Friday news

• I will admit that I didn't see this one coming: Bush, Sr., to head Constitution Center (see more here). Certainly good for the national profile of the Center, which is good. I guess it's less of a surprise, given this context:

  He helped organize its national honorary committee in 1996, narrated several videos on its behalf as it was getting off the ground, and made several visits here for center-sponsored events. On each occasion, his interest in the enterprise was well beyond the perfunctory.

  Bush will not be expected to fundraise for the organization as part of his duties.
  
  
• Pennsylvania farmers to be hurt by limits on immigrant labor? Something tells me that if you paid better for pickers, you'd have a line of domestic applicants. Perhaps food prices should reflect the cost of production!!
  
  
• The Turnpike Commission suggests making I-90 into a toll road, as an alternative to raising bucks by leasing out the current system of turnpikes to a private company.
  
  Update: This story may be about I-80... (sigh)
  
  
• Why do we never hear about the state of our citywide wireless network anymore? D-Mac notes a free trial being offered by Earthlink, which implies that the extended Center City portion (their "proof of concept area"), at least, is complete. What % of the rest of the city is even underway? Wasn't this about information access for low-income folks?
  
  
• Harrisburg lobbyist gets 18 months for embezzlement. Sounds like a great prod to better lobbying oversight, but it's really a dull story of one man's gambling addiction. Expect to hear more of those, starting next year.
  
  
• A Gar Josephs miscellany column in the Daily News includes a humorous ratings system for mayoral candidate street cred, as well as rumors of Brady's impending announcement and other tidbits.
  
  
• Two Inquirer opinion pieces: an editorial bewailing the cuts to the PHA, and commentary suggesting that the recent enforcement of the smoking ban should be just the start of regional efforts to discourage the habit entirely.
  
  
• And Ray Murphy asks everybody to share their favorite thing about living in Philadelphia. Some warm fuzzies for grey days.