Poll: Leading Democrats would Top Gov. Corbett Today
Quinnipiac University pollsters are already looking ahead to Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race and hypothetical matchups in November 2014. Today’s poll is the latest in a string of surveys that suggest a tough road to reelection for Republican Governor Tom Corbett.
Three of the leading Democrats, who may challenge Corbett next year, are winning hypothetical head-to-head matchups by at least nine points.
But Election Day is still 18-months away and just last month Governor Corbett suggested that poll numbers don’t matter much because they don’t take the big picture into account.
Panelists: PA’s Homelessness Problem is Solvable
Policy experts and service providers are updating state lawmakers on the issues surrounding homelessness, and the data show that more than 34,000 Pennsylvanians obtained homeless services in 2011. That number doesn’t include people who may be living in cars or in tent encampments who have not sought out the services that exist.
Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania executive director Liz Hersh says it’s not a choice; it’s a failure of our system. “We’re spending money on the most expensive solutions – like emergency shelter – when in fact if we were smarter about how we spent money, and focused on prevention, it would be less traumatic for people, less disruptive and cheaper for all of us and for taxpayers.”
Hersh and others testifying before the House Democratic Policy Committee support preventive programs that help to keep people in their homes or obtain affordable rental housing. “If we invest a little, we actually end up saving a lot,” she says, noting that such programs cost less than half as much as emergency homeless services.
The Homeless Assistance line item in the state budget, which is used for preventive services, was cut from $20.5-million to $18.5-million for the current fiscal year. The governor has proposed level funding for next year.
Radio PA Roundtable 04.26.13
On this week’s Radio PA Roundtable, Brad Christman and Matt Paul bring you the latest effort to curb bully-prompted suicides in our schools. Also, is PA facing a serious doctor shortage and is PA any closer to approving a Medicaid expansion? Brad and Matt also analyze the Eagles and Steelers 1st round draft picks.
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week.
Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable04-26-13.mp3]
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Sounds Alarm on Susquehanna River
The smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna River are sick. Anglers have been finding diseased and dying fish in the Susquehanna for years and the smallmouth bass population is suffering. “Smallmouth bass are the canary in the coal mine for the bay’s rivers,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation president Will Baker.
The CBF has just released a 28-page report, which documents what they are calling a perfect storm of pollution, parasites and warming water temperatures.
This graphic from the CBF report shows where diseased and dying smallmouth bass have been found.
“In the Susquehanna River, especially, state and federal officials must move immediately to reduce pollution and to formally designate the river as impaired under the authority of the federal Clean Water Act,” Baker said on a Thursday conference call with reporters from throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did not designated the Susquehanna as impaired when it released its Integrated Waters report in January, but the agency is calling for a comprehensive, year-long study of the Susquehanna to conclusively determine what is ailing the smallmouth bass.
But the CBF and Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission are calling on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to reverse the state’s decision based on its authority under the aforementioned Clean Water Act.
Such a designation for a 98-mile stretch of the Susquehanna River, from Sunbury to the Maryland state line, would allow for the immediate implementation of an action plan. As Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission executive director John Arway explained, they don’t want to be studying the river until the last fish dies.