Catherine Baker Knoll

Well done, good and faithful servant. Those words come to mind when thinking of Catherine Baker Knoll, Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, who died Wednesday after a battle with neuroendocrine cancer, a rare form of the disease first diagnosed in early July. She was 78. Knoll dedicated her life to serving Pennsylvanians. The former schoolteacher was state treasurer eight years before joining Gov. Rendell on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket and being elected the state's first female lieutenant governor in 2002.

A political rivalry can be a good thing. It can bring clarity and spice to dull races. But the contest for the job of Pennsylvania treasurer has devolved into a family feud. Incumbent Barbara Hafer and former state treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll are at it again - slinging mud along with their reports of how much money they each saved or made for the commonwealth. The Hafer-Knoll smackdowns first started when Knoll was treasurer and Hafer was auditor general in charge of examining Knoll's books.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, 78, the first woman elected to that office in Pennsylvania history and widely regarded as a feisty political trailblazer in the state, died yesterday after a battle with a rare form of cancer. "Today we mourn the passing of one of the strongest, most dedicated public servants in Pennsylvania's history," Gov. Rendell said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Catherine's family. She will be deeply missed. " Knoll died about 6 p.m. at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, where she was undergoing physical therapy following treatment for neuroendocrine cancer.

Who's afraid of Lynn Yeakel? Lynn Yeakel thinks Mark Singel and Catherine Baker Knoll are. Yeakel keeps drawing lines in the sand, and they keep stepping around them. It happened last month, when a Democratic gubernatorial debate in Philadelphia sponsored by the chamber of commerce was canceled largely because Knoll never committed to the forum and Singel pulled out. Yeakel at the time chided that Singel and Knoll "seem to be in the candidate protection program. " It happened again yesterday.

In the calculus of Pennsylvania politics, zip code matters. One day after announcing he was running in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, former U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel was out, a victim of a hard reality of winning in a large state with strong geographical - and cultural - divisions. Hoeffel's quick departure came at the resquest of Gov. Rendell, who in the last week decided that the Montgomery County resident would be a geographical liability in the general election against a balanced Republican ticket.

At a time when business-as-usual in Harrisburg is under attack, former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel found himself on the defensive yesterday for taking a six-figure job in the Rendell administration. Hoeffel's appointment to the $104,431-a-year job as deputy secretary for international business in the Department of Community and Economic Development was denounced by critics who saw it as payback for his withdrawing from the Democratic primary against Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll. The announcement was made Monday.

Receiving no objection from Gov. Rendell, former U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel said yesterday he would move ahead with his planned campaign for lieutenant governor. Hoeffel said Rendell, in a private meeting on Wednesday, made no attempt to dissuade him from taking on Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll in the Democratic primary. He said he would not run over "the governor's active objections. " "He said he is endorsing Catherine, but he is not urging me to drop out," Hoeffel said of Rendell.

Lt. Gov. Mark Singel has to attend a practice session for his son's communion. State Treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll is speaking at a United Negro College Fund dinner in Harrisburg. And state Rep. Dwight Evans is attending the same dinner. Those no-shows prompted the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce to cancel its Democratic gubernatorial debate scheduled for tonight. Fellow Democrats Lynn Yeakel, Phil Valenti, Bob O'Donnell and Charles Volpe had agreed to attend.

Catherine Baker Knoll has become the first Democratic candidate for governor to air statewide TV ads. Knoll, the state treasurer and one of seven Democrats running in the May 10 primary, started airing a 60-second spot in all broadcast markets yesterday. Campaign manager Jonathan Sender would not discuss costs but said Knoll is waging "a very aggressive campaign. " The timing is somewhat surprising. Knoll was among the last to announce. She got in the race Feb. 9, after initially saying she would not run. Her year-end campaign finance report showed far less cash than other candidates.

Catherine Baker Knoll, 61, is an old-style political war horse - an indefatigable campaigner who was finally elected Pennsylvania's treasurer on her third try. Now she's the heavy favorite for re-election against an obscure political operative, Lowman Henry. Four years ago, we came out against Mrs. Knoll, citing her lack of expertise in the financial matters that are the state treasurer's main concern. This time, Mrs. Knoll does have experience - four years of on-the-job training, if you will, in which the state's interests have been generally well-served.

HARRISBURG - To the million-plus Philadelphians waking up Wednesday, mourning the sudden absence of Ed Rendell, I say don't cry. Sure, we lost our guy in Harrisburg. But we gained a new guy, James F. Cawley IV! Who ? you ask. Jim Cawley, Pennsylvania's new lieutenant governor, that's who. Bristol-born, Levittown-bred, Cawley holds not one, but two degrees from Temple! The 41-year-old former Bucks County commissioner has also presided over the city's annual St. Patrick's Day parade, a sudsy, patience-testing task that more than qualifies him as an honorary Philadelphian in my book.

RE RONNIE Polaneczky's column about the student who was banned from graduation: I'm appalled by Arlene Ackerman's action. To overturn Principal Mullen's decision is despicable. This young lady was late to school 40 times, and if that wasn't enough, didn't bother to make it to graduation practices on time. If participating in the graduation ceremonies was so important to Michelle Grace, she should've gotten up on time. Are we saying to our children that there are no consequences for bad behavior?

Nine Republicans and three Democrats want to be the next lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. That's a lot of interest for an office that after 137 years, some argue, is obsolete and should be eliminated. So why seek it? "It's reasonably high-profile, it pays well, and you don't have any real responsibility," says G. Terry Madonna, the oft-quoted pollster and political analyst at Franklin and Marshall College. Some candidates on Tuesday's primary ballot say they see the office as a bully pulpit.

HARRISBURG - Nine Republicans and three Democrats want to be the next lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. That's a lot of interest for an office that after 137 years, some argue, is obsolete and should be eliminated. So why seek it? "It's reasonably high-profile, it pays well, and you don't have any real responsibility," says G. Terry Madonna, the oft-quoted pollster and political analyst at Franklin and Marshall College. Some candidates on Tuesday's primary ballot say they see the office as a bully pulpit.

Catherine Baker Knoll was remembered yesterday as a trailblazer for women, a tireless campaigner, and a passionate advocate for children. Several hundred mourners, including U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bob Casey, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, and Gov. Rendell, filled the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to the lieutenant governor at a memorial service. Knoll - who made history as Pennsylvania's first female lieutenant governor - died Nov. 12 at age 78 after a four-month battle with neuroendocrine cancer.

In the last two years as top leader of the Republican-controlled state Senate, Joseph B. Scarnati III has stood between Gov. Rendell and the success of his legislative agenda at nearly every turn. Now, in what is likely a first for Pennsylvania, Scarnati, the Senate president pro tempore, takes office as lieutenant governor in the Democratic Rendell administration following the death of Catherine Baker Knoll. Knoll, 78, the first woman elected lieutenant governor, died Wednesday of complications from neuroendocrine cancer.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Those words come to mind when thinking of Catherine Baker Knoll, Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, who died Wednesday after a battle with neuroendocrine cancer, a rare form of the disease first diagnosed in early July. She was 78. Knoll dedicated her life to serving Pennsylvanians. The former schoolteacher was state treasurer eight years before joining Gov. Rendell on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket and being elected the state's first female lieutenant governor in 2002.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, 78, the first woman elected to that office in Pennsylvania history and widely regarded as a feisty political trailblazer in the state, died yesterday after a battle with a rare form of cancer. "Today we mourn the passing of one of the strongest, most dedicated public servants in Pennsylvania's history," Gov. Rendell said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Catherine's family. She will be deeply missed. " Knoll died about 6 p.m. at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, where she was undergoing physical therapy following treatment for neuroendocrine cancer.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll is being treated for cancer at a Baltimore hospital. Gov. Rendell said yesterday Knoll has been undergoing treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital for about 10 days. In a letter posted on her Web site in August, Knoll said she had been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for neuroendocrine cancer since early July. Rendell said that, as far as he knew, there was no prognosis on her condition. "It's a serious health challenge, but the course of treatment is ongoing," said Rendell at a news conference yesterday on an unrelated topic.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll has announced she has a rare form of cancer, but said she was undergoing aggressive treatment for the disease and hoped to return to work next month. Aides said yesterday that Knoll, 77, learned she had neuroendocrine cancer during a routine visit to her doctor in early July. She has received radiation and is on her second round of chemotherapy. Knoll's chief of staff, Sal Sirabella, could not say exactly where the cancer had been found or whether it had spread.