PA in the WSJ

Things picked up this week.

PA Politicians

Our officials remain very quiet.

PA Businesses

Campus Apartments, Inc. of Philadelphia is buying more properties, per “Dorm Mates,” by Jonathan Karp, Alex Frangos, Ryan Chittum and Kemba J. Dunham (6/13)

Brief mentions: Journal Register of Yardley (6/12), Safeguard Scientifics of Wayne (6/13)

Other PA

Dr. Paul Offitt of Philadelphia Children’s Hospital is quoted in “Debate over vaccines’ role in autism heads to a court,” (6/11).

Pennsylvania’s loss of college graduates is discussed in depth in “Stopping the brain drain,” by Lauren Tara LaCapra (6/11). An encouraging note near the end of the article: “But there are signs that Pennsylvania’s effort it working on some.”

“Vital Signs” on 6/11 has a number of charts and graphs. Pennsylvania ranks #21 in the country for the total local, state and federal tax burdens as a percentage of each state’s income. Our state’s percentage is 31.9%, less than the national average of 32.7. We rank 6th in investments in venture-backed companies, 2006, with 102 deals, or $777,783,000. We ranks 16 in the number of feature films produced or partially produced, 2005, with 15. We are #12 in patents issued with 2,992. We rank #30 in percentage of people living below the poverty level, 2005, with 11.9%, below the national average of 13.3%.

“Investing in the fast lane,” by Joanna Slater (6/13) mentions the PA Turnpike in passing.

This past October’s court case between Wal-Mart and employees not paid for off-the-clock work, from “Missouri, New York courts split on Wal-Mart pay,” by Gary McWilliams (6/13)

While the 10 other regional banks report an upbeat outlook, Philadelphia and Richmond report acceleration in growth, from “Consumer-spending uptick eases drop-off fears,” by Mark Whitehouse (6/14)

The new tv series “Heartland” takes place in Pittsburgh, “Doctor’s dilemma,” by Dorothy Rabinowitz (6/15)

The contrast between children’s books available in stores and libraries in Chestnut Hill and Kingsessing is mentioned in “It seems to exist, but how to measure class gap in reading,” by Carl Bialik (6/15)

An entire article on the bread-eating carp of Linesville, “Loaves and fish: piscine gluttony in Pennsylvania,” by James R. Hagerty 6/16, provides a lot of fascinating information about one of the state’s more unusual tourist attractions.

An obit for Peter Wright who founded Keystone Helicopter Corp, appears on 6/16.

A staged explosion in Wilkes-Barre at a WWF event in Wachovia Arena led to rumors of the death of WWF chairman Vince McMahon, “News flash: pro wrestling is fake,” by Tim Hanrahan (6/16)

Other Interesting Tidbits

If you’ve said something foolish or someone smears you online you may need the services of the companies outlined in “Firms tidy up clients’ bad online reputations,” by Andrew LaVallee (6/13)