Point/Counterpoint: What is gaming’s impact on Pennsylvania?

November 23, 2008 / Themorningcall.com

A faltering economy, plunging casino prices and slowing of slots revenue in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are changing the landscape for U.S. casinos. But Pennsylvania, with some of the newest casinos in the nation, was the only state in the east to see revenue growth last month, raising questions about gaming’s impact. Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, a gambling opponent, and Rep. Tim Solobay, D-Washington, a supporter and treasurer of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, weigh in.

TIMOTHY J. SOLOBAY

[Snip]

Q. The State Police are concerned about not being able to staff casinos 24/7. Should casino patrons be particularly worried about their safety?

A: A majority of calls for local police to casinos are for escorting money to the bank, fender-benders or someone grabbing someone else’s voucher out of a machine. I’ve heard some (officers) are bored, there’s nothing to do. They have casino security, local police, state police and the Gaming Control Board. And look at the age of the patrons. How many 70-year-old grandmas are causing a ruckus? We’ve not seen the crime some soothsayers were predicting.

Continued

Posted on Fri, Nov. 21, 2008

Despite hard times, Pa. lawmakers getting raise

By Mario F. Cattabiani / Inquirer Staff Writer

HARRISBURG - Despite a growing budget deficit, the very real prospect of tax increases, and unemployment rates not seen in years, Pennsylvania lawmakers are about to get a raise.

Come Dec. 1, base salaries of state House and Senate members will increase 2.8 percent, or $2,152, to $78,315. Legislative leaders will see even more of a pay bump.

The extra cash comes courtesy of a law that legislators passed in 1995, setting in motion annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, for themselves and other elected state officials, including the governor and judges.

The legislature replaced the COLAs in 2005 with raises of 16 to 54 percent but, after widespread public outcry, rescinded them later that year and returned to the COLAs.

Gene Stilp, a longtime Harrisburg activist who challenged the 2005 raises in court, scolded lawmakers for continuing the COLAs, especially in such tough economic times.

“The legislature is continuing with its let-them-eat-cake syndrome,” he said. “Maybe the citizens need a guillotine.”

Through the first four months of the fiscal year, Pennsylvania is digging a deep budget hole, with revenue trailing projections by 7 percent, or $565 million. The state is expected to end the fiscal year between $1 billion and $2 billion in the red.

Gov. Rendell said Wednesday that he was seeking new spending cuts on top of the $300 million already made, and that he could not rule out a tax hike next year. Rendell, whose salary is set to increase $4,806 in January, to $174,956, added yesterday that he was considering forgoing his raise and having his cabinet do the same.

Asked whether the legislature should also consider the option, Rendell told reporters that he needed to work with lawmakers in the final two years of his administration, “so I am not sure I want to necessarily beat them over the head, especially when you guys are all too willing to do it for us.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph B. Scarnati III (R., Jefferson) said yesterday that the notion of axing the automatic yearly raises should become part of the budget discussion between leaders of both parties in both chambers and the administration in coming weeks.

He declined to say whether he supported such an idea, but stressed that “nothing is off the table.”

Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna) defended the raise as reasonable.

“Our members have the same family responsibilities as others,” he said yesterday. “It’s a modest increase and the right thing to do.”

Legislative officials have said legislators cannot simply reject the COLAs without changing the law. That has prompted some to donate the extra money to charities in their communities.

Continued

State police shoot 75-year-old Pennsylvania man

The Associated Press

Posted: 11/20/2008 10:51:25 AM EST

SWIFTWATER, Pa.—A 75-year-old man with dementia has undergone surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital after being shot by two troopers during a confrontation at his home.

A hospital spokeswoman is not releasing the condition of Robert Hagen, of Hamilton Township, Monroe County.

Capt. James Murtin says the man’s roommate called police shortly after midnight Wednesday after he heard shots being fired in their home. Murtin says the troopers found Hagen in his bedroom holding a shotgun, and he ignored their order to drop the weapon and pointed it at them.

Murtin says the troopers fired 11 shots, hitting Hagen at least four times in the leg, arm, shoulder and head.

Monroe County District Attorney David Christine Jr. will decide whether the shooting was justified.

House Democratic caucus bows toward the east

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — The House Democratic leadership, which will run the chamber for the next two years, took a decided tilt toward the east yesterday.

Democrats elected seven leaders to run the 104-member caucus in the 2009-10 session, which starts in January, and only one, Rep. Bill DeWeese of Waynesburg, is from Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. DeWeese, who won a tight re-election race Nov. 4, will occupy the third-ranking position, party whip, assigned to round up Democratic votes on bills.

The job is a step down for Mr. DeWeese, who has been Democratic leader in the House, in one form or another, for the past 15 years. He was speaker in 1993-94, then served more than a decade as minority leader when Republicans controlled the chamber, and was elevated to majority leader for 2007-08.

To win the post of whip, Mr. DeWeese outpolled three colleagues: Reps. Joe Preston of East Liberty, Peter Daley of California, Pa., and Bill Keller of Philadelphia.

The top two Democratic officials will be from northeastern Pennsylvania.

The new speaker will be Rep. Keith McCall of Carbon. Yesterday, he was elected as “speaker designee” without opposition and will officially get the job at the House’s first meeting in early January.

The second-ranking post went to Rep. Todd Eachus of Luzerne. He will replace Mr. DeWeese as majority leader. Mr. Eachus defeated Rep. Frank Dermody of Oakmont.

In an effort to win the majority leader’s job, Allegheny County Democrats had rallied around Mr. Dermody, but it wasn’t enough. Two other candidates, Reps. David Levdansky and Joe Markosek, dropped out of the race last week, but Mr. Eachus still proved too strong.

“Allegheny County ended up with nobody” in leadership, Mr. Markosek said. “I’m disappointed.”

“There is an imbalance geographically,” said Rep. Paul Costa of Wilkins.

Mr. Markosek said Allegheny County legislators will still head important committees, including himself chairing transportation, Mr. Levdansky chairing finance and Mr. Preston leading consumer affairs.

Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia retained control of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Other caucus posts were won by Democrats from Lehigh and Dauphin counties. Rep. Jake Wheatley of the Hill District lost a bid for caucus administrator.

“Obviously I’m disappointed that Allegheny County didn’t get someone in top leadership,” said Mr. Costa. “I thought our caucus needed to go in a new direction and get as far away from Bonusgate as we could, but the majority of our colleagues didn’t agree.”

Democrats including Mr. Dermody and Mr. Levdansky had argued that the caucus should not return Mr. DeWeese to leadership. A former aide has said Mr. DeWeese knew about an alleged scheme of giving illegal taxpayer-paid bonuses for political work in 2006. Mr. DeWeese has denied wrongdoing.

Mr. McCall, in an interview last night, promised that all parts of the state will be treated fairly.

“We want to be all-inclusive,” he said. “There is no ‘good list’ or ‘bad list’ [of lawmakers]. We’ll bring everybody in.”

Power has shifted to Eastern Pennsylvania Democrats because of gains made Nov. 4. Democrats won six House seats from Republicans, including five in the southeast and one in north-central Pennsylvania.

Democrats also lost four seats, for a net pickup of two, and will control the House by a 104-99 margin. Three of the seats Democrats lost were in Western Pennsylvania, which weakens that area in its historic role as a Democratic stronghold.

Also yesterday, House Republicans elected leaders, returning Rep. Sam Smith of Punxsutawney to his post as minority leader. Former House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, lost his bid to unseat Mr. Smith.

Elected to the No. 2 GOP post, party whip, was Rep. Mike Turzai of Bradford Woods. Rep. John Maher of Upper St. Clair lost a bid to unseat Rep. Mario Civera of Delaware County as Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Bureau Chief Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.

Posted on Tue, Nov. 18, 2008

Ex-Fumo girlfriend tells of ‘other people’s money’

By Craig R. McCoy / Inquirer Staff Writer

An ex-girlfriend of State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo took jurors yesterday on a detailed guided tour of his high-flying and coddled lifestyle, his rages and romantic messages, and his resolve to make others pay for his pleasures.

Though she insisted that she still loved Fumo, Dorothy Egrie-Wilcox spent 51/2 hours on the stand corroborating previous testimony about his turning government aides into personal servants.

And, at last, Egrie-Wilcox was revealed to be the source of what has become the iconic allegation in the case: the federal charge that Fumo boasted of spending “OPM,” or “other people’s money.”

“He used it quite a bit,” she testified. “When we’d go out to dinner, he would say, ‘Let’s use OPM.’ “

To back up her account, prosecutors showed jurors a 2004 e-mail in which the senator himself used the acronym while talking about buying an ornamental globe.

Fumo signed off by writing, “Love You.”

Egrie-Wilcox kept hundreds of such e-mails and turned them over to the FBI. Now they are evidence against the once-powerful Democrat.

Fumo, 65, and Egrie-Wilcox, 51, dated between 1999 and 2004. She said that during their time together, she watched as Fumo used his political aides or employees from the South Philadelphia nonprofit Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhoods for all manner of personal errands and tasks.

They bought his groceries, maintained his properties, ferried his laundry, dumped his trash, planned his vacations, drove his youngest daughter to her weekly visitations with him, and more, she said.

Among their assignments was maintaining the spreadsheet for Fumo’s Christmas “wish list,” she said.

Prepared as a handy guide for friends and supporters who wanted to buy the senator something special for the holidays, the list included such varied items as a $2,000 Eskimo fur parka, a $29.50 brass shoehorn, and a $10,000 set of dueling pistols.

She told jurors that Fumo reveled in the perks of being a powerful politician. “It made him feel good,” she said.

As Fumo wrote to her in one e-mail, “This is such a wonderful city and I am treated so well here - parking wherever I want and getting into jammed restaurants whenever I want - I want to share it all with you.”

When the pair began dating - after his second marriage had fallen apart - Fumo e-mailed her to boast about his new state-leased Cadillac DeVille. In the message, Fumo added that a friend had gotten it pretty much right in saying, “Being a senator is the next best thing to royalty.”

Egrie-Wilcox enjoyed it all, too.

There were the flights on Fumo’s personal jet and the jaunts on his $500,000 Hinckley speedboat. And she was at his side for four summers when the couple, plus Fumo’s closest friends, cruised off Martha’s Vineyard or Florida on luxury motor yachts owned or leased by the Independence Seaport Museum. Fumo was a board member and steered state funding to the museum.

Federal prosecutors said the trips were a criminal fraud committed against the museum.

Fumo’s lawyer, Dennis J. Cogan, told the jury in his opening statement that the yacht cruises were a way for Fumo to sell others on the museum. Egrie-Wilcox dismissed that, saying the trips were purely “social.”

A blonde when she dated Fumo, Egrie-Wilcox, a former masseuse who now runs a floor business, had black hair when she testified for the prosecution yesterday. She wore pearls and a fitted black suit.

And the more damaging her testimony yesterday, the more dispassionate her tone became. As for Fumo, he sat expressionless, his hand on his chin.

Continued

Nov 19, 2008 4:05 pm US/Eastern

FBI Agent Shot In Indiana Twp., Suspect In Custody

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The FBI has confirmed the identity of an agent who was killed this morning in the line of duty.

Special Agent Samuel Hicks, 33, of Alverton, Pa., was assigned to the Pittsburgh FBI Office.
  
Hicks was shot and killed today while executing a federal search warrant associated with a drug distribution ring.

One suspect, Robert Korbe, 39, is in now custody and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting is being conducted.

Hicks joined the FBI in March 2007 and reported to the Pittsburgh Office in August 2007.

He was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and Southmoreland High School.

Special Agent Hicks is a former police officer with the Baltimore Police Department and also worked as a teacher.

He is survived by his wife, Brooke, and three-year-old son.

“This is a real tragedy with the loss of such a talented agent who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country when putting on a badge and accepting the responsibility for protecting our nation,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Rodriguez. “The FBI family mourns alongside Agent Hicks’ family. We ask that the media and the public respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

While Hicks is the first FBI agent to be killed in this area, he is not the first agent from Western Pennsylvania to be killed in the line of duty.

On November 22nd, 1994 Special Agent Martha Dixon Martinez was shot and killed during a shootout with a gunman at the Metro police station in Washington, D.C.

She was a native of Mt. Lebanon and a graduate of Pitt.

The gunman also killed another agent and a police sergeant before committing suicide.

ESU president gets $13,000 pay raise in hard times

By Dan Berrett / Pocono Record Writer

November 12, 2008

East Stroudsburg University’s president received a nearly $13,000 pay raise, or about 6.7 percent, this year.

Robert J. Dillman was among 13 leaders of the commonwealth’s state-owned universities to get raises, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) said Tuesday.

Dillman will receive $203,592 in 2008-09. The $12,811 raise represents a 6.7 percent increase from last year, according to figures provided by Kenn Marshall, spokesman for PASSHE.

The raises to PASSHE presidents ranged from 2 percent to 11 percent.

“It’s a difficult time to do it, but it’s something we thought was necessary,” Marshall said.

Still, news of the raises comes amid PASSHE’s own trouble with tightening purse strings. It faces a potential $22 million shortfall in its nearly $500 million budget this year.

It also comes as concerns proliferate about the economy in general, and about the cost of higher education in particular.

Dillman’s raise is split between a $7,631 merit increase and a “market adjustment” of $5,180, Marshall said.

The market adjustments were awarded to five of PASSHE’s presidents in an effort to bring their salaries in line with other presidents nationwide who run institutions with a similar budget size, student enrollment and mission.

Even with the raises, their salaries remain 20 percent below the average earned by the leaders of these peer universities, Marshall said.

Taken together, the raises to PASSHE presidents total about $121,000 and were seen as necessary to provide competitive salaries to attract and retain university leaders, Marshall said.

“It’s not minimal, and a large amount of money to most people,” Marshall said. “We thought in the long run that it would be more costly if we didn’t keep our salaries somewhat competitive and then lose presidents.”

Marshall noted that the merit increases for the presidents averaged 4.4 percent, and were in line with other university employees.

Faculty members are in the second year of a contract that includes a general 3 percent raise. Faculty members who are not at the top of the salary scale also receive seniority-based increases.

Faculty union president Steve Hicks said all university employees should be compensated fairly, and that the union will ask for similar raises in future contract talks to make faculty pay more competitive.

“While the timing of (the system’s) move to increase presidential compensation is sure to raise some concern, the percentage amount of merit increases given … is not particularly out of line with national averages,” Hicks said.

However, students and administrators have been testifying to the higher education council of the Pennsylvania Department of Education on the increasing burdens of student loans and shrinking student aid.

One administrator from Luzerne County Community College told the council that students were skimping on food in order to pay tuition, the Associated Press reported.

Students and their families bear much of the cost of running ESU. Student tuition and fees account for about two-thirds of ESU’s income, Richard Staneski, vice president for finance and administration, said during a council of trustees meeting two weeks ago.

Tuition at ESU and other PASSHE schools increased 3.4 percent since last year, or about $181. ESU’s enrollment is a record 7,200 students.

The total cost to attend a PASSHE institution averages about $13,000 for state residents, including tuition, fees, and room and board.

Students carry much of that cost for several years after they finish school. ESU’s class of 2007 graduated with $21,900 in debt, third highest among PASSHE schools, according to the Project on Student Debt. This falls about $1,700 below the average debt that students in the state’s public and private institutions incurred.

Continued

PASSHE RAISES

The 2008-09 salaries and percentage increases for State System of Higher Education university presidents:

Bloomsburg: David Soltz, $195,700, 3 percent

California: Angelo Armenti, $220,670, 6 percent

Cheyney: Michelle Howard-Vital, $193,800, 2 percent

Clarion: Joseph Grunenwald, $202,469, 10 percent

East Stroudsburg: Robert Dillman, $203,592, 7 percent

Edinboro: Jeremy Brown, $201,400, 6 percent

Indiana: Tony Atwater, $253,428, 6 percent

Kutztown: F. Javier Cevallos, $208,616, 4 percent

Lock Haven: Keith Miller, $210,310, 4 percent

Mansfield: Maravene Loeschke, $189,195, 11 percent

Millersville: Francine McNairy, $211,610, 7 percent

Shippensburg: William Ruud, $199,082, 4 percent

Slippery Rock: Robert Smith, $211,622, 6 percent

Note: West Chester University interim president Linda Lamwers was not eligible for a merit increase. Her salary is $200,000.

Source: State System of Higher Education

Man Killed in Crash Involving State Trooper

Reported by: Eyewitness News / WYOU.com

Sunday, Nov 16, 2008 @06:25pm EST

JENKINS TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY- State police continue to investigate a fatal accident that involved a trooper and his cruiser.

Police say 81-year-old Vincent Pierson of West Pittston died this weekend after he pulled out from a stop sign directly into the path of a state police cruiser. Pierson was ejected from the car upon impact and later died from his injuries.

The State Police Trooper Rich Weinstock of Wyoming was not seriously hurt. The fatal accident happened at the intersection of Chestnut Street and the Pittston Bypass in Jenkins Township.

Posted on Thu, Nov. 13, 2008

Police: Pa. trooper stole drill from crime scene

The Associated Press / Philly.com

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania state trooper has been fired for allegedly stealing a cordless drill from a crime scene.

Capitolwire: Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll dies at 78.

Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, is now lieutenant governor. He plans to serve in his current post and as lieutenant governor.

By Peter L. DeCoursey
Bureau Chief
Capitolwire

HARRISBURG (Nov. 12) - Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll died Wednesday evening just before 6 p.m. at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Knoll, 78, was a former two-time state treasurer, who won that office on her third try, then lost a bid for governor before becoming the state’s first female lieutenant governor and its 30th lieutenant governor.

She revealed this past summer that she was battling neuroendocrine cancer and was treated for that condition at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

Known for boundless energy, tremendous enthusiasm and unwavering loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church and the Democratic Party, Knoll forged a historic political career by being more popular with voters than with the media or even many of her office-holding colleagues.

“She fought this illness with the same tenacity she brought to a lifetime of public service,” said her son Albert Baker Knoll. “Our mother loved working for the people of Pennsylvania and was proud of the friendship she enjoyed throughout the Commonwealth.”

Albert Knoll was her chief strategist and counselor after the death of Seymour Heyison, her former chief of staff. No funeral arrangements have yet been set, according to a statement released by Knoll’s chief of staff, Salvatore Sirabella.

Knoll ran for governor in 1994, losing the Democratic primary to Lt. Gov. Mark Singel. She was the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of the commonwealth.

Gov. Ed Rendell released a statement which said: “On behalf of all Pennsylvania, Midge and I extend heart-felt sympathy to Catherine’s family. Today we mourn the passing of one of the strongest, most dedicated public servants in Pennsylvania’s history. Our thoughts and prayers are with Catherine’s family. She will be deeply missed.

“Even as she fought cancer in recent months, she remained upbeat and dedicated to serving the commonwealth,” he said. “Catherine was a very passionate and exuberant advocate for many worthy causes. Her passing is a tremendous loss for the many people whose lives she touched.”

Rendell’s statement said: “Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, Knoll will be replaced as Lieutenant Governor by the Senate President Pro Tempore, Joseph B. Scarnati III (R-Jefferson).”

Scarnati said: “My thoughts and prayers are with Catherine’s family and friends during this difficult time. She was a tremendous leader for the Commonwealth and embodied the type of character expected of true, effective public servants. Her passion and commitment to bettering the lives of Pennsylvanians will be sorely missed, as it was certainly a staple of her public service.”

Former state Rep. Mike Diven of Allegheny County, was Knoll’s advisor, confidante and driver during her 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor. He said he was one of “thousands of politicians and millions of Pennsylvanians Catherine helped. I think she was a phenomenal woman, a first-class woman through and through, a fighter who made an impact throughout Pennsylvania.

“I had the good fortune to drive her during her run for lieutenant governor the first time. At every stop, people would come up to tell us how Catherine helped her. Not just in McKees Rocks or Pittsburgh. Just the same in eastern or northeastern Pennsylvania, all around the state.

“I have never been around somebody who had such an impact on so many people way beyond politics. They were just people that needed a break that had the good luck of running into her someplace and Catherine would pick up the phone and intercede and get that person some help.

She would call them back and tell the person who to call, and tell them ‘tell them Catherine Baker Knoll told you to call.’

“On a daily basis, we would run into somebody who would come up to us at a coffeeshop or an event or a senior home, and tell Catherine: you helped my life, you helped my family. When we needed help, you helped us. I hope when I pass on, even half as many people say that about me as say it about Catherine.

Her unique brand of forcefulness, and what Diven called “an amazing ability to connect with people one-on-one,” played a big role in the life of former Pittsburgh City Council President Gene Ricciardi.

Now a Pittsburgh district justice, Ricciardi, another strategist and ally in Knoll’s 2002 campaign, said: “Cathy will always be known for her political accomplishments. She had a strong, strong belief in God. She was very religious, and believed very strongly in the Catholic church. And there are many, many stories like mine, about how Cathy could bring people into the process.”

Ricciardi was in his late teens when he was given a speeding ticket and Knoll was one of the hearing officers that heard his case. She ruled that the police officer was right, “and that I did speed,” Ricciardi recalled.

Then, right after making the decision that would fine Ricciardi, he recalled that Knoll “just came up and engaged me, asked me a number of questions, and then a few months later, she called me up and said there’s a campaign coming up, the Tom Foerster race back in 1979. Tom was a very-well-liked county commissioner, and Catherine was a big Tom Foerster supporter. And that is how I met Catherine.”

“Michael Diven used to say she was best one-on-one, she enjoyed engaging people, getting them to become part of the process, part of the system, get them into public service. She grew up debating the issues with her father, and going to the polls with her father, who was involved in politics in McKees Rocks. One-on-one campaigning was her strength.”

Democratic State Committee Chairman T.J. Rooney said: “Catherine’s heart was bigger than the state of Pennsylvania and she fought valiantly since learning of her illness. Her love of life and her passion for public service will not be forgotten by those that knew her, worked with her and admired her. …She was a true champion for working families, a trailblazer as the first woman elected to the position of lieutenant governor and a tireless campaigner who gave her all to those individuals and causes that she deemed worthy of her support.

“…Catherine worked well with members on both sides of the aisle in the Senate where she presided and loved to talk about her influence on legislation that helped children and working families throughout the Commonwealth.”

House Majority Whip Keith McCall, D-Carbon, said: “It is normally difficult to know when one is witnessing history, but anyone who has had the privilege of working with Catherine Baker Knoll knew that she was truly a Pennsylvanian for the ages, and the ground she broke will serve as an inspiration for generations to come. … Her service as one of the most successful treasurers the state ever had set the standard for others to live up to, and her dedication to education will be felt for generations thanks to the innovative program she started to help students and families afford to go to college.

Her tireless advocacy for women’s issues may be her greatest legacy. As the father of a daughter, I could never thank Mrs. Baker-Knoll enough for the example she has set, and I know her work will be a keystone of the Commonwealth’s history.”

House Speaker Denny O’Brien, R-Philadelphia, said: “She was a plain-spoken, genuine person and our state has suffered a great loss with her departure.”

A long-time recruiter of young Democratic politicians, many of her protégés ran for and won local western Pennsylvania office and state legislative berths.

She was a close and long-time ally of U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Johnstown, and generally allied herself with Gov. Robert P. Casey. But when his son, now-U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., ran for governor against Ed Rendell, Knoll read the polls and associated her campaign with that of Rendell.

She won a multi-candidate race for that office, narrowly edging out then-state Sens. Allen Kukovich, D-Westmoreland and Jack Wagner, D-Allegheny. Wagner is now auditor general. Several Democrats tried to pressure Rendell in the final days of that campaign, when polls showed he had a 10-point lead, to endorse Wagner or Kukovich.

But Knoll’s popularity with western Pennsylvania voters and her surprisingly strong performance in a Meadville debate with her rivals dissuaded Rendell from endorsing Kukovich or Wagner at the last minute.

Casey Jr. and Knoll swiftly restored their relationship. Casey said: “She will be remembered for generations because of her work in creating the Tuition Account Program which has made it possible for tens of thousands of young people to attend college. On a personal note, she was my friend, and I, like many Pennsylvanians will miss her indomitable spirit and her compassion for those without a voice.”

While Rendell praised Knoll’s energy and hard work, his office dissociated itself from hers, and she played little role in administration strategy, although she was a tireless saleswoman for Rendell’s initiatives.

Her public image as lieutenant governor was dimmed by her habit of referring to the governor as “Edward G. Robinson” during their first term in office, and the “disrespectful treatment” she complained of receiving from Democratic senators.

Knoll also waged a two-election losing feud with Auditor General and later Treasurer Barbara Hafer. Hafer defeated Mina Baker Knoll, Knoll’s daughter, in 1996 for treasurer. Knoll then ran against Hafer for treasurer in 2000, and lost narrowly, as Hafer claimed 49 percent of the vote to Knoll’s 47 percent.

The Rendell statement said: “As lieutenant governor, Knoll played a vital role in addressing a variety of issues of critical importance to the people of Pennsylvania. She was particularly proud of her accomplishment of creating of TAP 529 Pennsylvania Tuition Account Program, which has since been renamed ‘nowU.’”

That program was created by Knoll as treasurer.

The Rendell statement said: “She was also instrumental in issues including emergency management, domestic preparedness, economic development and local government. She served as the president of the Senate and chairwoman of the Board of Pardons, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council, and the Local Government Advisory Committee.”

Rendell’s statement said: “Knoll’s late husband, Charles, was a U.S. Postmaster. Their four children, Charles, Mina, Albert, and Kim Eric, are all adult professionals in their own right. Knoll was the daughter of Nicholas and Teresa Baker. She was educated at Saint Mary’s High School in McKees Rocks, Duquesne University, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.”