Monday round-up

• Politicians
  
  
  
  • Two pieces on Michael Nutter in yesterday's Inquirer: one covering his official announcement event for the Philadelphia mayoral race (and particularly noting who was and wasn't in attendance, although it's hard to fault anyone for staying neutral this early), and the other his anti-violence plan, which has more breadth than depth as yet.
    
    
  • Jon Saidel is signalling his seriousness about the mayoral race by hiring big-time consultants. um, wow?
    
    
  • Another ethical dilemma for state house Speaker John Perzel: he's on the board of a corrections company that's attempting to take over a company with Pennsylvania contracts. Presumably he could avoid any conflict of interest if he quit the board if the deal goes through, but it's not clear that he agrees that any steps are needed.
    
    
  • Small bits from the PA governor race: Rendell picks up some endorsements, Swann travels in a biodiesel bus.
    
    
  • Tom Ferrick takes a look at Rendell's alleged urban leanings, and when he runs the numbers he finds out that the state is spending more per capita on several rural counties. (Not that it really answers the question of Rendell's world-view, but it does rather undermine those who think the country subsidizes the city.)
    
    
  • John Baer sees signs of life in Bob Casey's Senate campaign. Odd piece, but I can't put my finger on why.
    
    
  • Above Average Jane continues to put various suburban races under the spotlight; today it's the 12th state senate race (in Bucks/MontCo), and she offers a substantial interview with Democratic candidate Jeff Albert (running against Stewart Greenleaf).
  
  
• Hot issues
  
  
  
  • Much discussion of city violence. There were several peace rallies in city neighborhoods this weekend, and yet a slew of shootings yesterday left many feeling deflated. Dan UA thinks it's time to take the fight to state legislators like Perzel who are standing in the way of better gun legislation, and the Daily News offers a stack of reader suggestions for helping stem the violence.
    
    
  • An Inquirer editorial wonders why the feds want to starve the Philadelphia Housing Authority just as it's contributing to neighborhood revitalization.
    
    
  • The Daily News opinion page joins the call for zoning reform, arguing that you shouldn't have to have neighbors with clout in order to get some say in local developer plans.
  
  
• Other bits
  
  
  
  • We're not just unworried by the threat of global warming, but are actually planning to spit in its face: new coal plants are planned for the first time in decades, including one along the Delaware River. Coal is one of the dirtiest sources of traditional energy production, but that appears not to factor in to corporate business planning.
    
    
  • Anne Dicker wasn't too impressed with Friday's ruling that stocks held by children of lobbyists don't trigger conflict-of-interest restrictions. She's thinking, though, that maybe the solution is to have a baby now, just for the business freedom! heh.
    
    
  • AAJane lets us know about another set of workshops on the political ropes; the main seminar is in San Diego, but they appear to have online sessions available as well.