The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B01

LOCAL NEWS 14 National politics blog Big Tent: www.philly.comibigtent Thursday, April 12, 2012 Section a lie linquirer phillyecom IRS worker charged in tax fraud. B2 Narberth goes ballroom. B2 SI 77 7 -'-sQ, On the white board, volunteer Joseph Reynolds, a local musician, shows how notes are used to find the tempo. i 4 Kids learn to play, produce, compose and other skills. Mother testifies on sons changes Owners remain silent after fire She said a priest, who was also her friend, admitted "something inappropriate happened" with him.

The city fire commissioner called the probe "a very arduous process." it .46 A il" S' i-- -Jo ''-01r11-1 4.1,--. AS liter 4,000001 1 1, 2 4' ----s, tar 1 ample By Troy Graham, Robert Moran and Miriam Hill INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS The owners of the broken-down, vacant former hosiery mill that collapsed and killed two firefighters during a blaze in Kensington Monday remained hunkered down Wednesday, their attorneys mute as the city and neighbors sought answers about the alleged neglect of their property and unpaid tax bills across the city. The Lichtenstein family and their attorneys declined comment Wednesday. Only Ruth Lichtenstein, a prominent author and publisher on Orthodox Jewish life and the Holocaust, appeared briefly in front of her Brooklyn, N.Y., home and referred a CBS3 reporter to her attorneys. In Philadelphia, Michael, Nahman and Yechiel Lichtenstein own more at least 31 properties through various entities and owe at least $385,000 in back taxes.

Ruth is wife to Nahman Lichtenstein, according to CBS. The Lichtensteins had failed to respond to three citations at the old Thomas W. Buck Hosiery building, after neighbors complained that the building was accessible to vagrants. Local activists feared a neglected fire would bum down the building some day. On Monday morning it did, and a wall collapsed on firefighters in a neighboring furniture store, killing Lt.

Robert Neary, 59, and firefighter Daniel Sweeney, 25, and injuring two others. Through court and other records, the Lichtensteins are linked to a number of business entities based at addresses throughout Brooklyn, but centered in the heavily Hasidic Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park. The most prominent address is a large See FIRE on B4 By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS The Bucks County mother was perplexed.

Her 14-year-old son was visibly shaken after spending the night with the Rev. James Brennan in 1996, she said. The boy clung to his mother and refused to sleep alone in his bed. But he wouldn't tell her what happened at the priest's apartment, she said. Brennan, an inspiring priest and friend so close she considered him a brother, was just as evasive when she and her husband pressed him days later for answers, the woman told a Common Pleas Court jury Wednesday.

"He said something inappropriate happened and it will never happen again" but he wouldn't elaborate, she said. Prosecutors called the woman in a bid to bolster their claim that Brennan tried to rape the teen. They say his codefendant, Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, knew or had reason to suspect that Brennan would sexually abuse minors.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. The woman's testimony came a week after her son, now 30, spent two tense days on the witness stand, the first describing the night of the alleged attack and a second battling claims by the priest's lawyer that he made up the story because he was jealous of the priest or desperate for money. The accuser, a former altar boy who served in the Marines, has been named in court papers and at trial but The Inquirer does not publish the names of alleged victims of sex crimes without their permission. His mother acknowledged for jurors she was the one who welcomed Brennan into the family two decades ago. He was the "cool young priest" See TRIAL on B6 At the Philadelphia Youth Music Partnership, Dwayne Coyett, 15, employs drumsticks to tap out the beat.

Behind him, Nazeer Gibson, 13, uses his hands. MICHAEL BRYANT Staff Photographer Propelled through music Area Theatre Alliance set to shut down As a child, Dominic McFadden paid little attention to his father's work. "I look back and think, 'Wow, my dad was working with Michael but I was into sports," he said. "I was a regular kid." Gradually, McFadden found his way to music, started producing, and wanted to share his knowledge with Philadelphia children. With Terrell Burnside, he had written the theme song for PhillyRising, a Nutter administration program that aims to boost struggling neighborhoods.

Residents in Point Breeze and in North Philadelphia had told Ade Fuqua, an assistant managing director for the city who works with PhillyRising, that they wanted See MUSIC on B7 Tough times and funding-source competition spelled the end. Career ed programs to get makeover By Miriam Hill INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In a small, soundproof room in Point Breeze, Knatosh Walker sings a lament about love gone wrong. "I say the right things but she take it the wrong way," he croons over an track. "I know I'm wrong, but ain't nothing scarier than to come home and see her lipstick on my mirror." As Walker half-sings, half-talks over the prerecorded music, Tyler Pratt watches as engineer Ron Meersand fiddles with knobs on a digital-recording console to get Walker's sound just right. The Philadelphia Youth Music Partnership plants children and teenagers, including Walker, 19, and Pratt, 18, in the recording studio so they can learn how to create and produce music, skills that may win them a job in the field some day.

"A lot of kids want to be rappers or singers," said the program's cre- ator, Dominic McFadden. "I'm try- ing to let them know it's just as fun to be behind the scenes." McFadden is a paramedic at Chil- dren's Hospital of Philadelphia, who also runs a music-production studio. If his name sounds familiar, it's because his late father was Gene McFadden, who, with John Whitehead, wrote "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Knat Now" and other hits. som Knatosh song Phila. School District aims to eliminate old programs.

By Howard Shapiro INQUIRER STAFF WRITER It's curtains for the Greater Philadelphia Theatre Alliance, the organization serving theaters and audiences over two decades of explosive growth that raised the number of professional stages in the region to more than 50, the highest ever. The alliance released a memo Wednesday saying it would fold June 30, at the end of its fiscal year, a victim both of tough economic times and the theater community's success; in the struggle for funding sources, it increasingly competed with the theaters it serves, many of which needed its services less as they became ever more robust. The alliance's 25-member board voted last Thursday to shut down, according to Wednesday's statement. Bits of that news had spread in recent days, and the announcement left area producers scrambling to figure out the future status of alliance programming particularly the annual Barrymore Awards, which recognize See ALLIANCE on B8 lizipv RIF- 4P4k 6 ,.4, ...,7 6 Nik4 Walker, 19, laying down a track of his rap over music by a Philadelphia musician. By Kristen A.

Graham INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Philadelphia School District wants to revamp career and technical education eliminating outdated programs, beefing up existing ones, and adding offerings in high-growth, 21st century job areas. Officials said Wednesday that to help modernize what were formerly referred to as vocational programs, they have named career and technical education expert Clyde Homberger to a new job and started a strategic planning process specifically for that area. Hornberger, who has consulted with the district in the past, was formerly head of the well-regarded Lehigh Career and Technical Institute. He will be paid $50,000 through a federal Perkins grant. The bottom line? According to Chief Academic Officer Penny Nixon, while the district has some strong career and technical programs, others are outdated.

Many don't lead to state certification. Some programs aren't rigorous enough, and the district's offerings See CAREERS on B7 Jefferson U. president's new challenge: Rutgers' helm Lei Barchi was named after a nine-month search process, and will begin at the more than Rutgers system Sept. 1. He replaces Richard L.

McCormick, university president since 2002, who announced in May that he would step down. He will earn 8650,000 a year. Barchi said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he would not offer an opinion on the proposed merger until he had discussed the matter fully with others. "I've thought a lot about it. I've read a lot about it, but I am just getting here," said Bar-See RUTGERS on B7 By Susan Snyder and James Osbourne INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS After spending 40 years of his career in higher education in Philadelphia, Robert L.

Barchi, the outgoing president of Thomas Jefferson University, is crossing the Delaware River. Barchi, 65, of Society Hill, was named the 20th president of Rutgers University on Wednesday. His appointment as head of New Jersey's flagship state university comes during a challenging time, as the school faces a highly contested plan by Gov. Christie to merge Rutgers-Camden and Rowan University under the Rowan banner. Robert L.

Barchi at the announcement of his new job as president of Rutgers. JULIO CORTEZ AP.