle Township near Pierces Point Road and King Nummy Trail Campground around noon. It wasn't immediately known what was wrong with the single-engine aircraft. The pilot, David Masterson, said he had heard noises from the engine and saw the RPMs drop, so he decided to put the plane down in the marsh.

Philadelphia City Hall is a swamp. Inside the swamp lurk thieves, schemers, racketeers and extortionists who work the levers of power right up to the mayor's office to bilk the public and enrich themselves. Even the staunchest defender of Mayor Street would be hard-pressed to avoid that conclusion after reading the seven indictments handed down Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan. In June, Street ally Ronald A. White and former city treasurer Corey Kemp, a Street appointee, were indicted along with 10 others in a broad federal corruption investigation.

The swamp that Burlington County tried to build, under federal law, in Pemberton Township this year has not been totally successful, but there are mitigating circumstances. It's hard to grow anything when motorcyclists use your garden for a velodrome. Work on the six-acre swamp was finished about two months ago. County Engineer James L. Quinn was pleased with the job, done by Harris Bros. of Monmouth County under a $426,000 contract. The swamp - known as a wetlands mitigation area - was needed because the county had destroyed a wetland of the same size to begin construction of the 2.2-mile Pemberton Bypass, Quinn said.

Beware of the moving swamp. It was resting quietly near Atlantic City earlier this winter, when it slowly began seeping toward Pitman, stopping for a breather. Its mission: to take Philadelphia by storm. The swamp's creator - the man who planned next Sunday's impending assault - shows no remorse. "It's an art," he said proudly. Quite unlike the evil "blob" of the silver screen, this swamp is just a friendly exhibit planned for the Philadelphia Flower Show, which begins next Sunday and continues through March 17 at the Philadelphia Civic Center.

The Phantoms scored three goals in the third period last night to earn a 3-1 AHL victory over the Albany River Rats at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Rats took a 1-0 lead into the final period before Danny Briere fed Andreas Nodl for a goal. Jonathan Matsumoto scored the go-ahead goal on a no-look pass from Claude Giroux. Jared Ross added an empty-net score. The Flyers' Briere is on a rehabilitation stint with the Phantoms as he recovers from a groin injury.

So Tim Tebow's going to New York City. Well, I'm not going with him. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm everywhere at once, all-knowing and all-seeing, blah, blah, blah. But ever since the 2010 draft, I've been hanging out mostly here in Denver to look after Tim. And, really, can you blame Me? It's a nice town. And with its mile-high elevation, it's less of a commute. And before you accuse Me of playing favorites, with about six billion ingrates to deal with, why shouldn't I pay a little extra attention to a kid who thanks Me publicly for everything from a touchdown to a bologna sandwich?

  Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scored 22 points each, and the Boston Celtics rebounded from a lopsided loss and handed one to Portland, beating the Trail Blazers, 104-86, in Boston Friday night. The win came after Boston lost by 32 points to the 76ers on Wednesday, its worst setback in more than six years. Kevin Garnett grabbed seven defensive rebounds to move into second place on the NBA's career list since the league started keeping the stat in 1973-74. Elsewhere: Ersan Ilyasova scored 26 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks held on for a 119-114 victory over the New York Knicks in New York.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A wildfire that has scorched hundreds of square miles since spring continues to creep through the Okefenokee Swamp as it burns underground, fueled by dead and decaying plants - and the cost to taxpayers so far is $52.7 million and rising. It's been more than six months since lightning ignited the Honey Prairie fire on April 28 deep within the boundaries of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near the Georgia-Florida line. There's little, if any, active flame, and the smoke that once smothered much of southeast Georgia has been reduced to sporadic puffs wafting from the swamp's surface.

Congressional offices in the Philadelphia region were swamped with phone calls and e-mails Tuesday as constituents lashed out in frustration at Washington's failure to resolve the debt-ceiling crisis. It was the same all over the country after the televised speech Monday night in which President Obama urged Americans to call their representatives and tell them to make a deal - any reasonable deal - to end the standoff before an Aug. 2 deadline that could throw the nation into financial crisis.

The waiting area of Camden's Office of Vital Statistics was bustling with grandmothers, parents pushing newborns in strollers, and others trying to obtain copies of essential birth, death, and marriage certificates. "Can you get the lady that just walked out?" Jazmin Rodriguez-Ramos yelled from behind the service counter as she waved a piece of paper. "The woman in blue?" asked a newly arrived customer. Rodriguez-Ramos let out an exasperated sigh. Between the stream of patrons, the ringing phones, and the pile of certificates she knew needed to be filed, she could be forgiven for failing to notice the color of an outfit.

THE COUNTRY is in economic quicksand, and no solution is in sight. Infusions of literally trillions of dollars, the nonstop printing of cheap money and the president's refusal to rid himself of advisers whose advice has proven ineffective have put the U.S. economy in an intractable position. Only two industries are thriving - pro sports and gambling venues. How long can they dodge the bullet? The Great Depression was canceled by World War II. It's a different ballgame today.

If you were hoping to sell your house for top dollar in the next few months, you'd better wait. Until 2014, or maybe later. That's when 54 percent of Americans responding to a semiannual survey by two real estate search engines believe the housing market will recover from its now four-year-old malaise. Six months ago, when Trulia and RealtyTrac had Harris Interactive poll more than 2,000 adults 18 and older online, 42 percent estimated 2014 as the turning point. Some people, though, never give in. In November, 5 percent said housing had recovered.

Special Events 2010 Manayunk EcoArts Festival Celebration of artistic, sustainable & local green initiatives. Manayunk Main Street, www.manayunk.com/manayunk-ecoarts-festival . Closes 9/26. Oktoberfest Traditional German food and Oktoberfest beers. McGillin's Olde Ale House, 1310 Drury St.; 215-735-5562. Closes 10/2. Pennsylvania International Week Trade representatives meet with local businesses to discuss export/trade opportunities. Union League of Philadelphia, 140 S. Broad St.; 215-586-4240 Ext. 117. 9/29.

Saying he was running out of patience with the Delaware River Port Authority, Gov. Christie on Thursday vetoed several recently adopted policy changes, saying they did not go far enough to strengthen the agency's accountability and transparency. After a hastily arranged visit to DRPA headquarters in Camden, Christie said he expected embattled DRPA chief executive John Matheussen to be an "agent of change" to speed reform - and keep his job. "I am not going to permit this agency to operate the way it has historically operated," Christie said at a news conference, with Matheussen standing behind him. "If we don't see this agency getting back to work . . . then we're going to have to make changes.

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A plane that tows advertising banners made an emergency landing in a Cape May County swamp Thursday, officials said. The pilot was not injured. The plane came down off Route 47 in Middle Township near Pierces Point Road and King Nummy Trail Campground around noon. It wasn't immediately known what was wrong with the single-engine aircraft. The pilot, David Masterson, said he had heard noises from the engine and saw the RPMs drop, so he decided to put the plane down in the marsh.