Cash

For cash-paying motorists, the latest spike in the cost to drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which took effect Sunday with a 10 percent toll hike, means it's time to get E-ZPass. In fact, it's long past time. And for Harrisburg policymakers, including Gov. Corbett, state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), and other legislative leaders, the latest toll increase is another sign that their plan to solve the state's transportation funding crisis is overdue. Of the two issues, the math for motorists is easier to grasp.

The first curious call to Delta Market Research came Dec. 19 from a check-cashing company in North Carolina. Over the next week, dozens more came, all asking about job offers as "product testers" and "customer-service evaluators. " Each call concerned a letter sent nationwide on letterhead emblazoned with the Hatboro company's name that included a $1,450 check to provide "shopping" money and tester pay. According to the pitch, Delta was "running a survey for Western Union," among other companies, and sought the testers' "honest and productive opinions" about them.

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls are scheduled to increase Sunday. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Wednesday that most cash-paying customers would see a 10 percent increase, while E-ZPass users would pay 2 percent more. Motorists on the Southern Beltway in the Pittsburgh area will see a steeper increase in cash tolls. The commission has been expanding the differential between cash and electronic tolls since 2011. E-ZPass travelers saved up to 17 percent last year, and the pending changes will widen that to 25 percent in 2013.

SANAA, YEMEN - Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen has offered to pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa or an American soldier in the country. An audio produced by the group's media arm, the al-Malahem Foundation, and posted on militant websites Saturday said that it offered three kilograms of gold worth $160,000 for killing the ambassador, Gerald Feierstein. The group said that it will pay 5 million Yemeni riyals ($23,000) to anyone who kills an American soldier inside Yemen.

AROUND THE CITY SCORING AT WILL La Salle put up a 66 spot against Sacred Heart at Gola - in the first half. The Explorers took their foot off the accelerator and won, 100-71. Six players scored in double figures, and that was without starting guard Sam Mills (sprained left thumb). Sizzling Ramon Galloway had 22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. La Salle (8-2) shot 54 percent, missed just three free throws and had 26 assists on 34 field goals. Sacred Heart (2-8)

GIFT CARDS, so useful around the holidays. I love them and I hate them. I love them because they're easy. I hate them because they're too easy. They are great for the clueless (you?) who - even today - haven't finished Christmas shopping. Gift cards arose partly, I think, because cash can be seen as gauche or crass. (If you have any of that gauche, crass stuff taking up valuable drawer space, send it to me. I know how to safely dispose of it.) U.S. gift-card transactions passed $100 billion last year for the first time, according to the research firm TowerGroup.

BAD NEWS CAME in pairs for Bok Technical High School on Thursday. The school community learned that the 74-year-old school was recommended for closure by Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. Meanwhile, its former school operations officer was arrested for allegedly embezzling $27,000 from student activity funds, according to court records. Zara Sims, 41, of West Philadelphia, was hit with felony charges that include forgery, identity theft and theft by deception, according to records.

SCRANTON - A federal judge has given final approval to a settlement that will pay nearly $18 million to juveniles who allege they were wrongly incarcerated by corrupt judges in Luzerne County. The approval granted Friday by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo in Scranton allows attorneys to begin distributing money to about 1,600 teens and parents caught up in the so-called kids-for-cash scandal. The funds come from real estate developer Robert K. Mericle, who built a pair of for-profit youth detention facilities that replaced the Luzerne County detention center.

YOU DON'T have to believe in miracles to own the jersey Mike Eruzione wore - and the stick he used - in the U.S.'s 4-3 win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. The items will, according to SportsCollectorsDaily.com, be auctioned at Heritage Auction's Winter Platinum Night in Manhattan in February. The U.S. captain used the stick to score the game-winner in the medal-round game that has become known as the "Miracle on Ice. " According to the website, the white No. 21 jersey is estimated to be worth $1 million.