Briefly... CITY/REGION

Sitting in a parked car, man

is shot in head in W. Phila.

Police were investigating a shooting in West Philadelphia last night that left one man clinging to life.

The unidentified man was shot in the head as he sat inside a Mercedes Benz on Rodman Street near 57th at 10:05 p.m. Police said the shooter walked up to the car and spoke with the victim before opening fire. Cops said they found some marijuana in the car.

Crash kills motorist

on Roosevelt Blvd.

A Germantown man was killed early yesterday after he lost control of his car on Roosevelt Boulevard and struck a utility pole and a tree, police said.

Richard Smith, 26, of Wayne Avenue near Queen Lane, was declared dead at the scene shortly after the 12:05 a.m. accident near Knorr Street, police said.

Sign up today and tomorrow

for Race for the Cure

Registration for tomorrow's Race for the Cure continues today at the Sheraton Hotel at 17th and Race streets in Center City today. The event, which benefits breast-cancer research, is expected to raise $4.5 million. It raised $4 million last year.

Registration is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the hotel's mezzanine level on 17th and Race streets. The cost is $30.

Students set fundraiser

for paralyzed senior

Nearly 200 Upper Darby High School students are expected to participate in a neighborhood walk today to raise money for Leon Harris, a popular senior who was shot and paralyzed in March during an attempted robbery.

Participants will gather at 9:30 a.m. at Beverly Hills Middle School on Garrett Road. Donations will be given to Harris to help with his recovery.

State weighs HIV testing

for pregnant women, newborns

New Jersey would become the first state to require both pregnant women and newborns to be tested for HIV under a proposal introduced by Senate President Richard J. Codey.

The bill would require all pregnant women be tested for HIV twice, once early in the pregnancy and a second time in the third trimester. Every birthing facility in the state would have to test all newborns in their care.

Object that crashed into home could be space debris

The mysterious metallic object that crashed through the roof of a central New Jersey family's home earlier this year was not a meteorite after all, geologists said yesterday.

While the rocklike object looks like a meteorite, scientists say it is a stainless-steel alloy that does not occur in nature and is most likely "orbital debris" - perhaps a remant from a satellite. *

- Staff and wire reports