Philadelphia television station KYW says newscaster Larry Mendte won’t be on the air ‘‘pending further investigation.’‘

The CBS-owned station released a statement Sunday saying it’s cooperating with an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This comes after Mendte’s lawyer said Saturday that FBI agents approached his client Thursday and searched his home in connection with ‘‘claims made by Alycia Lane.’‘ She’s his former co-anchor who was fired in January.

First, my own comments. Whatever one thinks of HRC, it’s to her credit that she, as her husband did last year, is able to walk into the lion’s den and begin to turn the opinion of a man who has done more to harrass the Clintons and all stripe of Democrat, liberal and progressive and who is the founder of rw think tanks and yappers which have blocked progressive policies for years.
Before bashing HRC, think about it. If we want more civility in politics, it’s imperative to co-opt people like Scaife. We will see if Barack Obama takes Scaife’s invitation to meet with the Trib editorial board and builds on what HRC started.  read more »

Four of the nation’s largest cable companies plan to unveil on Thursday a voter registration campaign aimed at minority voters.

Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox Communications Inc. and Bright House Networks will start running four public service announcements starting Saturday and leading up to the 2008 primary elections.

The spots will feature several celebrities, including Ana Ortiz of “Ugly Betty,” Lou Diamond Phillips of “La Bamba,” Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Bill Cosby’s son in “The Cosby Show,” and comedian Margaret Cho.

The $5 million campaign also includes a Web site, http://www.ourtimetovote.com, and a voters’ hot line, 1-866-544-VOTE.
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It’s times like these that make me appreciative of sharing good news. Hopefully this can make a difference in our Commonwealth’s 4th largest city.

Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for one-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news.

Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues. And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and the charities would get to share the windfall.

That’s when the tears came — and the mystery began — in this old industrial city of 102,000 on Lake Erie. The donor would be identified only as ‘‘Anonymous Friend.’‘  read more »

Just so you know, its not often that I agree with Hank Grezlak, the editor-in-chief of The Legal Intelligencer. However, he makes a valid point that booting all of the judges up for retention is a stupid idea and will lead to more cronies and political hacks on the judicial benches, not less.

I’ll admit that ever since the public decided to take a flame-thrower to certain elements of Pennsylvania’s government in the wake of the pay-raise fiasco, I’ve often been amused, and in some cases downright pleased, to see various politicians and judges forced to realize that they are essentially public employees who actually serve at the discretion of the people.  read more »

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a provision in McCain-Feingold that bars companies and unions from paying for ads even mentioning the name of a candidate for federal office in the 60 days before a general election or the 30 days before a primary.

Once again, the court reverses a recent holding. This panel has shown that it has no respect for the notion of stare decisis.

It’s funny how conservatives are concerned about the free speech rights when money and power are involved.  read more »

Above Average Jane notices sharp declines in quality at the Philadelphia Inquirer after 13 of 45 copy editors were laid off:

I wasn’t going to say anything but this is noticeable in the daily reading of the paper. It may seem odd for a blogger to point this out but blogging is not held to the same grammatical and spelling standards as the flagship newspaper of one of the nation’s largest cities. In the last week, for example, I saw oversees used for overseas, te for the, and today wee for what was surely intended as were. These things do pop but not in a good way.