Pennsylvania Department of Education Puts Wilkinsburg, Aliquippa School Districts on Financial Watch list from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 
"Troubled finances have led the state Department of Education to put the Wilkinsburg and Aliquippa school districts on a financial watch list. Being on the list enables the department to offer school districts technical assistance to correct their financial problems,"

All Aboard: Corbett and Amtrak Swing a Deal on Train Service from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Gov. Tom Corbett knows how to keep the trains running. Last Thursday, the Corbett administration struck a deal with Amtrak, the federal rail agency, to maintain passenger service between Pittsburgh and the state capital."

Unfit for Work: The Startling Rise of Disability in America (Chana Joffe-Walt) from NPR's This American Life
"...people on disability don't show up in any of the places we usually look to see how the economy is doing. But the story of these programs -- who goes on them, and why, and what happens after that -- is, to a large extent, the story of the U.S. economy. It's the story not only of an aging workforce, but also of a hidden, increasingly expensive safety net."
Here's the This American Life program.  Here's a separate segment from All Things Considered.

Environmental Groups, Industry Agree on Standards for Shale from the WESA program, Allegheny Front
"Think of it like ‘organic’ or ‘LEED-certified’ for fracking. A working group of environmental groups and oil and gas companies have announced a plan to develop a series of 15 standards for unconventional natural gas extraction like hydraulic fracturing. The Center for Sustainable Shale Development will develop standards it called "progressive and rigorous" for developing shale gas. Many of the standards are either already in use in the field."

$1M Tax Credits Awarded to Larimer Housing Plan from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency has awarded $1 million in low-income housing tax credits for a plan to redevelop Pittsburgh’s Larimer community.  The Housing Authority of The City Of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority applied for the funding in September after selecting Keith B. Key as the developer for the first phase of the plan. As a result, construction of 40 new mixed-income housing units can begin this summer."

Keith Key and Ricky Burgess

EDITORIAL!!

Hidden Tolls: Indictments Describe a Turnpike of Corrupt Practices from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"A state grand jury and Attorney General Kathleen Kane have lifted the lid on a Pennsylvania Turnpike tarnished by corruption and bid rigging."

STUDY!!

Water Contaminants Increased Near Marcellus Activities but 2011 Rules May Have Helped from WESA's program, Allegheny Front
"A study found that shale gas development increased contaminants in Pennsylvania’s waterways from 2000 to 2011. Did the state's new policies clean up the rivers? "

Pa. Officials Mull Consolidating Transit Agencies from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"Some southwestern Pennsylvania officials are broaching the idea of consolidating the region's 10 transit agencies into one, arguing that such efforts could save taxpayers millions."

Consolidation of Transit Systems in Southwestern Pa. Gains Momentum from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
"Western Pennsylvania would be better served by one transit agency than 10, says Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Thirty percent of Downtown workers live outside of Allegheny County, while many Allegheny County residents work and shop in Cranberry, Butler County, or Washington County's North and South Strabane, he testified last week before state lawmakers meeting at Station Square. “It's frustrating when you watch buses come across the (Allegheny) county line and they don't pick up another person as they drive into Downtown using the same route as a Port Authority bus,” he said."

Shale Fees to Benefit Southwestern Pennsylvania Conservation Districts from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Five southwestern Pennsylvania counties will receive $272,000 in state grants funded by Marcellus shale drilling fees to promote local conservation efforts. The grants are from the state Unconventional Gas Well Fund, created by the Legislature in 2012 to help all county conservation districts continue services."

OPINION!!

The Semantics of Subsidy (Tim Schooley) from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Yesterday at the groundbreaking for the second phase of Bakery Square, a host of public officials tussled over the semantics of a $4 million grant Gov. Tom Corbett made for the $100 million project. On hand to celebrate the groundbreaking, Corbett said that the funding was not an RACP grant, the long-standing name which stands for Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, but an Economic Growth Initiative Award. ... Ravenstahl nonetheless thanked Corbett for the funding, the first grants (or awards) of their kind of the governor’s choosing after following through on granting the then-RACP awards of his predecessor, former governor Ed Rendell."

Governor Tom Corbett

Briney water flows into Southwestern PA streams from Public Source 
"On that January day, Dufalla and Hunnell, 69, were testing the orangey-red acid mine discharge from the abandoned Clyde Mine running into the creek. Recently, Dufalla’s group has found there’s something unexpected in mine waste -- bromide."

Transit Supporters Rally for More State Funding from the Beaver Times 
"Gov. Tom Corbett is talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in new transportation spending in his proposed 2013-14 budget, but transit proponents don’t like what they’re hearing and many of them took the bus to tell him about it on Monday."

DEP Says Air Quality in Pennsylvania is Improving from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Air pollution in Pennsylvania has declined significantly since 2008 because of regulations mandating pollution controls and increased use of natural gas for power production, according to 2011 emissions data released today by the state Department of Environmental Protection."

Shale Permits Not on 'Trigger List' for Extra Review in Poor Areas from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Hundreds of the permits for Marcellus Shale gas development were issued in Pennsylvania's poor and minority communities. None of those permits for gas wells, wastewater impoundments or compressor stations has triggered intervention by DEP's Office of Environmental Advocate to inform residents of those communities about potential health and environmental impacts from proposed industrial developments."

State Announces Grants for Projects in Pittsburgh from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Three high-profile Pittsburgh projects are among 54 statewide that have been awarded state redevelopment capital assistance grants totaling $124.7 million by the Corbett administration. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority will receive a $5 million grant to help cover the cost of installing water, storm and sanitary sewers and other infrastructure in preparation for the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site for housing and offices. The SEA had requested $15 million to help fund the estimated $40 million it needs for that work."

Civic Arena Site Among Development Projects Getting State Grants from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Three high-profile Pittsburgh projects are among 54 statewide that have been awarded state redevelopment capital assistance grants totaling $124.7 million by the Corbett administration. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority will receive a $5 million grant to help cover the cost of installing water, storm and sanitary sewers and other infrastructure in preparation for the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site for housing and offices. The SEA had requested $15 million to help fund the estimated $40 million it needs for that work."

Pa. Lawmaker Wants to Spend Impact Fee Money on Fracking Health Study from State Impact Pennsylvania
"Suburban Philadelphia Republican State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf is working on a bill that would allocate $2 million from the state’s impact fee fund to study the public health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling."

Allegheny Conference Hails Corbett's Transportation Plan from the Pittsburgh Business-Times 
"Corbett called for legislative approval of a five-year plan to spend $1.2 billion to repair state-maintained roads and bridges, $200 million on the repair or replacement of local roads and bridges and $250 million for mass transit. ... Corbett said the average bridge in Pennsylvania is 51 years old and more than 4,000 statewide are structurally deficient."

EDITORIAL!!

All Aboard: Pennsylvania Train Service Must be Maintained from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh has only two remaining Amtrak routes and one of them -- linking Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York -- may be lost come October because state officials are balking at paying a $5.7 million annual subsidy for the Pittsburgh-Harrisburg segment."