J.D. Prose

Jun. 16, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- One of our newsroom colleagues was perusing the inaugural issue of "The Bridge," Beaver County's new full-color, magazine-like, taxpayer-funded newsletter, when he got to page 2 and a greeting from the county commissioners.

"Welcome to the first issue of 'The Bridge,' an apt name for a publication about Beaver County, where our slogan is, 'Divided by Bridges, United by People," reads the opening paragraph.

That doesn't sound quite right, our co-worker thought ... with good reason.

Shoot a quick glance to the right or left of the commissioners' greeting and you'll find the county's new logo and actual motto, "Divided by rivers -- United by people." Uh-oh.

Come to think of it, though, "Divided by bridges" might be more accurate. If we had a nickel every time we heard someone lament having to drive "across the bridge" to reach wherever they wanted to go in this county, we'd be very, very rich.

Not rich enough to pay the $200,000 or more that the county might spend over the next two years for the quarterly newsletters, but wealthy nonetheless.

Anyway, the rest of the newsletter was pretty mundane with pages devoted to county parks and local events, redevelopment in Ambridge, the Friendship Ridge nursing home and the county's Office on Aging. (Whoever did the newsletter at least knows the market, right?)

We have only one suggestion: Nude centerfolds. That'd get people reading or at least looking. But no commissioners or row officers. Please.

DIAL 'D' FOR DENIAL

A recent TalkingPointsMemo.com article touted the "astonishing finding" in a survey that suggests, much to former Republican U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart's chagrin, we're sure, that this won't necessarily be a banner election year for the GOP.

Democracy Corps, a Democratic polling firm, determined that 45 Republican-held House seats being contested this fall are ostensibly up for grabs. "It's certainly reasonable to think that of these 45 seats, half these seats could go to the Democrat if the trend holds," said Democracy Corps principle Stan Greenberg.

This can't be good news for Hart, who's challenging the man who ousted her in 2006, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4, McCandless Township. The case for Democratic dominance this fall seems to grow stronger every day, but there was Hart a few weeks ago insisting to us that the political atmosphere was so much better for her now than two years ago.

Maybe she's borrowing President Bush's rose-colored glasses. Oops, our mistake. He's had blinders on for the last eight years, not glasses. Sorry.

AWARD FATIGUE

First it was state Rep. Jim Marshall. Then it was state Rep. Vince Biancucci and state Rep. Jaret Gibbons followed by state Rep. Chris Sainato. Now, state Rep. Sean Ramaley is the latest legislator to announce his own awards ceremony for veterans.

Ok, guys. Far be it for us to question your motives, but isn't this an election year? Yes?

Well then, before you organize any more of these surely nonpolitical events, keep in mind the words of the 18th-century English writer Samuel Johnson, who said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Or, in this case, a state legislator running for re-election.

SEEN and HEARD

Our new favorite politician is Ellwood City Area School Board member Carol Gibbons, mother of Jaret Gibbons, who claims she mistakenly voted for a 2 mill tax increase last month because she was all loopy from anesthesia she took three days earlier for an operation.

We don't know what Carol Gibbons' operation was for, but if her doctor's reading this, we have the same problem and need some of that anesthesia. Stat!

A Courthouse Mole told us recently that Controller David Rossi and deputy controller Will Calhoon are quietly distancing themselves from their own home-rule proposal. "They didn't think they were going to get as much heat as they got," said Mr. Mole.

But Rossi wasn't running from home rule last week when we talked to him. Maybe he's got an asbestos-lined suit that makes him impervious to political heat.

Headline over a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on our favorite former GOP House member: "Hart is older, wiser in time for a rematch." We'd agree with the older part.

Word on the street is that erstwhile deposed state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Former Lobbyist, Harrisburg, has already cut a deal with Attorney General Tom Corbett's office in the BonusGate probe that will have Veon serve jail time and forfeit his legislative pension.

We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed that this is one rumor that's true.

J.D. Prose can be reached online at jprose@timesonline.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0208-26017427