Monsignor Kevin Quirk, a canon lawyer who presided over Brennan’s 2008 church trial, took the stand Monday in the Rev. James Brennan’s criminal priest-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

One victim, now 23, told the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas how Mr. Avery abused him in the sacristy of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Northeast Philadelphia in 1998, when he was 10 years old.

The man said that he had already been abused by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, another priest who is charged with abuse, and that Mr. Avery said he intended to do the same thing with him.

“He said he heard about my sessions with Father Engelhardt and that ours were going to begin soon,” said the man, who was an altar boy.

Jurors were shown a school photograph of the boy at age 10, and of the inside of the church, and the sacristy where the abuse occurred.

On the first of two occasions when Mr. Avery abused him, the priest asked the boy to stay behind after Mass, and took him to a storage room adjoining the sacristy, the court heard.

The witness said the priest turned on music and forced the boy to do a striptease until he was naked. He then sat the boy on his lap, and forced him to perform oral sex and masturbation, and told him that he was doing God’s will.

“ ‘This is what God wants,’ ” the witness said Mr. Avery told him.

The 49-year-old was raised in the outer suburbs, graduated from medical school, got married, and had five children. The 23-year-old from Northeast Philadelphia was kicked out of two high schools, attempted suicide, and spent much of the last decade hooked on heroin and prescription drugs.

But in tense and emotional testimony to a Common Pleas Court jury on Wednesday, both described a bond: Each said he was sexually abused by his parish priest, Edward Avery.

“Today is an off day,” Read said after his sauna. “I’m not sure what I’ll do the rest of the day. It’s an awkward feeling having a day off and not knowing what to do.”

The former Bemidji State University forward definitely earned his day off. On Sunday Read and his teammates advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by eliminating Pittsburgh 5-1 in the sixth game of a rugged and bitter series.

The Flyers are now in a wait-and-see mode as their second-round playoff opponent is yet to be determined. No one knows for sure when the second round will begin but Read said the best guess is that the puck will drop sometime during the weekend.

Until then Read will attend meetings, head to practice when called and “catch up on some housekeeping things that I’ve put off for a month or two.”

The elimination of the Penguins shocked many NHL experts but Read was not among them.

“Going into the series everybody was talking about how Pittsburgh was the best team and would be coming out of the East (for the Stanley Cup finals),” Read said . “We knew we had our hands full and we knew that if we didn’t play our game it would be an easy series for Pittsburgh.

“But we also knew that if we played a great 60 minutes every night we would win the series,” he said.

In the first three games the Flyers accomplished that goal and the result was a 3-0 series lead after 4-3, 8-5 and 8-4 victories.

In the fourth game, however, the Penguins battered Philadelphia 10-3 and when the Penguins posted a 3-2 victory in Game 5 to draw within 3-2 in the series, the race was back on.

But on Sunday the Flyers took advantage of the home ice and officially eliminated Pittsburgh.

“After being up 3-0 in the series and finally winning feels great,” Read said. “We know that every day from here on is going to get harder and harder. But I know it’s going to be fun and I’m going to enjoy it.”

During the regular season Read’s 24 goals were the most among the NHL rookies and he finished with 47 points.

Gabriel Landeskog of Colorado tied with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of Edmonton for the rookie lead in points with 52 while New Jersey center Adam Henrique had 35 assists to lead the rookie cast. He also was third in scoring with 51 points.

Despite his spectacular rookie campaign Read was not nominated for the Calder Cup which goes to the NHL’s top rookie.

Voted the top three by the NHL writers were Landeskog, Nugent-Hopkins and Henrique.

In the playoff series against the Penguins the former Beaver contributed two goals and two assists. He also spent only four minutes in the penalty box in a series that featured 304 penalty minutes between the two teams. In 79 regular season games Read was called for only six minor penalties.

“I learned from coach (Tom) Serratore at Bemidji State how to play between the whistles,” Read said of his relatively few penalties. “In this series there was always something going on after the whistle, especially in Game 3. But I hate sitting in the penalty box so I kept my mouth shut.

“I play physical hockey but I also enjoy being on the ice and sitting on the bench with the guys so I don’t want to be in the penalty box.”

The transition from college to the NHL can be too much for many players to make but Read said that he was well prepared to play at the next level.

“Coach Serratore is a great coach and he taught me all aspects of the game and how to play in each situation,” Read said.

“I’m proud to be another Philadelphia champion, because this is a tough city,” said Garcia. “I’m ready to make a historic mark as a Philadelphia fighter and make my city proud.”

Apr-12

Manufacturing firms responding to the April Business Outlook Survey indicated that regional manufacturing activity ex-panded modestly this month. The survey’s broad indicators for general activity, new orders, and shipments all remained posi-tive but fell slightly from their readings last month. The indicator for current employment, however, showed a notable improvement. Price pressures were only slightly more widespread this month. The survey’s broad indicators of future activity remained at relatively high readings, and firms were more optimistic about their plans for hiring over the next six months.

Indicators Suggest Modest Growth The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, edged down from a reading of 12.5 in March to 8.5 (see Chart 1). Indexes for new orders and shipments remained positive but were slightly weaker than their March readings. The indexes for new orders and shipments, which decreased about 1 point, remain at relatively low readings. The indexes for current unfilled orders increased 14 points and returned to positive territory this month, suggesting a backlog of unfilled orders. Inventories were also reported on the rise this month, with the inventory index increasing 7 points.

Firms’ responses suggested a notable pickup in levels of employment this month. The current employment index, which has been positive for eight consecutive months, increased 11 points, to its highest reading in 11 months (see Chart 2). Twenty-seven percent of the firms reported an increase in employment; 9 percent reported declines. The average workweek was near steady this month, with 75 percent of the firms surveyed reporting no change in average hours.

Upward Price Pressures Still Evident

Indexes for prices paid and prices received both increased, suggesting that price pressures are only slightly more widespread compared to March. Twenty-seven percent of the firms reported higher prices for inputs this month, compared with 25 percent last month. The prices paid index edged 4 points higher. Firms also reported a rise in prices for their own manufactured goods: More firms reported price increases (17 percent) than reported decreases (8 percent). The prices received index, however, increased just 1 point.

Firms’ Outlook Still Optimistic

The future general activity index increased modestly, from a relatively high reading of 32.9 in March to 33.8 this month (see Chart 1). The indexes for future new orders and shipments remained within 1 point of their previous month’s readings. The future employment index showed notable improvement this month, increasing 6 points and reaching its highest reading in 12 months (see Chart 2). The percentage of firms expecting to increase employment over the next six months (35 percent) was significantly greater than those expecting to decrease employment (7 percent).

Summary The April Business Outlook Survey suggests that the region’s manufacturing sector grew modestly this month. All of the broad indicators remained positive, but a greater share of firms reported adding to their payrolls this month. Higher prices for inputs and firms’ own manufactured goods were only slightly more widespread this month. The overall outlook among the reporting firms remains optimistic, with firms’ future employment plans showing notable improvement this month.

If they’re in a race with the Giants for the NFC East title, the Eagles will get to play the defending champs head-to-head to possibly decide it. Their final regular-season game of the year is against the Giants at MetLife Stadium. The Eagles have beaten the Giants in seven of their past eight tries, and they haven’t lost at the Meadowlands since 2007.

Complaint department: Not a whole lot to complain about here. There’s a stretch from Weeks 11-14 in which they play three road games, but their longest road trips are spaced out and nestled between home games. They don’t go anywhere in December that’s likely to be any colder that Philadelphia is. They have to play 10 games after the bye week as opposed to six before it, and that’s not ideal, but even that could be worse. And the teams they play back-to-back on their short week are Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, which doesn’t sound overly intimidating.

Annual victim: As every Eagles fan and many posts on this blog will spend the middle part of October pointing out, the Eagles are 13-0 in games immediately following bye weeks with Andy Reid as their head coach. This year’s bye is Week 7, and the opponent who will come into Philadelphia to try and break that streak in Week 8 is the Atlanta Falcons.

Prosecutors pursuing a child-endangerment case against a church official said the Rev. Thomas J. Smith remained in ministry despite those 2002 accusations. Church officials and an in-house review board didn’t think Smith was seeking sexual gratification when he allegedly had boys undress or get naked with him in a hot tub.

This critical stream of funding will allow the $19 million project to move forward and break ground as early as September 30^th. The co-developers had already raised $6 million from the Commonwealth’s capital development program and $2 million from the City’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

“For years, developing a unique facility in the heart of Philadelphia’s gayborhood where our most vulnerable LGBT elders could live out their golden years was our pie-in-the-sky idea,” dmhFund President Mark Segal said. “But today, we can say for certain, that pie-in-the-sky idea will become a reality.” Segal also underscored that this breakthrough elder housing project, once completed, will comply with all equal housing laws and regulations. This ensures that it will not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity – nor can it be made exclusive only to qualified LGBT seniors.

The new 6-story building will be located on 13^th Street between Locust and Spruce on land to be purchased by the developers from the City’s Redevelopment Authority. The facility will include 56 one-bedroom units which will be available to seniors aged 62 and over who earn less than 60% of the Philadelphia median income.

There have been many studies that indicate a strong need for affordable housing for the elder LGBT population. A recent Williams Institute study (UCLA, March 2009) found significantly higher rates of poverty for gay men and lesbians over age 65.

“LGBT seniors are often forced back into the closet as they get older and must live in environments that are not accepting of who they are,” said Segal. “The elders of our community have been invisible. With today’s announcement, we will begin to change that in Philadelphia.”

The project enjoys broad-based and bipartisan support from diverse sources including Democratic and Republican elected officials, a united LGBT community, many of the region’s senior citizen organizations, labor unions, and community groups such as the NAACP.

The dmhFund was established in 2004 to fund a variety of programs that foster education about HIV/AIDS, fight prejudice and discrimination, and deliver services to youth, seniors, and diverse constituencies within the LGBT community in the Philadelphia region.

Pennrose is a premier multifamily development and residential property management company founded in 1981. They offer extensive expertise in complex, urban and suburban development having developed and managed more than 11,000 units in eight states.