Blackwell aide convicted in Phila. shelter scandal A federal jury convicted Michael Youngblood of 34 of 36 counts, including extortion and bank fraud. He was acquitted of tax evasion. A longtime assistant to Blackwell, Youngblood was the city liaison on a 400-bed homeless shelter. The city had agreed to pay $850,000 to the Deliverance Evangelistic Church as part of a partnership to convert an abandoned factory into a shelter. The city paid $1.7 million for renovations before the City Controller's Office in early 1997 refused to approve any more money for the troubled project. The shelter was never completed. Blackwell testified at the trial as a reluctant witness for the prosecution. Youngblood, 41, remains free on bail. He will be sentenced within three months. -- Associated Press
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