The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B01

A new path: City to examine Philadelphia -i0N bkycle-sharing. the Region Thursday, may 2008 fce Jpftitaelpftia llnquirer www.philly.com Fugitive effort enlists clergy City officials asked leaders of various faiths to encourage those sought on arrest warrants to turn themselves in. First District Plaza in University City. Among the guests was retired Philadelphia Daily News columnist Chuck Stone, who was hailed in the 1970s, '80s and '90s for surrendering a total of 74 fugitives to police. Gillison said 30,000 of the city's outstanding arrest warrants were for felonies and 38,000 were for See SURRENDER on B6 "What we're seeking to do is change how we deal with crime and criminals in the city," Nutter said of the "Peaceful Surrender" initiative.

Scores of clergy Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and others heard from Nutter, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison, and representatives of the courts and the Police Department during a breakfast gathering at of people wanted on outstanding arrest warrants, Mayor Nutter and other city officials yesterday announced an effort to enlist more than 200 clergy to encourage fugitives to turn themselves in to By Vernon Clark INQUIRER STAFF WRITER There are 68,000 of them, many living in the shadows in Philadelphia, dodging police, trying to avoid arrest. To reduce the staggering number TOM GRALISH Inquirer Staff Photographer Chuck Stone, former Daily News columnist, helped 74 fugitives surrender over three decades. Pileggi: Rendell doomed nominees jjjMWBj 841 DAVID SWANSON Inquirer Staff Photographer A six-alarm fire engulfs Prince of Peace Baptist Church at 32d and Berks Streets in Strawberry Mansion. The blaze, first reported shortly before 8 a.m. yesterday, left only the stone walls behind.

Below, a charred piece of debris bearing the church's address landed on a porch a block away. Saying the governor broke bipartisan protocol, the GOP leader predicted a Senate rebuff of his judicial picks. By Amy Worden INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU HARRISBURG The state Senate will likely reject Gov. Rendell's four judicial nominees, not because of their qualifications but because the governor failed to consult with Senate leaders, Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said yesterday. Pileggi said at a news conference that Rendell had disregarded protocol established under the state constitution to reach agreement on judicial nominees through bipartisan collaboration.

"Our central concern is with the way the governor has chosen names," he said. "It's not the right process, not the historical process for filling these very important positions in the state." Pileggi Delaware) said governors historically had sought the advice of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate before submitting nominees. He indicated that under the circumstances, it was unlikely that Rendell's nominees would receive the two-thirds majority vote of the See JUDGES on B6 Fire destroys church, claims nearby homes TOM GRALISH Inquirer Staff Photographer reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were seeking a cause for the fire, which sent acrid smoke drifting into Center City, Fire Department Executive Chief Daniel Williams said authorities probably would not know until next week at the earliest what triggered the inferno. Officials said three firefighters required medical treatment for exhaustion, minor burns and injuries suffered battling the raging blaze. A woman at the scene also was taken to the hospital with health problems caused by the choking ash and smoke that blanketed the neighborhood.

The raging flames inside the church at 32d and Berks Streets sent out not only a huge plume of smoke that could be seen in South Jersey, but also fiery debris that landed on rooftops and porch overhangs. The red embers missed the clos-See FIRE on B8 By Joseph A. Gambardello, Lloylita Prout and Robert Moran INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS It had been their house of worship for 30 years and a temple of learning for 70 more before that, and its Classic Revival architecture had earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places. But yesterday, the members of the Prince of Peace Baptist Church in Strawberry Mansion could only watch, some with tears in their eyes, as firefighters poured water on the ruins of the once-grand structure. A six-alarm fire consumed all but the church's stone walls in less than two hours, then spread on the wind to four nearby homes, leaving their residents to seek shelter with relatives.

Broken in heart but not in spirit, the faithful of the Prince of Peace seemed determined not to let the fire deny them a future. "We have to regroup and re- TOM GRALISH Inquirer Staff Photographer A Euclid Street resident holds a towel over her face to protect herself from the smoke that covered the neighborhood. Flames spread from the church to three rowhouses on 32d Street and one house on Euclid. JOHN COSTELLO Inquirer Staff Phillies' Jamie Moyer sports green. Phils unveil new strategy: Green power "We're going to rebuild.

He's going to help us. It is just unbelievable to just look at it." Investigators from the Fire Marshal's Office and the federal Bu- build, God give us the grace to do so," said the Rev. Robert Ship-man, the church's pastor. "I feel the Lord is good," said longtime congregant Mary Beale. Blog confronts politics and race Addhonoree to teacher's many roles.

In her Phila. school, she's an action hero By Sandy Bauers INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Phillies players all wore green hats last night. Whether it did anything to help their game, no one will know. But it was a sign of the team's new environmental strategy and its new logo: Red Goes Green. Yesterday, the team rolled out an entire green program, announcing that it would buy enough renewable energy wind, in all likelihood to cover all of its energy use at Citizens Bank Park this year.

The 20 million kilowatt hours will make the Phillies the third-largest See GREEN on B4 With all this uproar over race, religion and Obama, I thought I'd check in on the Field Negro, the black Philadelphia blogger who likes his truth unvarnished and his villains slow-roasted. It takes practice figuring out what makes Field hot under the collar. First, his tongue is usually planted deep in cheek, so when he writes about Obamaholics you wonder if he's just trying to get a rise out of readers. He gives "Dumb-ocrats" and "Rethuglicans" equal mistreatment. President Bush is Frat Boy, John McCain is Mr.

Morton Inside ence and done a lot more. It's a great honor." Hart, her nominators said, brings "a lively spirit to the learning environment," shows "overwhelming devotion to her students," and seeks extra training to improve her craft. It's hard to find an activity that Hart is not involved in at her Northern Liberties school. She has run the poetry club, the Latino writers' forum, and the mentally gifted program. She sponsors the Asian club, the theater program and the yearbook, and she coaches the academic club.

Hart also was one of 61 district high school teachers recognized for excellence by the See TEACHER on B9 By Susan Snyder INQUIRER STAFF WRITER An English teacher who has her hand in many school activities beyond the classroom was named the Philadelphia School District's teacher of the year last night. Gina S. Hart, 29, who has taught at the Bodine High School for International Affairs since 2002, was feted at the Franklin Institute. Hart said in an interview yesterday that she was "blown away" to know she was one of 11 finalists. (The name of the winner was kept a surprise until last night's banquet.) "I'm only teaching six years, and there are so many people who have had more experi Daniel Rubin A new trial: Judge warns attorneys to "ignore the wrongs of yesterday" in the retrial of a man accused of killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1985.

B2. (he's salty). Hillary Clinton is the Ice Queen. No one is spared. The blogger who's been putting it out there since March 2006 from his Northeast Philadelphia home spends his days as Wayne Bennett, 49-year-old lawyer and special master in Family Court, hearing custody and child-support cases.

See FIELD on B4 ERIC MENCHER Inquirer Staff Bodine High's Gina S. Hart, the Philadelphia School District's Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre Teacher of the Year, began her career in education only six years ago..