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Pennsylvania gambling regulators encouraged casino operators to hire an array of minority groups, but never discussed the measure in public. The diversity guidelines contained in a confidential Gaming Control Board memo issued in January go beyond the requirements of federal and state law, according to a copy obtained by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The memo from Chief Diversity Officer Mozelle Daniels, marked "privileged and confidential," says casinos should look not only at race, ethnicity and gender in hiring workers. The board's "expansive view of diversity" includes marital status, sexual orientation, religion, age, AIDS or HIV status, non-job-related disability and veteran's status....

HARRISBURG, Pa. (Map, News) - Gov. Ed Rendell is returning campaign contributions from two donors associated with former fugitive Norman Hsu, a man facing fraud charges. Rendell's decision to give back $7,000 comes three weeks after the Democratic governor said he would donate to charity nearly $38,000 that came directly from Hsu. The most recent giveback resulted from "sufficient questions" about the donors that were raised in press accounts, Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said. The governor is returning $2,000 contributed in May 2005 by a resident of Daly City, Calif., and $5,000 donated in April 2006 by a resident of...

PLAINS TWP. (PA)-- Although thousands of state employees will not be working today because of a budget stalemate, the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs was not forced to shut its doors on patrons at 7 this morning. Bobby Soper, CEO of the casino, received a Commonwealth Court decision around 11:40 p.m. Sunday, in which the court issued a temporary injunction to prevent a shutdown of the state’s casinos. “I’m pleased with the decision allowing us to stay open (today),” he said. “Not only is this great news for the 3,500 employees who work in the five state casinos, but also...

Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Republican challenger Lynn Swann are running neck and neck, a new independent statewide poll shows. In a hypothetical election, Rendell and Swann each would get 44 percent of the vote, with 10 percent undecided and 2 percent for others, according to the Strategic Vision poll. "Dead even. You can't get much closer than that," said David E. Johnson, pollster for Atlanta-based Strategic Vision, a public relations and marketing firm. This poll, similar to other recent polls, spells trouble -- according to the pollster -- for Rendell, of Philadelphia, who is seeking a second four-year term...

RICHMOND, Va. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says Virginia Democrats should get back to the progressive initiatives that made the party great and quit running campaigns as though they were imitation Republicans. Rendell spoke to about one thousand Democratic activists at the party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner tonight in Richmond. Rendell said John Kerry should have remained truer to Democratic ideals when he opposed Republican George W- Bush two years ago. Rendell is seeking re-election this year against a strong challenge from Republican Lynn Swann -- a Hall of Fame player on the Pittsburgh Steelers' football team from the 1970s. In...

Rendell, Swann in dead heat By David M. Brown TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, February 10, 2006 Republican challenger Lynn Swann has caught Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a new Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/WTAE-Channel 4 Keystone poll shows. Swann, who trailed Rendell by 20 points five months ago, has jumped to within three points -- a statistical tossup. More than half -- 54 percent -- of voters questioned believe it is time for a change in the governor's office. About two in five -- 39 percent -- said they believe Rendell deserves re-election.

From Fox News' "Fox News Live" January 24, 2006Former DNC Chairman, Governor Ed Rendell [D-PA]: "I Believe He's A Qualified Judge. He Sits On The Third Circuit Court Of Appeals In Philadelphia. I Don't Know If You Know This ... My Wife Is A Third Circuit Court Judge."Fox News' Bill Hemmer: "I'm Aware Of That, And Your History In Philadelphia Should Give You Pretty Good Knowledge Of Him."Rendell: "Right. She Has A High Opinion Of His Integrity And His Academic Standards. She Disagrees With Him On A Number Of Cases And Agrees With Him On Some. I Disagree With A...

By First Coast News Staff WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a little more than two weeks the Pentagon's Base Realignment And Closure Commission will give its recommendations to President Bush, and many communities are doing everything they can to keep their local military bases from being mothballed. But the Governor of Pennsylvania has gone a step further -- he was in court Thursday asking a judge to side with him against the Pentagon. The case highlights the growing tension between states and the federal government on who gives marching orders to state National Guards. The Willow Grove Naval Air Station, outside...

With tears in his eyes, Gov. Ed Rendell yesterday ordered state flags in Pennsylvania to be flown at half staff until Sept. 11 to honor Pennsylvania Army National Guardsmen killed in Iraq. Five guardsmen were killed in two separate incidents in Iraq Tuesday, and two were killed Saturday. Six of the seven were from the same company, the Philadelphia-based A Company of the 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment. "They were police officers, firefighters and youth counselors," the governor said at a news conference in Harrisburg. "They were husbands, fathers, and beloved sons. They were young and middle aged, black and...

The governor attributes the reception in part to the recent pay raises for state officials and judges. The crowd in the main tent at the 151st annual Reading Fair Monday night greeted Gov. Ed Rendell the way Philadelphia Eagles fans greet opposing NFL teams. Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor and Eagles season-ticket holder, said the boos the crowd unleashed when he stepped on stage before a concert by Steve Hall and the Shotgun Red Band probably resulted from two factors. First, the audience dodged raindrops and lightning bolts to hear cover versions of Conway Twitty and Tammy Wynette songs, not...

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT No. 03-3680 Adams v. Local 115   To: Clerk Appellants' Motion Requesting That the Members of this Court Recuse Themselves from This MatterAppellees' Responses     The foregoing Motion is under consideration. The parties will be advised through the Court's normal procedures when the appeal is assigned to a merits panel for disposition. No further order or other notification will be provided in regard to the disposition of the motion. Under the circumstances, listing of the appeal for disposition may take a significant amount of additional time from this date.     For...

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday called for an investigation into the finances and management of the troubled Chester Upland School District, and asked the district's controlling board to step down, after the release of a state audit that found widespread problems. The state comptroller's audit "confirms that the district's fiscal management systems are completely broken down, creating an environment ripe for criminal activity and worthy of investigation by the U.S. attorney, the attorney general and the district attorney," Rendell said. A three-member Board of Control, which the governor does not have the authority to dismiss, currently...

More than 80 percent of state lawmakers — and almost 90 percent of local state legislators — are eligible to earn salaries even bigger than the new, higher base pay the General Assembly recently approved. When the majority of state lawmakers voted themselves raises earlier this month, they not only added 16.4 percent to their base salaries, they also gave extra pay for the first time to the chairmen and vice chairmen of legislative committees and chairmen of committee subcommittees. And the top officers of both Houses are now eligible for more extra pay than they were getting before. Among...

Until now, Catherine Baker Knoll seems to have been Pennsylvania's version of the Teflon candidate. She survived a bond-refinancing scandal during her second term as state treasurer to beat out an eight-person field for the Democratic nomination as lieutenant governor in 2002. And while some snicker about her occasional misstatements on the Senate floor and in public, other people find them endearing. But the 74-year-old grandmother made national news with her unsolicited appearance at the funeral of Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Goodrich, a reservist from Allegheny County who died in Iraq. Her attendance angered the Marine's family, and with...

Moore used footage of Maj. Stone's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in his antiwar propaganda film, Fahrenheit 9/11. He did so without the permission of Maj. Stone's family. The family was not pleased. Maj. Stone's mother called Moore a "maggot that eats off the dead." Catherine Baker Knoll has done Moore one better (or worse). On July 19th, a funeral service was held at St. John Lutheran Church in Carnegie for Staff Sergeant Joseph Goodrich, 32. Goodrich and fellow Marine reservist Lance Corporal Ryan Kovacicek, 22, were killed by mortar fire July 10th while conducting combat operations in Hit, in...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — One of Gov. Ed Rendell's cabinet secretaries said Monday she was "pretty upset" that lawmakers approved a raise for themselves in a state government budget that also cut benefits in medical care for the poor. Estelle Richman, the state Public Welfare Department secretary, made the remark in response to a moderator's question at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg at which she was the keynote speaker. Asked how upset she was about the situation, Richman responded, "I'm pretty upset still." "I would like to have seen that some of these very drastic cuts that are...

PITTSBURGH -- Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll apologized to the family of a Marine killed in Iraq for showing up uninvited for his funeral last week and giving out a business card. Knoll went to the July 19 funeral of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32, of Westwood, who died July 10 in Hit, Iraq. Family members said she left a business card and made a remark about "our government" being against the war. In a letter dated Monday to Goodrich's widow, Amy, Knoll said she left a card in case the family wanted to contact her "and as a sign...

Knoll & Rendell: Disgraceful remarks Tuesday, July 26, 2005 Sometimes politicians need to stop while they're behind. Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll did a little politicking and offered some political commentary Tuesday last, uninvited, at the Carnegie funeral of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich. The Marine, 32, of Westwood, was killed in a mortar attack in Iraq on July 10. Mrs. Baker Knoll began talking to Sgt. Goodrich's aunt during the Communion service. She handed the aunt a business card; Knoll called the funeral a "function." Then Knoll told the aunt that the state government was "against the war." Outrageous. Visiting...

In the annals of feckless non-apology apologies, the one just served up by PA Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll scrapes the bottom of the barrel. Check out the article below, and note this turn of phrase: "If my regard for his family's grief was seen another way, it is thoroughly regrettable." In other words, what is regrettable is not her awful behavior, but the way the Marine's family saw it. Sickening. -------------------------- Slain Marine's Family Gets Apology For Funeral Comments POSTED: 11:44 am EDT July 25, 2005 PITTSBURGH -- After being criticized for attending a Marine's funeral, Lt. Gov. Catherine...

Written apologies will be sent to a fallen Marine's relatives angered by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll's uninvited appearance at the soldier's funeral and her criticism of the war in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday. Rendell said he will send a personal letter to the family of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, of Westwood, and will ask Knoll to do the same. Goodrich, 32, a police officer and infantry unit leader, died July 10 in a mortar attack in Hit, Iraq. Rendell said he hadn't spoken with Knoll about the incident, but was disturbed by the family's...