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The Philadelphia Inquirer
181st Year, No. 293 8 City & Suburbs

NEUMANN TOPS CARROLL IN STATE PLAYOFFS RALLY E10

Saturday, March 20, 2010 ★ Locally Owned & Independent Since 2006 ★ 75 cents
Highlights of the health bill. A4.

$1 in some locations outside the metro area

Cats look ahead as Owls exit

Health bill votes fluid at the wire
RON CORTES / Staff Photographer

Villanova’s Mouphtaou Yarou (right) does a little fist-pumping in front of teammate
Taylor King as the Wildcats prepare to meet St. Mary’s today in the second round
of the NCAA tournament’s South Regional in Providence, R.I. The Wildcats face a
tough challenge in the Gaels, who have a strong inside game and dangerous three-point
shooters. Today’s game, which begins at 1 p.m., will be shown on CBS3. Temple coach
Fran Dunphy, at right, shows deep concern during yesterday’s 78-65 loss to Cornell
in an opening-round game in Jacksonville, Fla. Full NCAA coverage in Sports, Section
E.

House Democrats are still targeting those on the fence. Abortion is a key sticking
point.
By Noam N. Levey and Janet Hook
LOS ANGELES TIMES

YONG KIM / Staff Photographer

NCAA SCORES

Duke 73 Ark. PB 44

Ga. Tech 64 Okla. St. 59

Gonzaga 67 Fla. St. 60

Mich. St. 70 NMSU 67

Cornell 78 Temple 65

Camden officer: Went rogue
In federal court yesterday, he admitted being part of an operation that’s led to
185 drug cases being dropped and defendants freed.
By Matt Katz, Barbara Boyer, and George Anastasia most low-level drug dealers or
users, have been released from prison as a result. Several, interviewed in recent
weeks, said they were not told why their convictions had been vacated. All of those
interviewed claimed they had been falsely accused and, in some cases, assaulted by
officers now believed to be targets of a widening corruption probe.
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

A former Camden police officer pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge yesterday, admitting
his role in a rogue operation that authorities say has led to charges being overturned
or dismissed in 185 drug cases. Dozens of defendants,

Federal authorities declined to comment about the ongoing investigation, but in a
statement released from his office after yesterday’s hearing, Paul J. Fishman,
the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said, “The actions described in today’s guilty
plea are reprehensible.” Former Camden Officer Kevin Parry, 29, entered the plea
during a hearing in U.S. District Court, admitting he and officers he worked with
routinely stole drugs and money after conducting illegal searches and making ille-

gal arrests. He said they stored the drugs in various locations for use in their
rogue operation. Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson described Parry as part of a “very
small group of criminals with badges.” Sources said the investigation began within
the Camden Police Department in the summer of 2008, shortly after Thomson assumed
the top spot. It was then turned over to the FBI. During yesterday’s hearing, Parry,
who joined the See POLICE on A11

WASHINGTON — With the clock ticking down to tomorrow’s votes on the $940 billion
health-care package, President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labored yesterday
to sustain their momentum in the face of continuing dissent in Democratic ranks over
abortion and other issues. The president and his allies picked up support yesterday
from several key uncommitted House Democrats, including at least three who voted
against the House health-care legislation last year. And several Democrats facing
tough reelections — including Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada — also announced they
would continue to support the health overhaul. “A lot of people are telling me
this decision could cost me my job,” Rep. John Boccieri, a freshman from a Re-

President Obama appeals

WIN McNAMEE / Getty Images

for support in Virginia of the proposed health-care bill. The House is expected to
vote tomorrow. publican-leaning district in Ohio who voted “no” in November said
outside the Capitol yesterday, surrounded by families of people who struggled to
get medical care. “There’s too many politicians who are worried about their future
instead of the future of the families who are standing behind me,” BocSee HEALTH
on A4 ¢ All Obama commitments aren’t reflected in bill. A4.

INSIDE
REGION

Gearing up for Oprah’s trial
Overflow crowds and national media could pack U.S. court here. B1.

Mistrial over jury problems
Misconduct ended deliberations in a W. Phila. man’s trial in drug-ring killings.
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Temple nurses set deadline

Syphilis rate up, funding down
An uptick in Philadelphia cases and cuts in state HIV/AIDS funding worry health officials.
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

By Don Sapatkin

WEATHER

High 72, Low 48
Sunny and warm again. Some cloudiness tomorrow. Full report and exclusive NBC10 EarthWatch
forecast, B7.

INDEX

Comics ……………………D4 Editorials ………………A10 Movies ……………………D2
Obituaries …………………B6 Express / Lotteries ……E12 Classifieds ……………C1
Television …………………D6

Coming Sunday

A special section highlighting the most employee-friendly companies in the region.

Juror misconduct yesterday scuttled a death-penalty trial for a West Philadelphia
man accused of killing two people and wounding a third in an attempted takeover of
a crack-cocaine ring. Common Pleas Court Judge Steven R. Geroff, who has presided
over the threeweek trial, declared a mistrial in the second day of jury deliberations
after learning that several jurors had begun deliberating and commenting on evidence
before the trial’s end. Geroff’s ruling means a new trial for Comoniti Thomas,
22. He is charged with the April 13, 2006, slayings of Vincent Thomas, 17, who was
not related, and Latisha Barber, 20, and the attempted murder and shooting of Brian
Ruffin, 25. Prosecutors allege that Vincent Thomas and Ruffin were Thomas’ partners
in a crack ring operating out of a house in the 10000 block of Ferndale Street in
the Northeast. See MISTRIAL on A6

Trumka addresses a rally of nurses and other health-care professionals. The Pennsylvania
Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals set a strike deadline of March
31 if progress is not made in contract talks. Story, A7.

At Temple University Hospital, AFL-CIO president Richard

DAVID M WARREN / Staff Photographer

A spike in syphilis cases and sharp cuts in state funding to Philadelphia for HIV/
AIDS are presenting a challenge to public-health workers tasked with preventing the
spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Infectious syphilis rose 45 percent in the
city last year, with far greater increases among women — a group whose reported
cases, while still small, barely registered until recently. “It is very disturbing
to see these outbreaks among women,” said Jo Valentine, chief of syphilis elimination
and STD disparities at the U.S. Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention. Local health officials have tamped down a handful of similar
eruptions around the country in the last few years, Valentine said. But a 34 percent
cut in state HIV funding for the city beginning July 1 — some of the money is already
gone — could hamper efforts in Philadelphia, home to more than half the HIV patients
in Pennsylvania. The $2 million was used for HIV testing and prevention in minority
communities, which have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases nationwide.
It would have covered tests for an estimated 8,000 people See SYPHILIS on A6

Herb Denenberg, 1929-2010

Consumer’s friend in government and media
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

By Anthony R. Wood and Sam Wood

Herbert S. Denenberg, 80, who transformed an obscure state office into a high-profile
platform for consumer advocacy and went on to become a local media legend, died Thursday
at his home in Wayne. Mr. Denenberg had not been ill and apparently had a heart attack,
said his wife of almost 52 years, Naomi. As Pennsylvania insurance

commissioner in the early 1970s under Gov. Milton J. Shapp, Mr. Denenberg helped
revolutionize the autoinsurance industry by championing the “no-fault” concept.
Mr. Denenberg became a household name for his firebrand approach and his various
“shopper’s guides” — plain-English explanations of complicated insurance
concepts. With his signature oversize glasses on a face that always

seemed too big for his diminutive body, Mr. Denenberg later became a fixture on local
television. His acidic and animated reports and critiques skewered a wide variety
of products and public issues. He was rewarded with 40 local Emmys. “He wasn’t
afraid of taking on anybody, any politician, any company, any multinational,” said
Gov. Rendell. “He didn’t care. If he thought things had to be changed, he See
DENENBERG on A6

Herbert S. Denenberg in 1974,
as insurance commissioner.

Inquirer File Photograph

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