Just how much would it cost to post an armed cop at every public school, like the NRA has suggested? About $15 million in Allegheny County alone. But fear not! For state legislators have found an education program for which they may not mind increasing funding.

Also from the Tribune-Review, business leaders swear that when they try to bust state unions this time, things will be different. (If you want to see the press conference announcing the latest raft of right-to-work bills, you can check it out here. Trigger warning: Video features Daryl Metcalfe footage that may upset younger audiences.

Just in case you didn't have enough to worry about, there's a new concern about "fracking" for natural gas: radiation. The jury is, as they say, still out on how much of a threat this is, but studies have shown elevated levels of radium in flowback water used to drill the wells. We can only hope that the Marcellus Shale Coalition hires this guy to make their case:

In the days ahead, you're going to be hearing a lot about Pennsylvania's pension problems, and how those greedy public-sector employees are to blame. But let's pause to recall the role that hedge funds helped play in all this.

Longtime Pittsburgh neighborhood activist Ora Lee Carroll, a champion of the city's black East End neighborhoods, has died.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper is expected to return to work today after mourning the death of his mother. He is, however, under a cloud as a result of suspicions he helped a friend improperly get a contract outfitting police cars with computers. The irony here is that, while the case centers on allegations that this firm tried to pass itself off as a woman-owned business, the firm in question apparently had the low bid on the work. This reminds me of the time the Post-Gazette did an investigative series on "The Network" -- a shadowy group of businessmen who lured business their way. And it turned out that the contracts they got were actually fairly competitive, and the quality of work was not half-bad. It's like we can't even do corruption right, people.