The United States Marine Corps turned 236 years young this week. Don’t let the advanced age fool you; they can still kick your tail. Triad would like to send all of our men and women in uniform, past and present, a heartfelt “thank you” on this Veterans Day.
Unless you spent the week in a cave in Bora Bora, you’ve no doubt heard of the tragic events unfolding up in State College. There is no need for us to even mention it, other than to let you know that Rick Kelly shared some thoughts, which you can find here, as the Director of Crisis Communication at Triad.
This just in: Rick Perry should probably just stop going to debates. Maybe stay home, grab a pizza, watch some Law and Order re-runs instead.
It was Election Day Tuesday, that magical time of year when 30% of the eligible electorate makes decisions for the other 70% who couldn’t tear themselves away from the Bravo Real Housewives marathon or were too busy raking leaves to vote. No big shockers in the major metro areas, as Rich Fitzgerald becomes the new Allegheny County Executive, and Mayor Michael Nutter continues to have the honor of running Philadelphia for four more years.
The only thing resembling an upset was out in Montgomery County, where the upstart duo of State Rep. Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards finally pulled that sword out of the stone for the Democrats, and took over county government for the first time since…well, ever.
Out on the western side of the state, the GOP pulled off almost the identical feat, with Charles Anderson and Tyler Courtney wresting control of the Westmoreland County courthouse from the Democrats after that party’s 60-year reign.
Out in Ohio, the folks who believed the 2010 elections were a mandate to repeal collective bargaining rights found out differently on Tuesday. Warning: this is one cranky electorate, so it might be best to just do what they ask of you (like, for instance, getting them a job) and not rocket off on legislative tangents.
From the Department of Painfully Obvious Headlines this week comes “Redistricting is impacting elections.” Yes, and lamps tend to impact darkness. The uncertainty over what the 18 new Congressional Districts will look like when they are unveiled by year’s end has some potential candidates siting on the sidelines and hedging their bets. This gives incumbents, who are already raising money, a pretty massive advantage next year.
As folks begin to look at the new report on liquor privatization, some facts are beginning to come into view that may not have been apparent at first glance. First off, the report actually sort of debunks the myth that prices will go way down under a private system. Second, the number of places to buy liquor would have to jump from 600 to 1,500 to make this whole thing work. If you are fan of buying booze, this is good news. If you are a fan of buying booze in Snyder County? Maybe not so much. Competition tends to gravitate towards where consumers actually live.
President Obama this week continued his barnstorming tour with a visit to a barn in Delaware County, where he announced plans to put the pedal to the metal on Head Start. The President is a big fan of Head Start, but wants to see stricter performance standards and eventually, competition for funding. Competition in education? We’ve heard that somewhere before. In any case, this was Obama’s 14thvisit to Pennsylvania, which makes him eligible for in-state tuition rates at one of our fine universities.
The future of Sunday hunting legalization efforts might just come down to a vote of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the fine folks who would be most impacted by the expansion (if you don’t count the actual deer themselves). Lawmakers are loathe to get into this debate until they get a clear signal from the farmers, which could happen very soon.
The new owners of Valley View Downs (which is currently a large, open field) in Lawrence County got the green light from the state’s Harness Racing Commission to build a harness racing track. That is not exactly the big enchilada here. That designation would go to the state’s only remaining casino track license, which the owners of the big, empty field are now eligible to apply for. Because really, does anyone believe they would build a harness racing track without an adjoining casino? Yeah, neither did we.
In other casino news, the Commonwealth Court this week upheld the decision by the State Gaming Control Board to yank the casino license from the fine folks at fictional Foxwoods (courtesy of Triad’s alliteration department). The investors are now studying whether or not to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. Foxwoods is starting to behave a little like Jason from the Friday the 13thmovies.
Harrisburg’s city council and Mayor Linda Thompson this week came up with a grand plan on how to trim the city’s gargantuan debt load and avoid a state takeover. Their idea? Ask the stakeholders to forgive $100 million in debt. Bet you are glad you stuck around long enough to read that little gem. Caution: don’t try that trick with your mortgage company.
The response from the stakeholders came in swiftly, and it basically boiled down to “Yeah, we’re gonna take a pass on that debt forgiveness idea. Thanks anyway.” City officials were disappointed. We hope they were not shocked.
There was some good news for the city this week as a court ruled that the city will not have to pony up an additional $500,000 in police pension benefits negotiated under former Mayor Steve Reed, but never ratified by council. On second thought, maybe angering and alienating the police force isn’t really good news. Nevermind.
A federal judge has decided that huge, graphic photos on cigarette packs might just be a bridge too far when combatting smoking. Instead, cigarette packs will now be equipped with an audio device that plays a tape of Axl Rose singing “You’re gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!!!” each time you open the pack.
The Delaware River Basin Commission this week finally released the long-awaited rules for natural gas drilling within the watershed, and no one was happy about them, which is probably an indication that the commission did a good job. The rules authorize 300 wells in the watershed, but with much stricter water use standards and monitoring than in other areas of the state. Of course, once the General Assembly gets done re-writing the rules on all-things-Marcellus, the whole document could be pretty much moot.
Remember last year when Congress allowed unemployment compensation benefits to expire for millions of laid off Americans because of an ideological fight over government spending? If you don’t, jump on YouTube and brush up on that debate, because it is about to happen again, it would appear. And this time it will happen right about the same time the Presidential Primary season begins. This should be one big barrel of laughs for everyone (exluding the people who rely on unemployment compensation to, you know, eat.)
Pennsylvania state government now has a manure guide. We struggled all morning to find the proper way to convey this in a funny or whimsical manner, and here is what we came up with: Pennsylvania state government now has a manure guide. Stuff just writes itself sometimes.
A big shout-out to SEIU HealthCarePA workers in the Poconos, who this week signed a contract with Pocono Medical Center, bringing an end to a long, tough battle over union shop rights. It will finally be a happy holiday season for those 500 hearty souls.
That’s the way it is on this 11-11-11 special edition of the weekly wrap. Half the legislature returns next week for the post-election festivities and we have front row seats! Woo-hoo! Until then, check out all of our new Facebook content and follow our Twitter feed!
From all your friends at Triad, have a great Veterans Day and a wonderful weekend!
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