The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B02

B2 South Jersey www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Saturday, November 6, 2010 News in Brief A rededicated life cut short "She had set goals and she was going to achieve them," said the slaying victim's sister. By Luke Harold INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Elaine Goldberg had finally straightened out her life. Bright, pretty, and smart, she turned 21 on Sept. 12. She was ready to put her past behind her.

She had reenrolled as a nursing student at Gwynned-Mercy College in Montgomery County. She had kicked a persistent drug problem. As she told her friends on her Facebook page on Oct. 27, "30 days clean today-hollllaaa." After ending a tumultuous relationship and having a miscarriage, she was back living with her family in Northeast Philadelphia, said her sister, Careen, 17. "She wanted to go places," Careen Goldberg said.

"She had set goals and she was going to achieve them." But the path to those goals was cut short. On Wednesday, Goldberg's half-naked body was discovered in a trash-strewn lot in Kensington. The former honor student at Little Flower Catholic High Elaine Goldberg, 21 and on a path that included quitting drugs and entering nursing school, was found dead. School appeared to have been strangled, police said. As of Friday night, the medical examiner had not determined a cause of death.

"She didn't deserve to die. She worked so hard to stay alive," her sister said. "She just overcame a disease. She wanted to stay alive, and somebody else took that from her." Mike Jones, Elaine Goldberg's ex-boyfriend, said her addiction had become so bad Phila. man guilty on one count of stalking NEW YORK A fan of Law Order: Criminal Intent was convicted Friday on one of two counts charging him with stalking actress Kathryn Erbe.

Jurors deliberated for less than a day before reaching the split verdict against Charles Nagel of Philadelphia in federal court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors say Nagel, 36, began stalking Erbe in 2008 by trying to hug her while she was filming on location in Manhattan. Authorities say that after he was rebuffed, he began composing unsettling statements about her on a social network. Erbe, 44, said she was scared because she thought Nagel was obsessed with her. Nagel testified that it was all a misunderstanding.

AP 2 pounds of raw heroin seized, 4 arrested Raw heroin more than two pounds of it was seized Thursday morning in a Bucks County hotel room after two Bensalem officers were called to the hotel's parking lot to investigate a suspicious car, police said. Four men from Camden were arrested at the hotel, which is in the 2900 block of Lincoln Highway but was not named by police. The men were charged on multiple narcotics counts, said Sgt. Andrew Aninsman, a police spokesman. The kilogram of heroin, which was valued at $600,000, was packaged and wrapped in balloons.

In addition to the heroin, police also seized a stolen handgun and thousands of items used to pack bulk heroin for resale. Arrested were Raymer Carrasco, 26; Jose Vargas, 20; Melvin Torres, 18; and Francisco Saldana, 21, Aninsman said. Each was held on $750,000 bail at the Bucks County Prison. Sam Wood Camden man sentenced in roommate's death A Camden man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for fatally beating his roommate in 2008, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced. Dwayne Johnson, 48, admitted he beat Andre Miller, 50, in the head with a baseball bat in a boardinghouse on North Front Street, authorities said.

Miller, an Army veteran from Glassboro, also suffered stab wounds. His body was found on Nov. 14, 2008, in the room the men shared, authorities said. In August, Johnson pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in Miller's death. Darran Simon Thieving bookkeeper gets a 3-year sentence MORRISTOWN, N.J.

A bookkeeper who stole $87,000 from a North Jersey firm to pay off her gambling debts was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison. Kari Slaaen, 29, of West Orange, must serve nine months before becoming eligible for parole, but could be freed earlier if accepted into the state's intensive supervision program. Her lawyer, William Rush, said Slaaen became addicted to gambling while working as a part-time bartender and soon found herself $90,000 in debt. After a stranger threatened to harm her and her relatives if she did not pay her debts, she wrote at least 50 checks to herself from the accounts of the Lincoln Park consulting firm where she worked. Slaaen has repaid $57,000 to the firm, which also received $29,000 from an insurance company.

AP Neighbor of Nutter is found dead in his home A 76-year-old neighbor of Mayor Nutter was found dead Friday morning in his Wynnefield home. Police said the death was suspicious. Robert Lancaster was found by a relative about 9 a.m. in the home on the 2300 block of North 50th Street. He had suffered trauma to the left side of his face and a pillow was covering his face, police said.

One neighbor said Lancaster's pickup truck was missing. The neighbor said his wife and children lived in North Carolina and South Carolina. Nutter said he knew the man "as a neighbor" but would not say more until he got more information. Police are investigating. Inquirer staff Plum poxvirus not being seen, Pa.

officials say HARRISBURG Pennsylvania officials say the plum pox virus that affected the state's stone fruit trees has not reappeared. Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said a new round of checks over the summer indicated that the effort to eradicate the blight continues to be a success. If results remain negative for two more years, nursery quarantine will be lifted in Adams and Cumberland Counties. The pox emerged in Adams County peach trees 11 years ago. The quarantine area at one point had 300 square miles.

AP Child dies, others cued by neighbors, along with a 4-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son, Ayers said. Firefighters rushed into the house and removed the remaining boys from the second floor. Authorities said Sincere Campbell died in the fire. His brother Triston Campbell was in very critical condition at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Pitkow was first taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, then transferred to Temple University Hospital's burn unit.

Ayers said Pitkow tried to fight the fire with a small fire that he kicked her out of his Wellington Street house in May. She returned home to her family, which includes five siblings. "She was this smart, awesome girl," Jones said. "Drugs destroyed her." According to her friends, Goldberg's addiction to narcotics brought her to the brink of death several times. But she told them she did not want to get high anymore.

She was rekindling friendships with her high school friends, some of whom lived in Kensington, her sister said. "I could tell Elaine really, really wanted to be a nurse," said Andrea Hollingsworth, dean of the School of Nursing at Gwynedd-Mercy College. "I greatly admired her perseverance." Just before Halloween, Goldberg e-mailed friends looking for a drug-free and alcohol-free party to attend. She went out Wednesday morning. Her family grew concerned when she did not return by sundown.

"I went out looking for her," said Joe Goldberg, her father. "Then I tried calling her friends." At 11 p.m., a police officer knocked on the door of their two-story ranch house. hurt in extinguisher, then suffered burns as she tried to rescue her two boys, who fled upstairs after the blaze erupted. Neighbors brought over a ladder and rescued Pitkow and two of her children from a back second-story window. Authorities said 4-year-old Jayla Campbell was in stable condition at Children's.

The 8-month-old, Jerimiah Lewis, was in guarded condition at the same hospital. Two other siblings, ages 7 and 8, were attending Alcorn School at the time. Firefighters said they heard 215-546-TIPS. Mayor Nutter, State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, and State Reps.

Kenyatta Johnson and Ron Waters announced the reward Friday afternoon, along with 12th District officers; Moore's husband, Robert, who works for the U.S. Postal Service; and members of the community. Nutter, who had already dealt with a day full of bad news the arrest of Police Inspector Juan Castro on federal corruption charges; a sociate vice president of auxiliary and business services. Enrollment keeps rising, up 2 percent from last year, administrators told trustees. Total enrollment of about 96,000 includes undergraduate, graduate, and online students.

Administrators voiced concern about a drop in the number of high school graduates from Western Pennsylvania, a long-foreseen change that could affect Penn State and other Rust Belt schools as they seek for students to maintain or increase enrollment. Those changes have been met with heightened efforts to draw out-of-state, in sought in attack on Phila. activist Elaine's body had been found in the 2800 block of Ruth Street, in a lot ringed by barbed wire, adjacent to an abandoned warehouse. The news left the family reeling. "I was shocked, just really confused," said her brother Joey, a freshman at Father Judge High School.

"I still am. I was hoping she would walk through the door." Careen Goldberg said the family was angered by the news coverage that followed. "This is not about the drug problem," she said. "She was murdered." Careen Goldberg said her sister had set her sights on becoming a nurse in eighth grade, after the death of her grandmother, Elizabeth Marie Goldberg. "She had a very close relationship with my grandmom, who spent the last few years of her life in nursing homes and hospitals," Careen Goldberg said.

"She really wanted to take care of people." A Funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church, 5450 Roosevelt Boulevard. Elaine will be buried next to her grandmother, her sister said. blaze smoke alarms going off when they entered, Ayers said.

"I did test the one in the basement and it did work," he said. But "precious moments were lost" when Pitkow tried to put the fire out, Ayers said. He advised people not to use fire extinguishers unless they are trained to do so. Contact staff writer Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoranphillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Peter Mucha contributed to this article.

fire in South Philadelphia that killed a toddler; and the suspicious death of the mayor's 76-year-old neighbor was in no mood to play nice. "The right thing to do is to turn yourself in," he said of Moore's assailant. "But let me assure you, for the dog that you are, if you don't, we will hunt your butt down. Enough is enough." Contact staff writer Annette John-Hall at 215-854-4986 or Ajohnhallphillynews.com. 4 percent ternational, and minority students.

Of undergraduates who have earned diplomas, about two-thirds have student loan debts, with the average just more than $31,000. The student-loan default rate for Penn State students is 3.4 percent, compared with the national rate of 7 percent. "In light of the economic conditions and the high unemployment rates across the country, our graduates are doing very well managing the repayment of their student loans," said Rob Pangborn, vice president and dean of undergraduate education. type of behavior." Smith said each of the arrested baggage handlers had worked for American about nine years. The airline credited police with "an excellent job." Arrested and charged were: Andre Cooper, 33, of Roberta Avenue, Collingdale; Jason T.

Marquis, 32, of Woodview Drive, Media; Victor Soler, 45, of Providence Avenue, Doyles-town; and Jermain L. Clore, 37, of the 2800 block of North Franklin Street. All are free while awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 8. Contact staff writer Joseph A.

Gambardello at 215-854-2153 or jgambardellophillynews.com. major facial reconstructive surgery. She is at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The reward could grow, John Apeldorn, crime commission president, said Friday. "We will not ask your name; we'll give you a code number," Apeldorn said at the 12th District police station, adding that the payout would be in cash.

"We just want to get this thug off of the street." Anyone with information is being asked to call Site iPfiilaMrjfiiallnqmrer SUBSCRIBER SERVICES service.philly.com For your convenience, you can start a subscription, temporarily stop delivery, register a service complaint, review your recent billing history, or pay your bill online by contacting us at our Web site, service.philly.com. You can also call our toll-free customer service number: 1-800-222-2765. dorm rates to rise By Robert Moran INQUIRER STAFF WRITER A 2-year-old boy was killed Friday morning in a fire that started when his 3-year-old brother was playing with a cigarette lighter in their South Philadelphia home, authorities said. The fire at 1520 S. Corlies St.

in Grays Ferry was reported at 8:30 a.m. and firefighters responding 212 minutes later found smoke billowing from the two-story rowhouse, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said. Nina Pitkow, 30, mother of the boys, had already been res By Annette John-Hall INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Citizens' Crime Commission has offered an $11,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who attacked Marsha Moore, a longtime community activist in Southwest Philadelphia. Moore, 52, a block captain and winner of a crime commission award, was beaten while she slept Oct. 29.

She suffered fractures to her fingers and arms, and required By Genaro C. Armas ASSOCIATED PRESS STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Room and board rates at Pennsylvania State University will rise roughly 4 percent next year to help defray increases in the cost of food, property expenses, and other areas. Trustees approved the rate hike Friday at a meeting. The average room-and-board rate, which includes a standard double room, will rise to $4,370 per semester beginning in the 2011-12 academic year, or $185 more than the current rate.

The university said that would help cover an increase in costs of $7.6 million, or 4.4 By Joseph A. Gambardello INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Four part-time American Airlines baggage handlers have been arrested on charges of stealing valuables from luggage at Philadelphia International Airport, police said Friday. The four were arrested Thursday morning at the airport's Gate A7, and charged with multiple counts of criminal conspiracy, theft, unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and attempted theft, police said. Tim Smith, an airline spokesman, said American contacted police "when we saw signs of a problem a couple of months ago." Leads Penn State Four baggage The Customer Service Center is open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.

to 10 a.m. You can reach us at 1-800-222-2765. We guarantee that your paper will be delivered to you by 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, and by 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Please contact us by 8:30 a.m. daily or by 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday if you did not receive your paper and we will deliver a replacement. Mail Subscriptions 215-854-4790 Newsstand Sales 215-854-2740 School Delivery 215-854-5798 Hearing Impaired (TDD) 215-854-2630 Home Delivery Rates (weekly, effective September 1, 2008) Daily $3.96, Sunday $2.12, DailySunday $6.08. DailySunday Print 7 Day On-line Replica Electronic Edition, $6.10.

Sunday Print 7 Day On-Line Replica Electronic Edition, $2.26. 7 Day On-Line Replica Electronic Edition Only, $2.25. Non-seven-day subscription plans will receive occasional Holiday editions at additional cost. The following dates are scheduled: Jan. 18, Feb.

15, May 31, July 5, Sept. 6, and Nov. 25. The publisher reserves the right to change rates during the term of the subscription with 14 days' notice. This notice may be by mail to the subscriber, by notice contained in the newspaper itself, or otherwise.

Subscription rate changes may be implemented by changing the duration of the subscription. Single Copy Rates Daily $0.75, Sunday $1.75 in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Ocean, Salem, and New Castle Counties. Outside of these areas, daily $1, Sunday $2 Mail Subscription Rates (four weeks) Daily $27, Sunday $13, DailySunday $40. percent. Much of the increase will go toward maintaining and improving residence and dining facilities, most of which are more than 35 years old.

Data from Penn State show that its room-and-board rate ranks in the middle of the 11 Big Ten institutions. The university operates 75 residence halls and five apartment complexes across the state, housing more than 18,700 students. Housing, food services, and residence-life programs operate on a self-sustaining budget and receive no financial support through tuition or state funding, said Gail Hurley, Penn State as handlers charged with stealing Advertising To place, correct or cancel an ad: Retail and National Classifieds 1-800-341-3413 Death notices 215-854-5800 Legal ads 215-854-5834 Pennsylvania 215-854-4877 New Jersey 856-779-3823 Email: placeanadphillynews.com For advertising billing questions: Weekly advertising bills 215-665-9222 Monthly advertising bills 215-854-4768 News Corrections and comments: The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357) at The Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia 19101, or e-mail dsullivanphillynews.com. To contact the news departments: Business News 215-854-2450 City DeskWeekdays City DeskWeekends Editorial Board 215-854-4531 Entertainment 215-854-5617 Foreign Desk 215-854-2400 Magazine (Daily) 215-854-5797 National Desk 215-854-2410 New Jersey Desk 856-779-3840 Online News 215-854-2443 PennsylvaniaSuburban 61 0-31 3-8000 Photography 215-854-2626 Sports (after 10 a.m.) Weekend Section listings 21 5-854-2465 Public Services For reprints permissions, contact The YGS Group: 800-290-5460 Ext.

104 E-mail: phillyreprintbuyer.com For photo reprints contact Pictopia at 800-390-7269 or visit our online photo store at philly.comstore The Inquirer is available electronically from 1983 through Dialog Information Services. Check with your local public library. For back issues or ad payments, our service counter at 400 N. Broad St. is open 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday 215-854-4444 To contact all other departments: Main switchboard, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 215-854-2000 jjllj Jason T. Marquis Jermain L.

Clore Detectives working with airline security set up surveillance cameras and caught the men taking electronics, cameras, and jewelry from passengers' bags, officials said. Investigators have not yet released a tally of what was stolen and its possible value. Andre Cooper Victor Soler "We have more than 150 honest, hardworking employees in Philadelphia who do a great job serving our customers every day," the carrier said in a statement provided by Smith. "We take these matters quite seriously, though, and have no patience for this CALL 1-800-222-2765 FOR HOME DELIVERY www.service.pnionline.com.