A Q&A session for the Allentown Morning Call, posted last week on Capitol Ideas, the state government blog by John L. Micek.

Name: Rob Green
Position: Reading Clerk, 1994; Assistant Director of Pages, 2006
Education: Alvernia College, Communications, 1990

Q: What are your favorite parts of the job?
A: My favorite part is when they’re going at it and they’re really getting into the debate. I don’t mind staying late mostly because that’s when the action is. You get to see things first hand. You pay attention more. I didn’t have a lot of government classes in college – they were all early [laughs]. But in this job, you see things happen so closely and get to know the personalities.

Q: What is your least favorite part?
A: Well, [laughs] I guess … No. No least favorite. … Oh, I know… I don’t like when I have to read the long resolutions, like when someone retires. You usually get them cold, and they’re always long, so it gives you more of a chance to screw up.

A recent post on Capitol Ideas, the popular state government blog by Morning Call reporter John L. Micek.

Behold The Power Of Wind.

The wind turbine near the Exposition Center on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex has been blowing for nearly two years, but with interest in energy conservation growing, its popularity may have never been higher.

“It serves as an example of this emerging technology,” said Patrick Kerwin, the executive director of the Farm Show Complex. “It’s a demonstration project to show that wind does produce real electricity and work well.” More…

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Read the rest on Capitol Ideas.

There are bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau that age better than this.

State lawmakers might close the books on yet another legislative session before they come to grips with a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized the direct shipment of wine to consumers.

”There’s a lot of things going on” during the upcoming brief legislative session this fall, said Rep. Paul Costa, D-Allegheny, who’s been leading the charge to make it easier for oenophiles to get their hands on their favorite vino.

”This is America,” said Gregg Amore, owner of Amore Vineyards and Winery in East Allen Township. ”You should be free to ship regardless of where you live.”

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Read the rest on TheMorningCall.com.

Photo courtesy of PhilaFoodie.

HARRISBURG _ State Sen. Robert C. Wonderling was among the first lawmakers to use a handheld wireless device as a legislative tool, in 2002.

“Modern public service is to be as accessible as possible,” said the Montgomery County Republican. “I do that with my BlackBerry.”

In between appointments, Wonderling scrolls through articles from state, national and regional newspapers, answers constituent e-mails, and reviews his upcoming schedule. This modern legislator – with BlackBerry on his hip – is distinct from the Mr. Smiths who came to Harrisburg in decades past. While considered a leading advocate for technology use in the General Assembly, Wonderling isn’t alone.

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Read the rest on Capitol Ideas.

BY John L. Micek and Christopher Wink | A1 story, below the fold

HARRISBURG – Carbon and Monroe counties would each be in line for one of the nine cashless toll sites on Interstate 80 under a plan announced Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

The sites proposed for Monroe would sit somewhere between Exit 293 for Scranton and Exit 298 for Scotrun and between Delaware Water Gap Exit 310 and the New Jersey state line, according to a map the commission released.

In Carbon County, the Turnpike Commission is mulling a site between Hickory Run State Park Exit 274 and Exit 277 for the Northeast Extension. There’s an alternate site between Mountaintop Exit 262 and White Haven/Freeland Exit 273.

Turnpike Commission officials said they’re gathering public comment and will decide by this fall the locations of all nine of the proposed toll gantries they want to build along the 311-mile highway.

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Read the rest on MCall.com.

This ran today for the Allentown Morning Call. The coverage is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA).

A press conference held by Republican Auditor General candidate Chet Beiler on July 31, 2008. (Photo by Christopher Wink)

Who said blog clips aren’t worth anything? Here’s one for Capitol Ideas, the popular state government blog by Morning Call reporter John L. Micek.

Republican Chet Beiler wants to be Pennsylvania’s auditor general and used the phrase “tax dollars” often enough today to prove it.

Flanked by supporters, Beiler stood in the Capitol rotunda this morning, and challenged Democratic incumbent Jack Wagner to meet him for a series of discussions of the issues.

Standing in front of a banner that promised Beiler, of Manheim, Lancaster County, said he’ll spend his time “protecting your tax dollars.” He also vowed that “wherever tax dollars go, I will be there.”

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Read the rest on Capitol Ideas.

Watch out for the stronger voice in blog style, my friends, and please note the forlorn-looking boy in the right of my photograph – taken with my cell phone.

Senator Barack Obama (R) (D-Il) is greeted by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell before speaking during a Democratic Unity Rally at Temple University's McGonigle Hall October 21, 2006 in Philadelphia. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

The Barack Obama presidential campaign’s focus on Pennsylvania is “unprecedented” Gov. Ed Rendell said in a news conference call I listened in on during this my first day with the Allentown Morning Call for my post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association.

Rendell was a noted booster for Obama’s primary opponent Hillary Clinton, but long maintained he would support whoever was the Democratic candidate. Rendell said “90 percent” of Clinton supporters are with Obama and getting “more excited” for Obama everyday.

“Pennsylvania is generally and typically a battleground state. Democrats have done well but absolutely can’t take it for granted,” said Steve Hildebrand, the national deputy Obama campaign manager. Aside from Florida, he added, Pennsylvania has the largest number of electoral votes that the campaigns are considering real battlegrounds.

The campaign has 24 offices already open in the state – 10 times as many offices as McCain – to which 93 percent of the state’s volunteers are less than a 30-minute drive, said Obama’s Pennsylvania State Director Craig Schirmer.

“That’s unprecedented,” Rendell said. “The visibility on the ground is incredible.

We confident – but not overconfident – that we will win this state.”

Brett Lieberman of the Patriot News asked whether it was possible to suggest Obama’s stance on social issues could attract conservative communities in Pennsylvania, particularly the famed ‘Pennsylvania T,‘ to which Rendell countered that the election would be focusing “much more on the American economy” so he expected “very little niche voting,” on social issues.

“A vote for John McCain is a vote for four more years of Bush’s failed economic strategy,” said Schirmer. The campaign will engage rural communities “that have been ignored for far too long.”

Rendell said that McCain is the “most appealing” candidate the Republicans have run in the last 20 years.

Rendell said that though John McCain choosing former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to be his Vice President-running mate would “make things harder,” nothing in the statewide campaign would change.

A statewide Obama campaign manager spoke of their neighborhood-based plan for voter registration and turnout, one that will be “fueled by people who want to change politics.” The campaign hopes to establish more than 700 neighborhood teams, led by captains who will be asked to dedicate 10 to 20 hours a week in community outreach, said Schirmer.

They already have 250 teams, which are charged with attracting 1.1 million unregistered, eligible voters in Pennsylvania which the campaign feels can be a net gain to Obama, Schirmer said.

“This is just the beginning,” he said.

Photo courtesy of DayLife.