PA in the WSJ

There were a few mentions of Pennsylvania in last week's Wall Street Journal. I probably missed some but here are the ones that caught my eye.

PA Politics

Two mentions of incumbents who lost primaries as a reflection of a wider anti-incumbent voter sentiment. (“Alaska Primary Reflects Unease with Incumbents,” by Chirstopher Cooper, Aug. 24, p. A4)

An editorial on the Santorum / Casey race (“Incumbent on the Brink,” by Jason L. Riley, Aug. 24th, p.A11) covers a lot of territory. Riley does say he thinks Rendell will be re-elected “easily.” He also points out Santorum’s many mistakes and refers to Casey as an “underwhelming campaigner.” One note on Santorum: “He’s backed medical savings accounts and pushed for Social Security personal retirement accounts long before George W. Bush. That takes chutzpah for a senator from a state with a higher percentage of senior citizens than anywhere but Florida.”

PA Businesses

Blair Corp (Warren, PA), distributor of apparel and home products. (“Noted…” Aug. 25, p. A16) further info: trades as BL, corporate website: www.blair.com

Novavax Inc. (Malvern, PA), a vaccine company (“Noted …” Aug. 22nd p., B5 ) further info: trades on NASDAQ as NVAX, corporate website: www.novavax.com

“Toll Cuts Outlook as Profit Drops, Seeing No Sign of Market Bottom,” by Janet Morrissey, Aug. 23rd, p. A3. I think this was in the Philly papers, too.


Other PA

In an article on older Americans making a career change and driving trucks for a living, there is a mention of a couple from rural Pennsylvania who became truckers. (“The Over-50 Crowd Takes to the Road in Paid Big-Rig Gigs,” by Stephanie Chen, Aug. 24th, p. A1

“Johnston, Pa, is home to one of the nation’s fastest growing [motorcycle] rallies, Thunder in the Valley.” In 1998, its first year, 3500 people attended. This year they expect almost 200,000. (“Their Economic Engines are Harleys,” by Peter Schroeder, Aug. 24th, p. D8)

Remember the recent lawsuit that nearly shut down the Blackberry network? The man who sued Blackberry is a Penn State grad. (“In BlackBerry Case, Big Winner Faces His Own Accusers,” by Christopher Rhoads, Aug. 23rd, p. A1)