State News-Tuesday, Nov. 7th

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Bob Casey plans to vote this morning at a church in Scranton, then head to a union hall where there's a phone bank to get out the vote. Senator Rick Santorum is participating in his own get-out-the-vote efforts in Pittsburgh. The Democratic challenger is ahead in opinion polls, but the Republican senator emphasizes that the only poll that really counts is today's election. Pennsylvanians can cast their ballots starting at 7 a-m. Polls close at 8 p-m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Several Republican members of Pennsylvania's delegation to the U-S House of Representatives are vulnerable today. Three are in the Philadelphia suburbs: Curt Weldon, Mike Fitzpatrick and Jim Gerlach. Other Republicans with strong challengers in today's election are northeatern Pennsylvania's Don Sherwood and western Pennsylvania's Melissa Hart. None of the U-S House seats currently held by Democrats has a strong Republican challenger.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Although Governor Ed Rendell is heavily favored to win a second four-year term, he says he's not taking anything for granted in today's election. Meanwile, challenger Lynn Swann calls it "a tremendous challenge" but says he's determined to prove opinion surveys wrong. Recent independent polls show Rendell's lead growing to more than 20 percentage points. Also, the Democratic governor has far more money than his Republican challenger. Even history is on Rendell's side. Since the 1970s, when Pennsylvania governors were first allowed to succeed themselves, none has been denied a second term. Christopher Borick is a political science professor at Muhlenburg College. He says Swann has been campaigning well lately, but he just can't match Rendell's political skills.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Democratic hopes of wresting control over the state House of Representatives from the Republicans after 12 years in the minority are resting largely on a handful of races in the Philadelphia suburbs. Republicans currently control the House, 109-to-93, so Democrats need a net gain of eight tomorrow and would have to retain the one vacant seat to reclaim power and elect one of their own as speaker. Republican seats in Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Bucks counties are where the Democrats are hoping to find several pickups. Republicans are looking for gains among Democratic districts in two central Pennsylvania cities plagued by crime and financial problems, York and Lancaster. They're also predicting they'll make inroads in the southwest.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A federal judge who temporarily blocked the city of Hazleton from enforcing a crackdown on illegal immigrants is extending the order for up to 120 days. U-S District Judge James Munley extended the temporary restraining order that was due to expire on November 14th to give each side time to prepare for a trial on the constitutionality of the laws. A pair of measures, approved by City Council last month, would impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, deny business permits to companies that give them jobs, and require tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit. Hispanic groups and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to get the crackdown overturned. Munley says he would prefer that the trial begin within 90 days.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A judge says the jury that says it's deadlocked in the Philadelphia pier collapse trial must try again today to reach a verdict. Defense lawyers asked for a mistrial after yesterday's announcement, but the judge agreed with the prosecutor that jurors should continue to deliberate. She cited the length of the trial against pier owner Michael Asbell and pier operator Eli Karetny. The prosecution maintains that they were warned that the pier
was likely to collapse, yet they allowed a nightclub on the pier to open anyway on May 18th, 2000. The pier collapsed that night, killing three nightclub customers. Defense lawyers say their clients were not warned of the danger.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State football officials say Joe Paterno plans to coach on Saturday. But it's unclear exactly how he will do that with his injured leg. One football staffer has mentioned a golf cart as a possibility to get around on the sidelines Saturday as Penn State hosts Temple. But Paterno stubbornly tried to shoo away help right after he was injured in a sideline collision during last week's loss to Wisconsin. Nobody's ruling out the possibility that he will try to get around on crutches. Penn State's head coach was listed in good condition today at
Mount Nittany Medical Center following a procedure yesterday to fix a fractured shin bone and two knee ligaments.