The Washington lawyer who reportedly was asked to become the nation’s first black attorney general once made headlines in Pennsylvania for prosecuting the man who fixed Louis DeNaples’ 1977 fraud trial.

Eric Holder, 57, spent the early part of his career with the U.S. Department of Justice heading public corruption cases, and in 1983 successfully prosecuted James Osticco for bribing the husband of a juror in the DeNaples trial.

Osticco, a high-ranking member of the Bufalino crime family, paid the husband $1,000, a set of car tires and a pocket watch to persuade his wife to vote for acquittal of DeNaples, who had been charged with fleecing the federal government for cleanup work related to 1972’s Hurricane Agnes.  read more »

Pennsylvania’s state agencies are being asked to pinch pennies even tighter because of falling tax revenue, and Gov. Ed Rendell cautioned Wednesday that additional cuts are on the way.

“We are going to do everything we can to get through this with as little harm as possible, but I also want to remind people that the cuts are coming, and I don’t want to hear any whining,” Rendell said.

Rendell met Tuesday with his senior staff and developed a list of additional government spending cuts for Cabinet secretaries to consider beyond $311 million in potential reductions he identified last month.

He said the administration has not tallied the total savings suggested for its second round of cuts.  read more »

A spokesman for Pennsylvania’s governor says Sen. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to speak Friday at a Capitol ceremony to honor the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll.

Gov. Ed Rendell’s spokesman Chuck Ardo said Tuesday that Knoll campaigned ‘‘tirelessly’‘ for the New York senator and her husband, Bill Clinton, during their respective presidential campaigns.

Democrats in the state House of Representatives are turning to a six-term member from Hazleton to be floor leader in the coming two-year session.

Rep. Todd Eachus elected floor leader by Pa. House Democrats Democrats in the state House of Representatives are turning to a six-term member from Hazleton to be floor leader in the coming two-year session.

Rep. Todd Eachus of Luzerne County defeated Rep. Frank Dermody of Allegheny County on Tuesday in a closed-door election.

Eachus will take the job currently held by Rep. Bill DeWeese of Greene County when the next two-year session starts in January.

The Democrats also nominated Rep. Keith McCall of Carbon County to be speaker, but that position will be filled by the entire chamber.  read more »

Looks like they’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic today, by which I mean your lawmakers are picking leaders to steer your too-large, too-costly, under-investigation state House through its next round of scandals.

I don’t see anyone likely to win who’s likely to stir things up.

And this is the body of the infamous pay grab, the bonus disgrace, the ghost employees, the slush funds and the recent allegations of internal spying on itself.

Yet it seems to just plod along.

At 3 p.m., House Democrats meet behind closed doors to cast secret ballots for leadership posts for the next two-year session, starting in January.  read more »

After 11 days of mounting outcry over its budget cuts, the Nutter administration yesterday tried to assuage critics with more detailed explanations for its decisions to target 11 libraries, seven fire companies, and 68 pools for closing.

For libraries, the administration released statistics on usage and location, arguing that the 11 chosen were among the less heavily used and the nearest to other facilities.

For the fire companies, the administration released a variety of measurements, including number and variety of calls each handled and length of response time.

It was the most comprehensive offering yet of the data behind the cuts that Mayor Nutter announced Nov. 6 in response to what he said was a $1 billion shortfall in the city’s five-year budget plan.  read more »

Might Pennsylvania mooch from the mob of tourists set to hit Washington for Barack Obama’s inauguration?

Perhaps, if U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. has any say.

The Pennsylvania Democrat sent his colleagues a note Monday reminding them that the state’s border is a mere 90-minute drive from the capital, where hotels have long been booked for the Jan. 20 swearing-in.

‘‘Many Americans are hoping to participate in this extraordinary event and its related festivities, but are finding that hotel accommodations in the Washington area are limited,’‘ Casey wrote. ‘‘Thankfully, your constituents may have an affordable option just a short drive or train ride away in my home state of Pennsylvania.’‘

And if you come, stay a while, Casey suggested.  read more »

In the last two years as top leader of the Republican-controlled state Senate, Joseph B. Scarnati III has stood between Gov. Rendell and the success of his legislative agenda at nearly every turn.

Now, in what is likely a first for Pennsylvania, Scarnati, the Senate president pro tempore, takes office as lieutenant governor in the Democratic Rendell administration following the death of Catherine Baker Knoll.

Knoll, 78, the first woman elected lieutenant governor, died Wednesday of complications from neuroendocrine cancer.

Scarnati, who represents rural Jefferson County in northern Pennsylvania, will soon be sworn in to the second-highest office in the state.  read more »