Belated Tuesday round-up

My day got side-swiped by the need to be at home for some furniture deliveries, so posting a bit light/late today, but here's the highlights:

• The Inquirer continues its series on public housing in Philadelphia with two stories today, one detailing how renovations and building of smaller complexes has resulted in longer waiting lists of needy families, the other noting the shift to an emphasis on home ownership among public housing beneficiaries, rather than longterm rentals.
  
  
• Keeping the suspense over the pay-hike issue alive, a judge has filed suit against the repeal:

  "The bill sacrifices the judiciary and the Constitution on the altar of expediency," said James E. Beasley Jr., an attorney representing Sheppard, 68, who has been on the bench for more than 20 years.
  
  A second suit seeking to restore only the judges' raises will be filed today by Judge John W. Herron of the Philadelphia Orphans Court, said his attorney, Robert Heim of Dechert L.L.P.

  Sheppard, at least, is nearing retirement, so perhaps willing to put principle above fear of suffering Nigro's fate...
  
  
• Meanwhile, Rendell is apparently preparing his pen for a veto of the tax bills coming his way from the state legislature, saying that they were supposed to come with advance specification of costs and programs to be cut to match, or with sources of new revenue to make up the difference. Strangely, lawmakers prefer the appearance of discipline to the actual enacting of same...
  
  
• Finally, a Daily News opinion piece calls on the Senate to do more than look embarrassed over the pay-hike fiasco, and instead to enact bills that could actually help their constituents instead of themselves -- increasing the minimum wage is one suggestion here, since a promising bill has been locked in committee by Senate majority leader Brightbill. Excellent idea...
  
  [Also note that Senator Brightbill was until recently unaware of the 4,000 of his constituents who would be affected by a minimum wage hike.]