Young Life

Three more males have alleged that they were victims of a township man charged with molesting seven teenage boys in his home while overseeing them as director of a Christian youth group, police said. "We will investigate these leads and all others that we receive," Evesham Police Capt. William Cromie said yesterday. "If we find that there are more victims, then there will be more charges. " John Andrew Baldino Jr., 33, a married father of three children younger than 7, was charged Monday with five counts each of criminal sexual contact and offensive touching.

Jamal Lewis was standing there in the kitchen, trying to strangle the damned dog, but it wouldn't die. There had been no food in the house all week, so Jamal had gotten a sandwich or something - he can't remember what - from his friend Benny. He was starving, dying for something to eat, and now his sister's dog had jumped up on the counter and stolen his food. When he couldn't strangle it, he grabbed a piece of wood from the living room and whacked the dog over the head. The small animal was no match for Jamal, his anger or his weapon; it died almost instantly.

A delightful, affectionate and active 6-year-old, Daniel amazes everyone he meets. If he had his way, he would be outside all the time - sliding, climbing on a gym set, or playing tag with his foster brother, despite the fact that he is legally blind, developmentally delayed and wears braces on his legs. Daniel likes to dance and to sing nursery rhymes or the ABCs. But his favorite activity is playing with musical toys, especially those that light up. He also enjoys hugging and petting his foster family's dog. When he is frustrated, he is easily soothed by listening to music, lying down with a soft blanket and having his back rubbed.

Once upon a time, Peter Pan, who stridently refused to grow up, might have been the top role model for children. Wow! Like Superman, you could fly! Out the window, up, up and away and into some humdinger adventures with the ever- young Peter. And you returned with a smile on your face - unlike the faces of your parents after a hard day. Made you think they should change the spelling of grown-up to groan-up. According to recent reports, children these days are having not just a bad time, but a hard time making it out of childhood alive.

Now that four people have been slaughtered, allegedly by a 17-year-old, it is nearly senseless to suggest that Ivory King started out as a decent young man. Nobody wants to hear about the good things he did in his younger years. It's no longer important that he regularly attended church, volunteered at a hospital in Camden, loved the game of football. All that is important now is that early on May 23, he and two companions - Craig Jones, 20, and Corey McCloud, 21, of Levittown - allegedly sought revenge with a gun. When the noise stopped, four people were dead and one was wounded.

Rachel Kovach and her six girlfriends had a sleepover Thursday night, but sleep wasn't high on their agenda. The 11-year-olds were up at 5 a.m. to watch royal wedding coverage as they hunkered down in the family room of Rachel's home in Highlands, N.J. Before that, they needed time for decorating mini wedding cakes, pillow fighting, gossiping, and giddy shrieking. And, way deep down, worrying. Tuesday, Rachel will undergo a difficult, daylong surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to remove an ultrarare tumor called Ewing's sarcoma from her right thigh.

Four years ago, as MetEast High School teacher Josephine Parr steered her Chevrolet Venture minivan down Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden past a long line of abandoned buildings, she turned to her passenger, Khalil Gibson, a student whom she was advising. "What would you do with a whole block?" she asked Gibson, a young teen who had big ideas for himself and his beleaguered city. Gibson proceeded to describe where he would place a community center for teens, a dance studio, and a music studio.

On Sunday morning, Casha'e Rivers became Philadelphia's 287th murder victim this year. The death of a child who should be playing happily in her kindergarten class ought to remind state legislators why they are today devoting a special House session to fighting crime. The death of a 5-year-old, innocent by virtue of her youth, should motivate legislators to try new measures for taming gun violence. All of the details of this especially agonizing crime are not yet known.

Sometimes, editorials do not need to offer solutions. Sometimes, it is enough to grieve for a little girl and mourn the erosion of childhood. So today, think about the death of 6-year-old Destiny Wright. The so-very-sad truth is that children have always been lost prematurely. Some died because they played harder or more recklessly than others; some by accident; others, in an earlier time, died from hazardous work. Still others, including Destiny, died violently. In that, too, there is nothing new. But what so sears the heart and the conscience is that something is terribly wrong when where you live is so figural in how long you live.

CRYSTAL Bene Starnes had everything going for her. She was pretty, intelligent, popular and talented. But in her junior year in college, Crystal began to feel the early stages of multiple sclerosis. Over the next dozen years, the crippling disease gradually robbed her of her ability to walk and speak. The last words she was able to utter, two years ago, were, "God is. " She died April 4 at age 34. "She had a lovely personality," said her father, James Starnes. "She was outgoing and bubbly with a beautiful smile.

A 17-year-old Willingboro High School student was fatally struck in a strip mall parking lot late Friday, police said today. De'Jour Benson was transported to Cooper University Hospital after he was hit by a vehicle shortly before 11:30 p.m. in the East Ridge Plaza parking lot on the 600 block of Beverly-Rancocas Road, Willingboro police said. Benson later died at the hospital. The circumstances of the incident were not clear. The accident remains under investigation by the Willingboro police and Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

In a statement to "Entertainment Tonight," the newlyweds said: "The rumours regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private, and beautiful ceremony. " She's no doubt hoping that the third time will be the charm. Her first marriage, to singer James DeBarge, was annulled after just a year in 1985. She then married Rene Elizondo in 1991 and somehow kept the union secret for nine years. It's unclear exactly how long Janet, youngest of the talented Jackson clan, has been hitched this time around.

Charlayne Woodard began her autobiographical narrative, Pretty Fire , with a fight for life. She was born several months premature, and doctors told her parents she probably "wouldn't last the night. " That beginning could serve as metaphor for Theatre Horizon's production. Friday's performance marked the grand opening of the company's new space in Norristown, a bold venture to undertake during a struggling economy in a town striving for revitalization. The venue sparkled, and its expansive lobby provided room to mingle.

Four years ago, as MetEast High School teacher Josephine Parr steered her Chevrolet Venture minivan down Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden past a long line of abandoned buildings, she turned to her passenger, Khalil Gibson, a student whom she was advising. "What would you do with a whole block?" she asked Gibson, a young teen who had big ideas for himself and his beleaguered city. Gibson proceeded to describe where he would place a community center for teens, a dance studio, and a music studio.

Kenneth, 17, has many interests and participates in a variety of activities. Very energetic and athletic, he likes sports and plays basketball and volleyball. Music is also a big part of his life. He plays the guitar and recently started taking piano lessons. Kenneth's creative side is evident from his skillful drawings and the poetry he writes. Friendly, respectful, and courteous, he rarely has a problem in his foster placement or at school. Kenneth does well in school in regular education classes, maintaining a B average.

Eric Rivera sits at the dining room table in his foster family's house and describes one of the more memorable beatings his father gave him. "He grabbed a plastic bat and slapped it across my face a couple of times, and he started choking me. " Eric, 18, scribbles on paper as he talks. Doodling while recalling such a grim moment? Yes, he says. He's bored. "It's my own life story, so I'm not that excited telling it. It's not that interesting. " He looked down. "And then he dragged me inside, and he started slamming me against the walls.

Miley Cyrus , 19, is troubled by folks who say she's too young to marry. "Life is too short not to be with the person you want to be with," Liam Hemsworth 's fiancee tells Marie Claire. Miley, who on Monday debuted a new blond hairdo, says marriage is a state of mind. "I don't really care about the wedding or the piece of paper as much as I do the promise we've made to each other," says the warbler, who admits she was totally shocked by Liam's sudden proposal. She digs the ring "because it doesn't look like anything else I wear.

NEWARK, N.J. — After a long and controversial offseason, Dion Waiters is a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although Waiters never started a game during his 2-year career at Syracuse, the Cavaliers selected the Philadelphia native with the fourth pick of the NBA draft Thursday night. The 6-4 guard averaged 12.6 points per game for the Orange last season. Waiters became one of the hot topics for NBA draft gurus this year after he left the NBA draft combine without working out and canceled the remainder of his private workouts and interviews.