Rendell

There is no obstetrical crisis in the Philadelphia area, Gov. Rendell's office has concluded. But there are problems, and "trends suggest that health-care systems may face significant challenges in finding OB-GYNs to deliver the babies born in the five-county area," Donna Cooper, Rendell's policy secretary, wrote in a letter to Philadelphia political leaders who had asked her office to look into the issue. Since 1997, 13 area hospitals have stopped delivering babies. Hospital and political leaders have labeled the trend a "crisis.

Arguing that Pennsylvania families "need help now" to weather the recession, Gov. Rendell yesterday said he would redirect millions of dollars for health insurance, mortgage assistance, home-heating assistance, and job-counseling programs. Calling it "emergency economic relief," the governor said he would immediately offer coverage to an additional 16,000 people now on a waiting list for the state-subsidized health-insurance program for lower-income adults. More than 200,000 residents are on the adultBasic waiting list now - 25,000 of them added just last month.

The 1995 Philadelphia mayor's race has unfolded like a TV soap opera in which everybody thinks they've already figured out the ending. But before tuning out, consider a few subplots that could make Tuesday's election more dramatic than the previews suggest: Will Mayor Rendell, the Democratic front-runner who is haunted by the city's 1973 district attorney's race, win by a landslide and retain his title of America's mayor? Will Republican Joe Rocks, the underdog who took up the gauntlet for the sake of the two-party system, stun the pollsters by pulling an upset with the help of disgruntled unions and rowhouse residents?

Sometimes politicians make mistakes. During his run for president, John Kerry tried to order a Pat's cheesesteak with Swiss. He may as well have asked for a knife and a fork to go with it - then jammed one of the utensils into the campaign's jugular. It would have been less painful than the abuse he took in Philly. Gov. Rendell's gaffe was bigger. In an anti-tea party interview that somehow veered off and touched on Donovan McNabb's trade to Washington, Rendell told Politico.com that next season he'll "still root for the Eagles, but I'm going to root for the Redskins in the playoffs because they're going to be in it and we're not. " A message left for Rendell at his office was not returned.

Notwithstanding the state's assorted budgetary woes, Gov. Rendell's office is making available $9 million in special redevelopment money to help fill the funding gap for the long-awaited Ardmore Transit Center project. The grant, from the governor's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), was announced late Wednesday afternoon by publicists for Carl Dranoff, developer of the Ardmore project. The news came on a day when Rendell was on a statewide tour to publicize his call for the General Assembly to raise funds to fix the state's decrepit roads and bridges.

Todd Stottlemyre still is a pen pal to certain Phillies fans. "Now they're saying, 'I'm glad your club is playing the way it is. You're a bleep,' " Stottlemyre said. Stottlemyre is a starting righthander for the last-place Toronto Blue Jays. You might remember him for bellowing last fall, during a victory parade held in Toronto after the Jays won the World Series against the Phillies, that Philly Mayor Ed Rendell could kiss his three-letter-word-for-posterior. Before Game 2, Rendell had said he would like to hit against Stottlemyre.

Legislative leaders emerged from a closed-door meeting in the lieutenant governor's office suite late last night to announce that they believe they have a proposal that would end the state's 79-day budget standoff. "We have put forth an offer to the governor, and we are waiting to hear back from the governor to see whether or not he likes what we've put on the table," House Speaker Keith McCall (D., Carbon) told reporters shortly before midnight. Negotiators would not discuss details of their proposal.

HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell said thousands of state and local government jobs would be eliminated if Congress failed to approve legislation that includes nearly a billion dollars in federal Medicaid funding for Pennsylvania. And even if Washington holds up its end, the governor said, he still expects state layoffs to number in "the hundreds. " Speaking to reporters after his first budget meeting with legislative leaders this year, Rendell said that without federal funding, the budget hole, which already stands at $1.2 billion, would widen to more than $2 billion.

In Ed Rendell's perfect Philadelphia world, the spring primary election would be over by the time the mayor brings his local stadium-funding plan before City Council. In fact, according to both city and team sources, that's what Rendell is planning, to wait until after the election before seeking Council's approval of any funding plan, team lease agreements or construction-site selection. But while that might be what Rendell is planning, there is only a slight chance that will happen.