Briefly... CITY/REGION

Court-site settlement: $1.1M

The state will pay developer Donald W. Pulver $1.1 million to give up the land he owns at 15th and Arch streets, where the city's new Family Court will be built, under a bankruptcy agreement agreed to in federal court yesterday.

Pulver and partner Jeffrey Rotwitt, a Center City lawyer, were removed from the project in May after the Inquirer reported that Rotwitt had represented both the state and Pulver.

"The settlement paves the way for the project to move forward and for this much-needed facility to become a reality," state Chief Justice Ronald Castille said.

Man, 60, dies in house fire

A 60-year-old man was killed when a one-alarm broke out in a house on 17th Street near Allegheny Avenue about 8 last night. Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, said the unidentified man had been living in an illegal rooming house that didn't have working smoke alarms. No other injuries were reported.

PHLASH trolleys to hibernate

The PHLASH trolley service, which provides a convenient ride to many popular Center City attractions, will go on its annual hiatus at 6 p.m. Sunday. The eye-catching purple trolleys will sit out the late fall and winter, and return to the streets next spring.

2 guilty of tax fraud

A West Chester tax preparer and his associate have been convicted by a federal jury of scheming to defraud the IRS, and of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

Authorities said that Lawrence Murray, 71, operated several businesses, including one named Tax Doctor Corp., which advised clients that they could defraud the IRS by deducting personal expenses as business expenses and using shell corporations to create bogus business deductions.

Authorities said that Murray and Ingrid Guthrie, 55, of Downingtown, charged clients between 20 and 35 percent of the amount of money that they would save in taxes if they followed the scheme.

Boyd reaches limit at Borgata

Boyd Gaming said it won't buy the remaining half of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. The Las Vegas-based company owns half of the Borgata and has the right of first refusal to buy the remaining half from MGM Resorts International.

MGM chose to sell its half-share rather than cut ties to the family of an Asian gambling mogul suspected of ties to Chinese organized crime. The company has a joint venture casino in Macau with Pansy Ho. Her father, Stanley, has long denied allegations that he is affiliated with Chinese criminal gangs.

- Staff and wire reports