The middle of the center section on the lower level of the Merriam Theater Tuesday night seemed well-acquainted. Across rows, middle aged men with ruddy cheeks talked about seeing each other last on trips to Key West, sneaking a six-pack into the historic theater and shared the kind of general chatter of people who knew [...]

Gov. Ed Rendell walked onto the stage in front of several hundred guests at the Committee of Seventy‘s annual breakfast and made a joke at the expense of the political oversight group’s president, Zach Stalberg. “Don’t you think Zach was a lot more fun when he at the Daily News?” Rendell asked of Stalberg, who [...]

This is the story of how more than 20 statehouse reporters fooled me into believing I had a hot-breaking story – for the second time in a month. Last week I posted that a personal essay of mine was accepted by the Columbia Journalism Review and appeared on the CJR Web site. My essay touched [...]

This written yesterday for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review HARRISBURG — Nearly all state employees termed “essential” would be paid even if there is no budget in place after the June 30 deadline, a treasury department official said today. The testimony from Leo Pandeladis, chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Department of Treasury, came in response to questions [...]

A double byline for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. HARRISBURG — A showdown over Gov. Ed Rendell’s threat to furlough more than 24,000 state workers on July 1 is set for Tuesday. A Republican state senator will grill administration officials about the threatened furloughs of “noncritical” employees if a state budget is not in place by June 30. [...]