In case you haven't heard, the Allegheny County Democratic Committee had its big endorsement vote yesterday. Was I there? HELL no. I spent the day watching my kid drool on playground equipment -- which was probably a broadly similar experience, now that I think about it. (Though I was sorry to miss Jack Wagner being ejected for "working the crowd too vigorously" ... if being too vigorous is a crime, Jack, let them pronounce you guilty as charged.) There were few other surprises. Michael Lamb got the mayoral endorsement, and was the only one seeking it. In city council races, challenger John Lee also was the only candidate seeking the endorsement in district 4. Tonya Payne earned it in the district 6 race against the man who beat her, Daniel Lavelle. But Payne has always been a force in the party. In District 8, Dan Gilman pulled off a win over rivals Jeanne Clark and Sam Hens Greco. There were some judicial endorsements too, but I don't want to steal all the drama from the Post-Gazette story.

The Tribune-Review, meanwhile, finds that in some ways, the Pittsburgh police bureau's ethics policies fall short. Ya think? (Actually, this is well worth a read: The paper compares Pittsburgh's policies on secondary details to those of other cities, which are apparently much stricter. The part where we look less ethical than Cincinnati stings.)

Pretty much everyone agrees that it would be a good idea to require universal background checks for all gun purchases. But nothing that good is ever easy, reports the Morning Call. A big part of the problem: varying state standards, and the federalist principles about states' rights. This is why we can't have nice things.

At least one local politician still thinks extending the Mon-Fayette Expressway is a good idea.

Veteran Philadelphia journo John Baer has some mean things to say about Gov. Tom Corbett, and I wanted to share them with you. The kicker of this piece is a killer.