Hopefuls

"SUPER TROOPERS 2" is a go, according to Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme of Broken Lizard , the comedic group behind the cult-classic comedy about Vermont State Troopers and their wacky, oft-substance-filled adventures. The long-anticipated sequel has been caught up in legal wrangling, but Heffernan and Lemme told me that studio suits have officially given them the green light to continue their stoner saga. "We've written six drafts of the script, which means we'll have 14 drafts coming," Heffernan, who played the tubby, self-serious Rob Farva in the flick, told me. Need a Broken Lizard fix before the cameras start rolling?

NEW YORK - At the beginning of each tourist season, the entrepreneurs who pitch the thrill rides, hot dogs, sideshows, and souvenirs at gritty Coney Island gather along its famous boardwalk to pray for two things: good weather and large crowds. Never have they prayed harder than now. Five months after Sandy's storm surge swamped New York City's most storied beach destination, many businesses are pinning their hopes on a strong season to help them make up for the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have spent to get back up and running.

JERUSALEM - Working against what Palestinians say is an early June deadline to show progress in a renewed bid for Mideast peace, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that he is trying to overcome understandable skepticism after many previous failed attempts. Kerry shuttled between Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank on his latest visit to coax Israel and the Palestinians back to peace negotiations after a lull that has spanned most of the last four years.

Webb Simpson has enjoyed success with a belly putter in his five seasons on the PGA Tour, posting three victories, including the 2012 U.S. Open. He doesn't want to see his style of anchored putting stroke thrown out. The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews adopted a rule banning the anchored putting stroke, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Simpson doesn't agree with the decision and hopes the PGA Tour will continue to allow anchored putting, which would create a rule that is different from what the rest of the world will follow.

THERE'S a well-documented lack of diversity in Hollywood, but Councilman David Oh's Black Film Advisory Committee (BFAC) aims to shine a spotlight on black filmmakers in Philadelphia. The Committee strives to create a cultural and creative hub for anyone interested in working in the movie business, especially minorities. Kimberley Richards, special assistant to the councilman and coordinator of the committee, is in the process of planning the BFAC's second event - "The Return of 'The Set,' " a networking affair that brings together people from all aspects of film production - from producers to on-set caterers.

DES MOINES, Iowa - It's all about the odds. With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, someone is almost sure to win the game's highest jackpot during Saturday night's drawing, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars - and that's after taxes. The problem, of course, is those same odds just about guarantee the lucky person won't be you. (The winning numbers: 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and Powerball 11.) The chances of winning the estimated $600 million prize remain astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million.

Hoping for more money from the state, the SEPTA board is postponing action on its budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Fare increases are still expected on that date. The board's budget committee on Thursday proposed deferring until June any action on the $1.3 billion operating budget, which funds regular transit operations, and on the $308 million capital budget, which pays for major construction and vehicle purchases. Even with the fare increases slated for July, the fiscal 2014 operating budget has a $38 million deficit.

JOANIE HESS hopes for bones. Hess, whose younger brother Anthony Tumolo was 14 when he vanished from a Philadelphia street in 1966, has long accepted that he'll probably never be found alive. But after nearly five decades, she still hopes to bury him with the parents who prayed for his return. "Because of the length of time, it's only realistic for me to believe that he is now deceased," Hess said. "He was small for his age, but not frail. I would think he would have fought his way out of a situation if he could.

JASON PETERS says the right Achilles' tendon he ruptured twice last spring is 100 percent again. Todd Herremans says the broken right foot that cost him half the 2012 season is as good as new. And Jason Kelce says the right ACL he tore last September is getting better every day and he expects to be "full go" for the start of training camp in 2 1/2 months. If you're looking for a reason to believe that the Eagles can be more than a 6-10 or 7-9 football team in Chip Kelly's first season as an NFL head coach, Peters, Herremans, Kelce and the rest of the offensive line are it. Let's face it. We don't have the slightest clue at this point what kind of production they will get from the quarterback position because we don't even know who the hell the quarterback will be, and probably won't know until the middle of August.

When it comes to presidential elections in Pennsylvania, Republicans are like Tantalus, the figure of Greek mythology. The man whose name lives on in the word tantalize was doomed to stand in a pool of water that he could never drink, while grabbing for fruit from a tree he could never reach - for eternity. The Keystone State always looks winnable for Republicans, on paper, but in each of the last six presidential elections, it has slipped away. It's a strategic mirage. In 1988, George H.W. Bush cracked the code, clawing his way to 50 percent of the vote in the Philadelphia media market, home to up to 42 percent of votes cast statewide.