Monday bits

From the papers:

• Who knew there was an asbestos waste dump near Valley Forge Park?! Well, apparently it's about to be cleaned up, after ten years of arguments....
  
  
• Also in the realm of things I didn't know were on the docket: a new state law to regulate end-of-life decisions for those without a living will or other directive.

  Under the new law, if a person has not designated someone in advance, the decision-maker will generally be a spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling, adult grandchild or close friend, in that order.

  If that doesn't sound like the ranking you'd want, better get it in writing.
  
  
• A strike at a Red Cross center in Southwest PA could interrupt blood supplies in six states, although preparations have been made for the initial strike period.
  
  
• The Inquirer does a round-up of mayoral bits, including Ward fights already underway.
  
  
• The Inky editorial page notes the amount of money dredged up to buy the Eakins painting recently, and contrasts that with the shortage of funds to help with child sexual abuse victims. The same could be said about many of our direst social needs...
  
  
• Signe has a visual commentary on Councilman Frank DiCicco's last-minute package of anti-casino bills.

Around the blogs:

• The YPP discussion on ideas for healthcare is ongoing and has generated a flurry of comments. I don't know when the related CityPaper piece will be written, but now seems like a good time to make sure your thoughts get taken into account.
  
  
• A bunch of folks from Philadelphia went down to DC this past weekend for the anti-escalation protest, and you can see some video clips of what participants were thinking.
  
  
• A new YPP poster raises some cautions about community benefit agreements with casinos, using the example of how Atlantic City funds are increasingly going back toward "beautifying" parts of the casinos themselves, rather than blighted areas nearby.
  
  
• AAJane reports from a local forum with state legislators at which a number of audience questions were addressed on issues likely to resonate with readers here.
  
  
• State Republican legislators vow to keep Rendell in check on his ambitious plans for his second term. wheee.
  
  
• Ray Murphy has made his choice for mayor: he's working for Chaka Fattah and gives his reasons (as well as his expectation that he'll be a bit less present on Young Philly Politics for the duration).