Veterans

Kevin J. McAleese, 55, of Fairmount, a retired colonel in the Army Reserve who revived the Miss Philadelphia Pageant, died Friday, Feb. 15, of cancer in hospice care at a friend's home in Pottstown. He had been active in the Miss America Pageant as a volunteer. In the early 1990s, Mr. McAleese was called to escort some Miss America contestants in the Philadelphia area. It was through his work with Miss America that he became interested in reviving the Miss Philadelphia pageant, which had gone dormant in the mid-1980s, colleagues said.

Alan B. Miller , CEO and chairman , Universal Health Services Inc.   Tenure: Founded the for-profit hospital firm. based in King of Prussia, in 1978. Number of facilities: 227; 24 acute-care hospitals; 197 behavioral health facilities, 6 ambulatory centers. Number of employees: About 67,000. Financial data: Net income of $391.7 million on $7.5 billion in revenue in FY2011. Currently reading: Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham.

The Philadelphia trial of a Cedarbrook woman for the 2010 robbery-murder of an 87-year-old World War II veteran was postponed until Tuesday after the defense lawyer fell ill. Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart on Friday canceled the third day of testimony in the trial of India Spellman, 19, when defense lawyer Harry R. Seay said he felt ill. Minehart told the jury to return to court Tuesday - the courthouse is closed Monday for the Presidents' Day...

*  ZERO HOUR. 8 p.m. Thursday, 6 ABC. ANTHONY Edwards has already had his dream trip around the world. Starting Thursday, he'll be crisscrossing the planet on a journey dreamed up by "Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring in pursuit of mysterious bad guys in ABC's "Zero Hour. " More than a decade after he left "ER" - where Edwards, now 50, earned enough millions to make spending more time with the family an activity that at one point involved traveling the world for a year with his wife, their four children and a couple of teachers - the actor's back on television.

After suffering a series of setbacks in the early days of the Korean War, U.S. officials were anxious for a victory. They got it on July 21, 1950, when the Buffalo Soldiers of the Army's 24th Infantry Regiment, which had just arrived in Korea, retook Yechon in a counterattack. Though the victory was short-lived, U.S. Rep. Thomas Lane of Massachusetts stood before the House and praised the black troops "who believed not only in the United States as it is, but in the nation that it will become when intolerance is also defeated.

WASHINGTON - A veteran who helped "defend the indefensible" at a vulnerable Army outpost in Afghanistan received the nation's highest award for military valor Monday at a tearful White House ceremony that also honored the eight men who did not survive a Taliban attack. President Obama lauded former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha's bravery in fighting back an intense daylong barrage by enemy fighters. The Taliban descended on Combat Outpost Keating in the mountains near the Pakistan border Oct. 3, 2009, shaking Romesha out of his bed into what Obama said has been called one of the most intense battles of the war in Afghanistan.

David Sutherland is a retired U.S. Army colonel and director of the Center for Military and Veterans Community Services (Dixon Center) Paula J. Caplan is a Harvard University psychologist and author of "When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans" There's no mystery, but people talk as though there is. Some leaders in the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as some psychotherapists and other citizens, express...

D EAR HARRY: I received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs that set me back on my heels. The letter included a check for $23,852 payable to my son's estate. He died earlier this year in the Delaware Valley Veterans' Home after a long-term illness. The letter indicated that there was a claim by the home of $421,162 for the period of his illness. They wanted me to pay this money from my son's estate. His only estate was this check. On the advice of a lawyer, I sent them the money minus the lawyer's fee. I feel betrayed.

A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice is on trial on charges of violating campaign-finance law, a city councilwoman has admitted using campaign funds to repay a personal loan, and nine past and present judges of Philadelphia Traffic Court have been indicted in a federal ticket-fixing probe. This might be a good thing. Far from signaling the imminent political demise of state and municipal government, former city and federal prosecutor Walter M. Phillips Jr. said the blizzard of corruption investigations is a sign of progress.

Army veteran Carl L. Ferrell had lived with strangers before. He was sent, at age 9, to an orphanage because his parents were too poor to care for him. In his 50s, Ferrell moved into a group home in Coatesville because he had little family left to help him manage his bipolar disorder, anxiety attacks, and heart condition. With its budget-breaking rent and lousy food, the last place "wasn't so hot," said Ferrell, 68. So he turned to the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center to find a better place.