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Inqlings: L. Merion catches Dr. Phil's eye

The Dr. Phil show has taken an interest in the story of the Lower Merion School District's alleged spying on a student through a remote-control camera on a laptop computer.

Philadelphia Fashion Week's opening-night party draws (from left) founder Kevin Parker, Julia Wilch-Jeffers, mother of rapper Eve; consultant Cheryl Ann Wadlington; and founder Kerry Scott. The event was held Thursday at the Banana Republic store in Center City.
Philadelphia Fashion Week's opening-night party draws (from left) founder Kevin Parker, Julia Wilch-Jeffers, mother of rapper Eve; consultant Cheryl Ann Wadlington; and founder Kerry Scott. The event was held Thursday at the Banana Republic store in Center City.Read moreHUGHE DILLON / For The Inquirer

The

Dr. Phil

show has taken an interest in the story of the Lower Merion School District's alleged spying on a student through a remote-control camera on a laptop computer.

On Wednesday, two students in the district were interviewed by host Phil McGraw, a show spokesman confirmed. The spokesman did not know the identities of the teens, who sat in the Center City studios of CBS3 while talking by video hookup with McGraw in Los Angeles.

In a federal lawsuit, Harriton High student Blake J. Robbins alleges that administrators watched him at home through his school-issued computer. CBS3, which airs Dr. Phil locally, provided news clips for the episode, due to air March 10.

Already hungry for a pennant

The Phillies will put aside pitching, catching, and hitting for an hour tomorrow in Clearwater, Fla.

They'll get a pep talk on nutrition from Katie Cavuto Boyle, the bubbly caterer and nutritionist who owns the new South Philadelphia market-cafe Healthy Bites To-Go.

Several Phillies are private clients of hers, and the team's head athletic trainer, Scott Sheridan, invited her to spring training.

Cavuto Boyle, 31, who was a contestant last year on The Next Food Network Star, will preach to the converted. In the old days, Frank Coppenbarger, the team's clubhouse director, told me last week, "breakfast used to be a box of doughnuts by the coffee machine."

Cavuto Boyle was a judge last week at Philly Cooks, the Philadelphia Magazine-sponsored restaurant demo at the Loews Hotel, and recently addressed the Nashville District Dietetic Association and St. Mary Medical Center in Bucks County.

Her health tip: "Focus on balance, variety, and moderation."

Philly Cooks, by the way, raised about $20,000 for the Ronald McDonald House.

Raising a toast

Melissa Monosoff

, sommelier at Savona in Gulph Mills, was feeling giddy Friday, the day after she was named only the 15th female master sommelier in the United States. Yes, it was the wine, she confided by phone from Napa, Calif. The Court of Master Sommeliers puts candidates through a grueling series of exams. Monosoff, 35, started her first "level" in 2002. In one 25-minute exam, she had to identify six wines by grape, region, appellation, and vintage. Asked about her favorites, she said: "Champagne, for sure, and northern Italian reds. And beer. I love beer."

Media watch

During snow coverage Thursday,

Action News

created a Web version of its 5 p.m. news, and while the TV content was unchanged, Web watchers on 6ABC.com got an eyeful from cameras in the control room and studio, as well as a roving camera in the newsroom. The action didn't stop during commercial breaks as viewers heard

Rick Williams

and

Monica Malpass

cutting up with chat moderator

Corey Herman

. (Williams teased Malpass about her outfit, and Malpass acknowledged that she's carrying twin boys.) "We did it because we thought it would be fun for our online viewers who were likely stuck at home again, and we wanted to provide them with something unique," a spokeswoman said. The result, she said: 2.7 million page views that day. (Comcast SportsNet did a similar Web version of Thursday's

Hungry for Hockey

show.)

For the sixth consecutive ratings period, light-rock WBEB-FM (101.1) easily was the most-heard radio station in the region among listeners 12 and older, according to January's Arbitron ratings. B101 captured 8.9 percent of the measured audience. News KYW-AM (1060) was second, followed by classic-hits WOGL-FM (98.1). Overall listening was flat over last year.

Broadcaster Larry Kane, who this Friday will begin a series of 12 Beatles-theme multimedia weekend shows at the Franklin Institute with producer Denny Somach, is working on a third book about the Fab Four. When They Were Boys - the working title, from Running Press - will be a prequel to the band's 1964-65 U.S. tours, which was when Kane, then a radio newsman in Miami, met them. Kane says that he did research in Liverpool and other spots in Europe, and that he recently found a 1964 interview in which Beatles manager Brian Epstein declared: "Larry, the children of 2015 will be listening to the Beatles."

For art's sake

Restaurateurs

Audrey Claire Taichman

,

Stephen Starr

,

Michael Solomonov

,

Jose Garces

,

Georges Perrier

,

Michael Schulson

and

Marc Vetri

- basically, a who's who of the dining community - will get together with performing artists Sept. 15 for the first Feastival, a benefit for the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, at the Fringe's "hub" warehouse in Northern Liberties. Fringe head

Richard Vague

and event planner

Corie Moskow

say the idea is to draw the city's socialite/power crowd to the annual showcase. The synergy is crucial, says Vague, adding: "World-class cities need world-class culture, and businesses need this to attract and retain great talent." Developer

Gabe Canuso

and real estate lawyer

Tony Forte

are chairing the event.

Cinematically speaking

Filmmakers

Sean Kirkpatrick

,

Stephen Bozzacco

, and

Edward J. Eberwine III

are at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif., this weekend for the world premiere of

Cost of a Soul

, a crime drama known during production as

Redemption

.

Cinequest also will screen Exit 117, a set-in-New Jersey story of musicians. The film's writer, director, editor, producer, and star, Kevin James McMullin, is 21. The whole thing was done on a laptop for $850. Also contributing were Drexel students Christina Papi, Matthew Strickland, and, composing music, Jonah Delso.

Inqlings: Radio Rankings

Station Share

1. WBEB-FM (101.1) 8.9

2. KYW-AM (1060) 7.4

3. WOGL-FM (98.1) 6.5

4. WDAS-FM (105.3) 6.3

5. WXTU-FM (92.5) 4.8

6. WMMR-FM (93.3) 4.4

7. WMGK-FM (102.9) 4.3

8. WRFF-FM (104.5) 4.0

9. WRDW-FM (96.5) 3.6

10. WIOQ-FM (102.1) 3.5

SOURCE: Arbitron Inc., based on January

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