Inqlings | 'PEN adds local morning talker

Sports-talk WPEN (950) at last will have a homegrown morning show starting tomorrow as

Michael Bradley

joins Cherry Hill-bred

Glenn Foley

and sidekicks

Meredith Marakovits

and

Jon Marks

.

Bradley, 45, who grew up in Wynnewood, writes for the Sporting News and contributes to an assortment of media outlets, including Sporting News Radio, CBSSportsline.com and AthlonSports.com. He'll replace Gregg Henson, who also was WPEN's program director. (It's not clear whether Henson - who seemed to have little patience for Philly topics - quit or was pushed out. He left Bala on April 5 after nine months and headed back home to Detroit.)

"This is what I want to do," says Bradley, who calls himself "a sportswriter, a sports person and a Philadelphian. . . . Because I write for a national publication, though, I bring a perspective beyond the end of my nose."

WPEN, which launched sports in September 2005, has a ways to go. The morning show of WIP (610) outpaced WPEN's in audience size by more than 5-1 among listeners ages 25 to 54, according to February's Arbitron ratings.

East Falls'

Harry Jay Katz

thought it was a shame that the faces of two of his favorite people were not hanging on the wall of one of his favorite restaurants, the Palm in the Bellevue. So the lunch crowd Wednesday was treated to the unveiling of caricatures of talk-radio host

Angelo Cataldi

and sandwich seller/actor

Tony Luke Jr.

- beneath the drawings of Katz and his girlfriend,

Debra Renee Cruz

. (Such pictures usually appear without fanfare.) Adding to the spectacle was singer-songwriter

Skip Denenberg

, who whipped out a guitar to perform an original song for the honorees, plus Cataldi's wife,

Gail

, and restaurant manager

Jim Haney

. The picture-on-wall thing fascinated Cataldi. Spotting colleague

Howard Eskin's

face nearby, he speculated that it was on a wall by itself because it "didn't get along with the others."

The movie

Pride

dramatizes the story of youth swim coach

Jim Ellis

, who works out of the Marcus Foster Recreation Center in Philadelphia. Lost in the hype was any talk of the man

Marcus Foster

.

Pride

producers now plan to include a bio feature on the DVD, says his only child,

Marsha Foster

. Foster was principal of Gratz High School and associate schools superintendent in Philly, and his wife,

Albertine

, taught at Walton School in North Philadelphia. In 1970, they moved to Oakland, Calif., where he become Oakland's first African American superintendent. In a tragic, bizarre case, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army shot Foster, 50, dead in 1973. Marsha Foster, president of Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, says she and her mother, now 81, had heard about various dedications in his name - a Penn fellowship, Gratz High's stadium - but never the rec center in 1980. She says she was relieved to learn that it is not the dump it appears to be in the movie.

Troy Vincent

was great at cutting off receivers as an NFL defensive back. Now the Trenton-born Pennsbury High School grad is cutting the price on his spacious five-bedroom manse in Lower Makefield. Originally listed at $2,780,000 and reduced to $2,500,000, it's now on the market for $1,975,000. He's Virginia-bound to serve as president of the NFL Players Association.

Bradley Keough of Souderton won Tuesday's "Eakins Idol" contest at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and will appear as painter Thomas Eakins at functions. Keough, 44, has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York and is a self-described artist, art instructor, improvisational performer, musician and singer. See Inquirer photographer Eric Mencher's look at the contestants at http://go.philly.com/beingeakins.

A former worker at Center City's posh Striped Bass restaurant accuses her old boss of making lewd comments and firing her because she refused to go out with him. In a complaint filed in federal court,

Daria Giordano

alleges that

David Madison

, then Striped Bass' general manager, began propositioning her when she started as a hostess in May 2005. She became a bartender a month later. The complaint says Giordano was "encouraged to wear revealing clothing, and was specifically told to 'show more cleavage.' " Despite what she says was a good performance review in October, she was fired that December - replaced, the suit says, by Madison's new girlfriend. The reason for her firing: She had left a lemon slice on a sink. She is represented by

Jennifer Bell

of Bell & Bell. Defendants are Starr Restaurant Organization and Madison - who no longer works for the company and could not be reached for comment. SRO boss

Stephen Starr

declined to comment.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the case of a CBS3 photog who allegedly roughed up a female federal officer who had asked the crew to stop videotaping without permission two weeks ago at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in University City. The feds report that the shooter and a CBS3 producer - identified in federal affidavits only as "AK" and "JB" - were taping two patients in a third patient's room on March 29. The VA officer ordered a halt. "JB told AK to stop, but AK did not stop," according to the affidavit. When the officer tried to take the camera, a "brief scuffle" ensued, and the officer's right arm was injured. She was treated for minor injuries, the statement said. The U.S. Attorney's Office last week obtained a search warrant and reviewed the videotape to see whether the scuffle had been captured. Meanwhile, the photog was cited for trespassing, unauthorized photography and disorderly conduct - totaling $350 in fines. The producer faces $100 in fines for trespassing and unauthorized photography. A CBS3 spokeswoman said, "We don't believe our people did anything wrong, and we stand behind them."

With Tuesday's tax deadline drawing nigh, phone calls are pouring into the IRS. Perhaps when you, too, were on hold, you caught the taxman's selection of classical music - including the score of

The Nutcracker

. Out of season, yes, but somehow fitting.

See Angelo Cataldi and Tony Luke Jr. mugging it up as their mugs go up on the wall of the Palm, amid a guitar performance from Skip Denenberg. Go to http://go.philly.com/inqlings15EndText