Quick Friday round-up

• A citizen coalition has announced that it will officially oppose the Trump casino proposal, based on their inability to get a guarantee of community benefits from the investment group, and due to fears that side deals would end up sending another business out of their area.
  
  
• Rendell's right to a line-item veto was upheld in court.
  
  
• Apparently Bob Brady is suggesting a summit of mayoral candidates to agree on rules or somesuch. I agree with Gar Josephs that he may not get too far with this idea. Also noted here is that there will be a special election this fall to fill the Council seats of Mariano, Cohen, and Nutter. I had heard this too, but was waiting for Council President Verna to announce it; perhaps she's waiting for the full line-up of candidates to be agreed upon before telling the voters. [ahem.]
  
  
• Schools Commission intrigued by Vallas' suggestion of a summer session for low-performing schools; they need a lot more data before signing on. Similarly, a second commissioner backs extending Vallas' contract; the opinions of the others are still unknown.
  
  
• A group of clergy takes on the mission of creating a safe zone around schools by breaking up fights and staving off adults with unpleasant intentions. Seems like a good start.
  
  
• The Green Party talks back to criticism of its alliance with the GOP, making a good point about the barriers to third party participation in our system.
  
  
• A "small-guy" lobbyist talks about the difficulty in getting legislation to the floor in the legislature, whether it's widely supported or not, and advocates changes that might keep the leadership from providing such a tight bottleneck.
  
  
• AAJane brings our attention to forecasts of which PA legislative seats might change hands (and particularly change parties).
  
  
• Pennsylvania may take the forefront in making sure that all children get medical coverage. I would welcome such a development, but am unclear why this story is running today, as so far there's just an agreement to pass some legislation, with no version agreed or law in place -- maybe I missed an incremental step. YPP looks at this news here.
  
  
• Albert gives a report from a community meeting on violence held near the Center City site of the run down & gun down slaying last week. Discussion ranged from neighborhood watch programs, to the responsibility of local churches, to police-community relations, to relations between neighborhood residents. An interesting mix, if no quick fix. [Oh, and congrats to Albert (and Lady) for making it into the Top 5 Philly Food-blogs!]