Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Story of the day: Navy SEAL, and Norwin High School graduate, Nicholas D. Cheque is killed during a kidnap-rescue operation in Afghanistan. A straight-up hero who died in a heroic effort, and you'll probably be hearing more about him in the days ahead. But this Post-Gazette piece starts to give the measure of the man.
As Michigan gears up for a battle over union-busting "right-to-work" laws, Gov. Tom Corbett casts doubt on whether such legislation will happen here. Such measures have been kicked around the legislature, but with little enthusiasm. For all the harping on Corbett we lefties engage in, he's more subtle than a lot of other Republican governors. We'll see if that makes him more dangerous.
Paging Bram Reichbaum: Just months after opening, the aptly named Club Controversy strip club has been temporarily shut down. "You could consider it a raid" said one official of a "nighttime inspection" of the West Carson Street Club. Law enforcement accuses the club of liquor and fire-safety violations. KDKA's coverage includes Theresa Kail-Smith expressing grim satisfaction, and probably rubbing her hands together just off-camera.
Haven't verified this, but it jibes with what I've heard previously: Keystone Politics reports that Mike Mikus -- veteran of Rich Fitzgerald's county-exec campaign and Mark Critz's less successful effort -- will be serving as campaign manager for Bill Peduto's mayoral run. Also includes speculation that Luke Ravenstahl's general will be Obama campaign vet Aletheia Henry. Adjust your application letters accordingly.(UPDATE @ 10:55 a.m.: I spoke with Mikus a short time ago. He says that while he's "been talking to Bill, nothing has been set in stone.There's really nothing to report right now." Just after Mikus and I spoke, Keystone Politics pulled the item. Adjust your application letters accordingly. Again.)
Allegheny County's property-tax reassessment continues to lag on. And on. And on. And now the computers are conspiring against us!
Our friends at WESA-FM are keeping a steady eye on the healthcare beat. A pair of stories today on the impact of "Obamacare": One frets that hospitals will lose federal subsidies provided to pay for treating the uninsured. The fault here lies with the Supreme Court ruling that, while upholding Obamacare in general, made its proposed expansion of Medicaid optional for states, thereby potentially throwing off the program's math. Gov. Tom Corbett has -- surprise! -- been hedging about whether to expand Medicaid here. And there's more about the impact of expanding Medicaid -- or not -- in this piece concerning how Obamacare may change the landscape for charitable health clinics.