The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 18

B2 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Monday, December 18, 1995 JV SA 'TWT --J "3 Metropolitan Area News in Brief Man found shot fatally on a North Phila. street An unidentified 26-year-old man was found shot to death on a North Philadelphia street early last night. He had a gunshot wound to the neck and died minutes later at a Center City hospital. The victim, whose identity was not immediately available, was found in the 1400 block of North Bouvier Street around 6:52 p.m. Homicide Capt.

Patrick Dempsey said the victim was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he died at 7:12 p.m. Few other details were known, including motive and circumstances. No suspects had been taken into custody. rAV-v 'V Nil tl sr. 7 5 A PHA resident waits for his Christmas turkey.

In previous years, the turkeys were distributed at the PHA homes. Tyson makes the rounds bearing holiday turkeys Fresh off his third-round victory over Buster Mathis at the Spectrum on Saturday, heavyweight Mike Tyson circulated in the city yesterday as part of his "Team Tyson's Turkey Tour," a program for helping inner-city hunger problems. He oversaw the distribution of 1,000 turkeys to needy families, and received the cheers of fans. 1 vV -4- Inquirer photos by Michael Bryant "Iron Mike" Tyson gets an embrace from one of the hundreds of people who lined up for the turkey giveaway at the Philadelphia Housing Authority's offices on Chestnut Street. 7 Us Lm arm: Neighbors win court battle, await fall of house of Twingle it I if SX.

Doris Carman strolls near her house, at left. At right, on her property line, is a single in the style of a twin. She says it spoils the view. Pleas Court judge agreed with the zoning board. The neighbors appealed again.

Along the way, they dumped two of their lawyers and fought off suits pressed by the developers for the way they opposed the construction. Bill Carman successfully defended a charge that he pulled a gun on the workers. Two workers were found not guilty of trespassing. "It's threatened our marriage, our sanity, everything," said Bill Carman, who repairs equipment for a pharmaceutical company. Then in February, a Commonwealth Court judge gave the neighbors their first real victory.

The zoning board and lower court had erred, wrote Judge Doris Smith. One of their mistakes: They didn't take into consideration the builders' lack of good faith, including evidence that they tore down the Carmans' bushes and trees, used the clearing for storage, built on their land and trespassed, the judge wrote. Of course, the builders didn't give up, either. They appealed to the state Supreme Court, whose seven-word refusal to hear the case awarded the victory to the neighbors. Now there is this dilemma.

To put the house in the right, it A man is shot to death after a traffic accident An unidentified 24-year-old man was fatally shot last night in North Philadelphia when he got out of a car after a traffic accident and walked into a burst of gunfire. The shooting in the 1400 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue was reported to police at 9:10 p.m. Investigators said the victim, whose identity was being withheld pending the notification of family members, was a passenger in a 1978 Chevrolet Caprice heading south on 15th Street when it was struck by a Chevrolet Malibu heading east on Cecil B. Moore.

Po- lice said that the victim got out of the Caprice, and that the man inside the Malibu pulled out a gun and shot the victim once in the chest. The victim was taken to Hahne- mann University Hospital, where he died at 9:39 p.m. An investigation by the Homicide Unit was continuing. Police said the suspect fled on foot and was being sought. Lancaster Ave.

house fire kills woman, injures man A woman was killed and a man seriously burned early yesterday in a fire at a three-story rowhouse in West Philadelphia that apparently was used as a junk shop, fire offi- cials said. The blaze was reported at 8:40 a.m. and was under control by 8:57 a.m. Tom Honeywell, a spokesman for the fire marshal's office, said that the house, in the 4400 block of Lan- caster Avenue, at first appeared un occupied, but that firefighters then discovered the body of the unidentified woman in a first-floor bedroom. The man, with burns over much of his body, was also found in the bedroom.

He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was listed in critical condition later yesterday. His name was withheld by officials pending notification of relatives. Jury is deliberating in witness-slaying case The sequestered Common Pleas Court jury in the murder trial of Donyell Paddy deliberated until 5:30 p.m. yesterday without reaching a verdict on whether Paddy is guilty of the 1993 slaying of a woman who had agreed to testify aeainst him in another homicide case. Judge Robert A.

Latrone recessed the deliberations until this morning. The jury had spent several hours before and after lunch listen ing to a court stenographer read the testimony of several witnesses, in cluding one murdered in 1994 after testnying against faddy at his 1993 preliminary hearing. Paddy, 27, is on trial in the slaving of LaShawn Whaley, 20, who was shot six times as she stood on a North Philadelphia street. Nicetown shooting leaves man, 25, critically injured A 25-vear-old Philadelphia man was in critical condition at the Med- ical College of Pennsylvania Hospi- tal after he was shot four times yes terday afternoon, police said. Police are investigating the shooting, in which four men shot the vie- tim at 1:05 p.m.

in a house in the 2700 block of North Taylor Street in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia. The identity of the was being withheld yesterday pending no- tification of his family, police said. Two suspects identified in fatal S. Phila. shooting Police have identified the two men taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting Saturday of a South Philadelphia shopkeeper as John Vizzari, 31, of.

Havertown, and Joseph Delmastro, 31, of South Philadelphia. Both are charged with murder, ag-; gravated assault, weapons violations and conspiracy in the death of Mi-; chael Ingelese 49, slain when an 1 argument escalated into a gun battle outside his hoagie shop. Witnesses said Ingelese came to the aid of his son, Michael Ingelese about 6:50 p.m. outside Babe's Luncheonette in the 1700 block of South 11th Street. He was struck by a bullet in the chest, and he died at Thomas Jeffer- son University Hospital.

Vizzari remains under police watch at St. Agnes Medical Center in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the right side. Delmastro was arraigned last night at the Police Administration Building and is being held without bail at the Cur-: ran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. His preliminary hearing is Wednesday at the Cfiminal Justice Cenfcr. i The Philadelphia Inauirer JOHN r.nRTFI I The Marzullis' son has shoveled the neighbors' walk before.

Said they were very nice, too. The couple is renting, hoping to buy, Marzulli said. Once the unpleasantness is settled. Mary Beth Marzulli has called the city to inform it of the Nov. 22 state Supreme Court decision.

The wrecking ball is in court, she says. The developer's lawyer says it won't be so easy getting the city to tear down the house. "It's been a long legal process, and I'm sure it's been expensive on both sides," Primavera said. "The resolution could be even more expensive." Jersey's proposal. Association spokesman Edward Richardson said the group didn't like the idea that private companies could run a charter school, and that teachers who leave public schools to work temporarily at charter schools couldn't continue to build tenure.

Robert Boose, the executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, said that since charter schools would affect so few students, real reform would be sidestepped. "It begs the question, what do we do to improve the education of all the kids not at charter schools?" he said. But advocates insist that charter schools not only help students who attend, but all students, since they create competition that spurs the larger public school system to improve. Harold Larson is superintendent of the Le Sueur-Henderson School District, in the rural Minnesota valley of Pillsbury's Jolly Green Giant. The district approved a charter school, which runs out of a vacant storefront in tiny Le Sueur the same school that Northfield's Charles Kyte emulated.

Its success has drawn students from 45 miles away. Now, the Le Sueur district wants to produce results similar to the charter school's by allowing its schools more local autonomy, so that they can be more creative. "Charter schools allow for experiment, which we can then roll into the larger school system," Larson said. "Charter schools challenge larger districts to get better. "Decentralized school systems ripped the heart out of communities.

We need to regain a sense of community, and charter schools can begin to do that." I'll" fgjr'--'- set to vote on whether to allow charter schools HOUSE from B1 went ballistic. They called the mayor's office, the Department of Licenses and Inspections, their civic organization, their local council-woman. Not only was it unlawful for a builder to slam a house against their property line, they said, but the builder had made a surveying mistake and laid the foundation 8 inches into the Carmans' property. The neighbors were right on both accounts. But it didn't stop the Twingle.

Two employees had granted the permits unaware of a 1979 Common Pleas Court opinion outlawing such hybrid structures. When rescinded the permit, the builder appealed to the city Zoning Board of Adjustments. Yes, the neighbors were wronged, the board ruled in 1992, but so was the developer, who had already built much of the house before the city realized its error. The zoning board said the house was permissible even though it wasn't the required 8 feet from the neighbor's property line. But the builder would have to move it 8 inches off the Carmans' land.

So it was moved. The Carmans, Marzullis and Sen-bertrands appealed. But a Common N. J. Senate SCHOOLS from B1 educators more flexibility in how they teach kids and take off some of the restraints put on by union pressures," said Sen.

John H. Ewing Somerset), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee and a bill sponsor. "Frankly, we've got to put the concerns of children first." Many who study school reform say that charter schools provide the best opportunity for reform without draining money from public schools, the way vouchers do another Whitman proposal yet to reach the legislature. But charter schools have critics, too. Some worry that charter schools would widen the gap in the quality of public education between wealthy suburbs and inner cities.

They argue that the trend could create a cadre of publicly subsidized schools for wealthier students whose parents have the resources to start them, and the interest in their children's education to make sure their children get in. Caliiorma provided no start-up money for the 100 charter schools its legislation allowed, and, as a result, many more were created in wealthy communities than in poor urban ones, said Amy Stuart Wells, an associate professor of education policy at the University of California at Los Angeles. Stuart Wells argues that since charter school parents can raise private money to supplement costs, and wealthy parents are more able to pitch in financially, "you end up with quasi-private schools supplemented with public funds." She also said that since charter schools often required heavy parental involvement, children of low-income parents, whose time is consumed making ends meetjvere shut needs to stand back 8 feet from the property line. But because of the size of the lot, there wouldn't be enough room on the other side to satisfy the city zoning ordinance. "I'm not familiar with how you slice 8 feet off a house," said Ri-chelle Hittinger, the neighbors' third attorney in the matter.

Basically, there are two options. Carl Primavera, an attorney for the builders, said the Case of the Twingle could end fairly if the Carmans sell the builder 8 feet. "What we need," Primavera said, "is to get 8 feet. If he doesn't want to sell it to us, he shouldn't complain." Doris Carman's heels dig at these words. "We really want the house down," said the nurse's aide.

"That's it. I've been through a lot. I've talked to a lot of lawyers. I really want the house down." She was sitting in her living room this week, across from her husband, accompanied by neighbors Mary Beth Marzulli and Victoria Senber-trand. They were no more receptive to Primavera's peace offering.

"We're going to go for a tear-down order," said Senbertrand, a waitress. "I think the city needs to take it down to be reminded of its own laws. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming to solve a problem." of education. "Those who started them weren't wealthy or wired into major funding sources." Principal Sarah Kass of City On A Hill, a charter school in Boston, said 70 percent of the students were minority students, 50 percent were poor enough to qualify for free lunches, and 20 percent were first-generation Americans. She said 12 were special-education students.

Kass, a former Boston public school teacher, grew tired of seeing students march across the stage at graduation, ill-prepared for the future. So she and another teacher started a pilot summer program. i neir success helped them get $350,000 in foundation grants to start the school. They emphasize civic duty and hold a town meeting each week with students. Chnrtpr rhrvil can be created by parents, teachers, private companies or even universities.

They can raise private dollars, but their operating expenses come from taxes raised by school districts. Proponents say charter schools are able to experiment with creative education techniques without the restraints of workplace rules in teachers' union contracts or state regulations. In return, charter schools must produce clear results higher performance among students or lose their charter. That accountability is something that other reform efforts, including school voucher proposals, don't offer, said Priscilla Wohlstetter, the director of the Centeifon Educa As for Marzulli, a physical therapist: "It has to come down." The late-afternoon sun had disappeared behind the white siding of that house next door, which now stood backlit against the purling creek. "A very nice view," said Bill Carman.

"I used to have it." The Twingle has gone through two tenants. The latest occupants are a couple who seem nice, Doris Carman said. But she has never spoken to her next-door neighbors. Nothing against them personally, of course. "They're good neighbors.

Clean," she said. tional Governance at the University of Southern California. Charter school legislation varies considerably from state to state, and the differences affect how well the schools succeed. When Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school bill, in 1991, it required charters to be approved by local school districts. But districts that feared the competition of a charter school could turn the proposal down.

Massachusetts was first to give state officials the power to approve charter schools. "We wanted to foster as much competition as possible," said Sentance. "School boards inhibited that." New Jersey's proposal calls for proposed charter schools to first go through local school districts before a final decision by the state education commissioner. A charter applicant could appeal rejection to the state Board of Education. Many states also cap the number of charter schools often to placate teachers' unions and school boards that fear the challenge that charter schools pose.

The fewer charter schools, the less effect they can have to prod districts to change. Massachusetts allows 25 charter schools. California's limit is 100. New Jersey would allow 135 charter schools, with a minimum of three per county. Start-up costs are also an issue.

California provides nothing to its charter schools. Massachusetts provides about $50,000 per school. New Jersey's proposal offers no start-up money. But the federal government has made $5 million available nationally in grants for charter school start-ups. The New Jersey Education Association, the umbrella group for the state teachers' unions, opposes $ew out.

Finally, since charter schools can accept students from outside the home district, white students from a poor urban district could try to get into a charter school in a nearby suburb, turning charter schools into "white flight academies," Stuart Wells said. Critics also say that charter schools are fraught with hurdles, from start-up costs to waning interest among parents to burnout among teachers, who have to take on more responsibilities such as curriculum development. "Often, after all the hoopla and public relations, the teachers get tired, parents don't get involved, the system doesn't produce, and they tend to collapse," said James Larkin, an associate professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania. But charter school advocates Proposals have to go local school districts final decision the state CvmiiiisSiuiier. would through before a by education scoff at the nay-sayers.

Assemblyman John A. Rocco Camden), a bill sponsor, said the New Jersey proposal required charter schools to include a cross section of the community. And those who study charter schools say they aren't limited to the wealthy. Joe Nathan, the director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota, said the center's study of 110 charter schools nationwide indicated that many handle at-risk students who did poorly in a regular school setting. "Most of ours are set up in low-income communities and focus on at-risk students," said Michael J.

Sentance, Massachusetts secretary.