The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B01

LOCAL NEWS a lie linquirer phillyecom Intl Want to know what's on the minds of our metro columnists, or tell them what's on yours? Join the mashup, at philly.comibling 7 Chester County Inbox 1 :14 News Wog: www.philly.comichesco A Friday, Aug. 5, 2011 Section Conviction erased. B2 I lam 4 held for trial in bus strafing 0, fa Iwik 7..,., i a 1 i ilk er I A A'''' A 1 Video captures targeted shooting at rider following his remark to a young mother. charges in the assault in which Pickett and a dozen other passengers were terrorized. No one was wounded.

Those held included Penny Chapman, 20, who seemingly took offense when Pickett chastised her. Also held were brothers Karon and Raheem Patterson, 19 and 21, the alleged gunmen, and Angel Lecourt, 18, paternal uncle of Chapman's son. Prosecutors say Chapman allegedly pointed out Pickett to Lecourt and See BUS on B9 The video shows two gunmen approaching the Route 47 SEPTA bus on June 18. By Joseph A. Slobodzian INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Riding SEPTA's Route 47 bus late on the afternoon of June 18, Lefenus Pickett couldn't sit by as a young mother spanked her toddler for running in the aisles.

"I told her, that's child abuse, that's a little boy," Pickett said. It turned out that the woman was not interested in unsolicited parenting advice. Pickett, 37, told a Philadelphia judge Thursday that he watched the angry woman call someone on a cellphone, then sat stunned when the bus stopped at Seventh Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue and he saw two men with guns waiting on the sidewalk. Pickett riveted the Municipal Court hearing as he narrated the incident projected in court from a video captured by seven cameras on board the bus as it was hit by 13 shots, with passengers diving to the floor.

At hearing's end, Judge James M. DeLeon ordered four of six people held for trial on attempted murder, conspiracy, and other phillyecom 0 Ride the Route 47 bus on its fateful trip at www.philly.comibusshooting o' Ar i i frts, i Ibk Alio, ('' 4., Blogging teacher vows to be in class Groups file to bar N.E. Pa. drilling Travel group ro roll 1 11 She said she'd teach even if students opt out, and said officials had not eased matters. I .1 b' 4 r--- 1 ,,) .0,,, 4114,,, I a i el 4 et 1 ll I i -1.

(.,,,,, --iL-- I 1 1 I Tr' '1 --Th, i. 4P ,1 1 0,,, tc i i i 1, i. i i i------Lgaie 161W0e 1 I i 1:. 11 le Environmentalists contend a panel must first conduct studies. I ALEJANDRO A.

ALVAREZ Staff Photographer Members of the Theme Park Review tour get their kicks on the Kingda Ka roller coaster, billed as the world's tallest, at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J. The group planned to visit Wildwood on Friday. Coaster fans take on region's challenges. By Sandy Bauers INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In another potential roadblock to natural-gas drilling in the upper Delaware River basin, a consortium of environmental groups filed suit in federal court Thursday seeking to delay the adoption of regulations until environmental impacts are studied. The groups contend that the Delaware River Basin Commission, which governs water quality and withdrawals, is subject to federal rules requiring environmental reviews of major projects.

The commission "has acknowledged the value of it, and they have simply chosen not to do it," said Maya van Rossum of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, one of the groups that filed the suit. The industry called the suit frivolous and obstructive. Ultimately, the issue centers on whether the commission is a federal agency and therefore covered by the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the examination of the environmental impacts of major projects before undertaking them, said Kenneth Kristl, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Widener University. The commission was formed by a 1961 compact signed by the federal government and the four states with land in the basin Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. Members include the states and a federal representative, the Army Corps of Engineers, which was See LAWSUIT on B8 "It's always been a dream for me to come to the U.S.

to ride those big coasters," he said. "In Holland, they have rides, but not as big as in the U.S." Krtigsman wasn't the only foreigner along for the ride. Robb Alvey rattled off a list of visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain, Australia, and a host of other countries. Tour members rolled up to Great Adventure at 8:30 a.m. and rode coasters unimpeded for two hours before regular guests started trickling in.

See COASTERS on B9 By Bill Reed INQUIRER STAFF WRITER "I'm there to teach I'll teach in an empty classroom if I have to." That was controversial Central Bucks High School East teacher Natalie Munroe's response Thursday to students opting out of her classes when she returns from her suspension for "crass and cruel" blog comments. Principal Abe Lucabaugh said Wednesday that all student requests to opt out of Munroe's two nth-grade English classes and one Debate class would be honored, a policy reserved for "when egregious or unique factors are in play." Those factors are Monroe's blog posts, which called some students "frightfully dim," "whiny," and "utterly loathsome," though she never named individuals or the school. Students found the personal blog in February, and Munroe was suspended for two weeks with pay before going on unpaid maternity leave. "It's disappointing that instead of smoothing the way, for my comfort level and everybody's comfort level, they district officials maybe made things a little bit worse," Munroe said about comments Lucabaugh and other district leaders made at a news conference Wednesday. "It seems like there will be more of a fight, another hurdle," the lith grade English teacher said in an interview at her Warminster home.

"I have apprehension about returning, for me, for everybody. The climate could have See TEACHER on B8 By Joshua Adam Hicks INQUIRER STAFF WRITER JACKSON, N.J. Robb and Alissa Alvey always dreamed of globetrotting, but neither expected to be traveling by roller coaster. Since 2008, the couple have been organizing group vacation packages centered on amusement-park tours and reviews. Now they twist, loop, and roll their way through six trips per year that have taken participants from theme-park-saturated Florida to Scandinavia and Japan.

On Thursday, the Alveys, accompanied by 120 hard-core coaster enthusiasts, swung through Jackson to try out the attractions at Six Flags Great Adventure. "They have some of the best in the world at this park," Robb Alvey said. Leading the group's must-ride list were El Toro, widely known AL as the smoothest wooden coast- 4, er in the world, and Kingda Ka, the tallest roller coaster in exist- ence, rising 486 feet and traveling from 0 to 128 m.p.h. in 3.5 seconds, according to park spokeswoman Kristin Siebene- icher. Rides like that helped Jordy Krijgsman, 20, of Rotterdam, alitit Netherlands, decide he had to make his first trip to America a The end of a ride Theme Park Review tour.

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1 '''0-- '''Al I ii- 7. '1'. 2U. -K, 1 i 's '''''t 's Kelly will be permanent PHA director on the Nitro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure of applause from club members. Richman will leave the board after getting a new HUD post.

Black leaders debate their loyalty to Mama A 1 iloP, it a 11.... A II At I 44.1 1 1 7---7-, 7- -1----, ollt-7411 11 c. 1r a 1 it. 7 k'fiA Nh, i 04 7-0 AL I. 54 TY- 7--- Any tlir 1- By Jennifer Lin INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The status of the two top officials at the Philadelphia Housing Authority has changed, with Michael P.

Kelly agreeing to become the permanent executive director and Estelle Richman announcing she will step down this month as PHA's sole commissioner. Last week, Richman was named acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. At a special PHA board meeting Thursday, Richman said her new assignment as the number-two person at HUD creates a legal conflict. PHA is under HUD control, and if she continued as the authority's one-member board, she would effectively be reporting to herself, a situation that would "not be acceptable." Richman, who also is HUD's chief operating officer, said her replacement could be named by the end of the month.

The candidate, she added, most likely will come from within the ranks of HUD. See PHA on B6 I'll let you in on a little secret: When it comes to black folks having political disagreements, we don't like to air our dirty laundry. This approach, I'm sure, was born out of cultural necessity. Historically, we've been oppressed so much, why inflict the same treatment on each other? Plus, the civil-rights movement taught us to always present a united front. With unity, we 11W-- could overcome.

Certainly African Americans have presented a united front in the wake of all of the slings and arrows being tossed at President barna. After all, we know racism Minr when we see it. When members of Congress call Annette the first black president of the John-Hall United States a liar, send racist images of him in e-mails and depict him as a tar baby, the most recent slur, our natural reaction is to try to support him through all the vitriol. But lately, some African Americans are starting to See OBAMA on B4 RON TARVER Staff Photographer Participants watch the opening ceremony of the National Association of Black Journalists convention at the Convention Center. Story and another photograph, B4..