Turnpike to Take Next Step Toward All-Electronic Tolls

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Imagine a Turnpike with no toll booths.  A new study concludes that vision to be feasible both financially and physically.  The first advantage cited in the Turnpike’s feasibility study is safety, because motorists would no longer have to slow down, jockey for position and merge at every toll plaza.

“We’re also looking at a cleaner environment, improved convenience because you don’t have to slow down, and certainly – as the study points out – operational efficiencies because it’s a much less expensive way to collect a toll,” Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Carl DeFebo explains. 

But the 39-page document does note several disadvantages as well.  For instance, a high initial cost of conversion and the number of images to be processed in order to bill non E-ZPass customers.  An All-Electronic Toll system would likely involve photos being snapped of non E-ZPass vehicles; the owners would then receive an invoice for the required tolls. 

E-ZPass users currently pay about 17% less than cash-paying Turnpike travelers.  DeFebo says they would continue to pay a lower toll rate based on the higher cost of processing invoices for non E-ZPass users. 

With the new study in hand; the Turnpike Commission will hire a program management firm to oversee the next phase of the study process.  “This is a minimum five year process,” DeFebo says, noting they could encounter a number of ‘stop signs’ along the way.

Super Tuesday Showdown

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    Voters in ten states go to the polls today for their primary elections. Of course, all eyes are on the GOP presidential primary, as Republicans today have the chance to send a clear message about who they want to run against President Obama this fall.

    Much of the attention today will be on neighboring Ohio, where front-runners Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have been neck-and-neck in the polls heading into today’s vote. Romney is coming off a win in the Washington caucuses last weekend, while Santorum is hoping to regain his February momentum by appealing to the most conservative wing of the party.

    The other states voting on this Super Tuesday are Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. Pennsyvania’s primary will be held April 24th.

 

Voter ID Issue Back on Front Burner

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As the state Senate Appropriations Committee was preparing to consider controversial voter ID legislation, the Protect Our Vote coalition gathered in the capitol rotunda to urge lawmakers to reject the proposal.  The group also unfurled a roll of petitions filled with 13,000 signatures of voter ID opponents.  Copies of those petitions were then delivered to all 50 state senators. 

“It is an unfunded mandate to be passed along to the cities, towns and taxpayers of the commonwealth, and will not result in curtailing so-called fraud,” said Michael Brunelle, executive director of the SEIU State Council.  The coalition and its supporters say HB 934 is unnecessary, and it will deprive citizens of their right to vote. 

But the state would provide free photo IDs to eligible voters who need them, according to Secretary of the Department of State Carol Aichele.  “It is my commitment to make sure that everyone who wants a photo ID in Pennsylvania is able to obtain one,” she told the Senate Appropriations Committee last week.  The photo IDs would be churned out through PennDOT’s 97 drivers licensing centers, and the governor’s proposed budget has even carved out $1-million for non-drivers ID cards for voting purposes. 

The legislation would effectively require all voters to produce an approved form of photo ID every time they go to the polls.  Supporters say it would ensure integrity in the vote process, but critics say there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud. 

The bill passed the House (108 – 88) last June.  Then, an amended version was advanced by the Senate State Government Committee (6 – 5) in December.  The Senate Appropriations Committee passed it late Monday (15 – 11).

Harrisburg’s Wild West Artifacts Headed for Auction Block

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The city of Harrisburg may not epitomize a the idea of a frontier town, but former Mayor Stephen Reed amassed thousands of wild west artifacts and antiques for a never-built Wild West Museum.  The city’s new administration is now pulling those items out of storage in anticipation of a high-profile auction this summer. 

President of New York-based Guernsey’s Auctioneers Arlan Ettinger says he’s humbled to have been chosen for the project.  “This is not liquidation, but an offering of treasured items that we’re quite certain will bring in substantial amounts of money,” Ettinger said at a special media preview last week.  But analysts don’t expect the city to recoup the $7.8-million reportedly spent to acquire the artifacts. 

The auction is expected to take place over the course of eight days in mid-July.  “This will be a major event for the city of Harrisburg, and it will have various venues around the city, with the potential to draw thousands of people to our great city,” says current Mayor Linda Thompson.  Details are still being finalized.   

While the items are still in the process of being cataloged, Ettinger expects at least 8,000 lots to span ten categories.  Two of the items sure to attract collectors’ attention are Doc Holliday’s dental kit and Wild Bill Hickok’s gun.  Mayor Thompson says the net proceeds will be used to pay down the cash-strapped capital city’s debt.

Public Utility Commission Continues Review of Storm Power Outages

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Between the end of August and end of October, Pennsylvania was hit by a hurricane, tropical storm and October snowstorm.  The state Public Utility Commission is still reviewing the impact on the power grid.

The PUC held a special electric reliability forum in October.  While the majority of customers had service restored in 48 hours, some people were out of service for days. During a recent house budget hearing, the commission was asked about right-of-way maintenance. 

Commissioner Wayne Gardner says trees in the right-of-way are not the only problem.  He says on average more than 40% of the time customers are without power is due to trees and vegetation outside of the right-of-way.  He says he has personally viewed trees that were out of a right-of-way by some 60 feet that were about 100 feet high and capable of taking down three or four poles at a time.

Utilities already have right-of-way maintenance programs.  They’ve been asked to look at the issue of trees that are outside of their control, and make some recommendations to the PUC for how to approach the problem.  Gardner hopes the commission will have some recommendations this summer.

One state representative suggested that tree and vegetation issues might be better solved locally by a Shade Tree Commission.

Governor Corbett Heads Overseas This Month

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As Pennsylvania’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities begin winding down, Governor Tom Corbett’s international trade mission will be ramping up.  Corbett is leading a trade mission to France and Germany, two of the state’s most important trade partners. 

“The goals are to establish a stronger tie with our trading partners that we already have that do business here in Pennsylvania from France and Germany, but also to look for more people to come over and do business here in Pennsylvania.” Corbett said on Radio PA’s Ask the Governor program. 

Combined, French and German companies already employ 53,400 people in the Keystone State.  Corbett thinks they can entice more foreign companies to invest in Pennsylvania based on its cheap power supplies and strong workforce.  “We’re making ourselves much more business friendly than we were before,” he adds. 

Site Selection magazine has ranked Pennsylvania third in the nation with 453 new or expanded corporate facilities in 2011, according to a recent news release from the governor’s office.  That’s an increase of more than 100 projects from 2010. 

Corbett will be joined on the trade mission by a delegation of Pennsylvania business leaders.  The mission is being privately funded and organized by the Team Pennsylvania Foundation.

RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 03.02.12

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Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files.

Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable03-02-12.mp3]
Capitol Rotunda Light Fixture

Special Elections to Coincide with April Primaries — Update

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The state Supreme Court has ordered special elections for six vacant House seats to coincide with next month’s primary.  The high court’s order says the fundamental right to representation is at issue, and Philadelphia attorney Kevin Greenberg says 350,000 residents will now have somebody to represent them. 

“It’s likely some of these folks will be Democrat, it’s likely some of these folks will be Republican.  But these 350,000 people will be able to elect somebody to vote for them in the Statehouse and that’s and important right,” says Greenberg, who represents the 11-constituents who filed petitions with the court.  Greenberg says each of the six districts is represented by at least one petitioner. 

Speaker of the House Sam Smith had maintained that he was not able to call special elections until the new legislative redistrict maps were adopted.  But the legislative redistricting process is still not resolved, and the Supreme Court says these special elections will be held using the 2001 boundaries.

The opinion reads: “The district boundaries for the six vacant seats at issue here were set in the 2001 Final Reapportionment Plan, and the new members who would be elected to serve the remainder of their terms will merely step into the shoes of their predecessors – just as the Speaker and every other sitting House member who is currently seated under the districts set forth in the 2001 redistricting map.”     

Four of the posts had been held by Democrats, and Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn hails the decision as an important victory.  “Republicans have tried to delay the elections and silence the voices of Pennsylvanians, but today’s ruling is a stinging rebuke to Harrisburg politicians who have picked politics over property representing Pennsylvania,” Burn said in a statement. 

Three of the six vacant seats are located in Philadelphia, and one each in Montgomery, Lehigh and Allegheny counties.

UPDATE: Speaker Smith released a statement Thursday afternoon in which he said he would call the special elections.  However, that statement blasted the Supreme Court for ignoring the clear intention of the law, and “advancing its own veiled agenda.”

PA Supreme Court Rules on Special Elections

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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that special elections for six vacant state House seats must be held in conjunction with the April 24th primary election. State House Speaker Sam Smith had been delaying the decision on the elections based on the uncertainty surrounding the Legislative Reapportionment Commission and the high court’s previous rejection of its new district maps.

The justices, however, ordered Smith to schedule the elections for next month using the 2001 maps, which will also be in play for the remainder of the House and Senate elections statewide.

The state Democratic party hailed the decision as a victory for the constituents of the vacant districts.

 

New App Helps Find the “Caffeine Zone”

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Craving another cup of coffee to get you through the day?  Not sure if it’s the right move?  Thanks to Penn State researchers, there’s an app for that.  The “Caffeine Zone 2” iPhone app helps people monitor their caffeine consumption relative to adjustable thresholds. 

Those thresholds include a minimum level for optimal cognitive performance, a ceiling to tell you when to rein in the caffeine to avoid the jitters or illness, and a low threshold to ensure elevated caffeine levels don’t keep you up at night.  Once you input your caffeine consumption, the Caffeine Zone 2 app turns it all into an easy to read graph. 

Penn State professor of information sciences & technology Frank Ritter says proper caffeine balance can be important, but staying in the caffeine zone can be difficult.  “A little bit’s good, and there’s some optimal amount.  “But if you keep going it doesn’t get better, it gets worse instead.”  Mathematically, it’s called an inverted u-shaped curve. 

Dr. Ritter teamed up with assistant professor of computer science and engineering Martin Yeh to develop the new app.  It’s currently only available for iPhone users.  There’s a free version with advertisements.  To get the ad-free version, it will cost you 99-cents.