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Philly.com News

1. ‘American Idol’: 2 locals vie for Top 24
   Tonight and Thursday night, two area singers will compete to keep their American Idol dreams alive.
2. Groundbreaking for Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History
   President Obama led a parade of dignitaries at a festive groundbreaking for the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture Wednesday morning, with many expressing hopes that it can be a vehicle for understanding and healing on the still-fraught subject of race.
3. Ohio church offers drive-thru for Ash Wednesday
   An Ohio church is offering a drive-thru Ash Wednesday blessing for parishioners pressed for time or reluctant to come inside the church for the Lenten observance.
4. Jury to return Thursday in trial of ex-cop
   The Philadelphia jury in the murder trial of former Philadelphia police officer Frank Tepper - charged with shooting his Port Richmond neighbor following a 2009 melee - has ended its first full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
5. Villanova class explores slowly emerging diversity
   In this class, it's hard to see how Villanova University got the dubious nickname "Vanillanova," connoting its predominantly white, homogenous student body.
6. Marc Lamont Hill: For democracy's sake, suffer the knuckleheads
   THE PAST FEW weeks have been a busy time for media critics. Recently, several high-profile people and organizations have been swept into media firestorms because of offensive remarks made in public.
7. John Baer: To draw election maps, pols should have crayons
   AND NOW a report from the "The Island of Misfit Toys." It's at least possible that one broken mess in Harrisburg starts to get cleaned up this week. Possible, that is.
8. City Howl Help Desk: WHAT WOULD MAKE TICKET-PAYING PROCESS A LOT MORE APPEALING?
   IT'S FRIDAY morning in the crowded room where Philadelphians are waiting to fight parking tickets and recover impounded cars. Cliff Brenner has got a decision to make: Should I make a run for the bathroom?
9. Three Bucks sheriff’s deputies fired as probe continues
10. Lower Merion schools, police probe ‘I’m Shmacked’ video
11. Police: S.J. man loses legs on train tracks
    A 29-year-old South Jersey man is in critical condition after being struck by a freight train this morning in Camden County, police said.
12. Santorum strikes gold in Pa. contributions
    Pennsylvanians gave nearly $260,000 to Rick Santorum's presidential campaign in January, nearly quadrupling his home-state cash haul from the previous month.
13. Arrest in Bryn Mawr robbery
14. SEPTA leader decries federal funding plan
    A new federal transportation funding plan could cripple SEPTA's ability to buy vehicles or rebuild stations, general manager Joseph Casey said Wednesday.
15. Letter from school officials to Lower Merion parents
    Dear Parents/Guardians:
16. Cherry Hill man charged with killing baby daughter
    A Cherry Hill man is charged with murder in the trauma death of his 11-week-old daughter, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
17. Lottery axes spokesrodent, Gus the Groundhog
    Some will mourn.
18. 5 Phillies games already sold out
    Opening Day isn't until April 9, but the Phillies have already sold out five games.
19. Ashes-to-ashes: Lent starts today
    Western Christian churches today mark Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, the traditional 40-day period of fasting, prayer and penitence before Easter.
20. 3 Bucks sheriff’s deputies fired as probe continues
    Three Bucks County sheriff's deputies were fired Tuesday, and face charges of lying to grand jury that is also investigating a fourth deputy, sources said today.
21. Jury selection resumes in clergy sex-abuse trial
    William Brennan, a defense lawyer in the child-endangerment and sex-abuse trial of three Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests, had scanned only a few juror questionnaires Wednesday when he found one that showed why it might take weeks to seat an impartial panel.
22. From the Mideast to the Northeast
    THE "Walter Cronkite of Iraq" lives in Northeast Philly in a second-floor apartment next to a gas station on Bustleton Avenue.
23. See Iraq's 'Cronkite'
    WANT to hear the "Walter Cronkite of Iraq?" Bahjat Abdulwahed will speak at an event, "Muslims in America: Building Bridges in a Climate of Fear," from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St., in Center City.
24. At Comcast, make room for Diddy ... but what about Al Jazeera?
    THE ARAB-based TV giant Al Jazeera has a decade-long love-hate relationship with the U.S. government, but the network - which includes the English-language Al Jazeera English, or AJE - proved its worth in 2011 with intrepid wall-to-wall coverage of the "Arab Spring" uprising.
25. Police ID one gunned down, one run down
    Philadelphia police have released the names of two men who violently lost their lives Tuesday.