A young Montgomery County mom who has lost two of her children to cancer needs your help to create a place for families who have experienced grief like she has to find peace, comfort and resources. All you have to do is visit a Web site and vote for her project. This is legit. The full story is in The Mercury.

From reporter Brandie Kessler:

Erin Curtis is determined to transform the experience of losing two of her three children into hope and healing.

With the help of the Pepsi Refresh Project, which is awarding individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations with $1.3 million this month, Curtis would be able to create a place for families who have experienced grief like she has to find peace, comfort and resources.

Curtis, 29, explained the ordeal she and her partner, Jeff Megonigal went through when two of their children were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.

Their daughter, Avery, died from the disease when she was 17 months old in November 2007. In August 2008, the couple became pregnant with twin boys, Calvin and Nolan.

However, when the boys were just 4 months old, Nolan was diagnosed with ALL, and in March 2009, he, too, died of the disease.

Despite having lost so much, Curtis is full of hope for her future, and the future of her 18 month old son, Calvin, who is healthy.

She is also hopeful that she can fulfill her dream of creating a home to support other families who experience the loss of a child from terminal illness.

Read the full story below:

From mother's loss comes a dream of hope

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The Washington Post - yes, the ultra-liberal Washington Post - offers a comprehensive look at global warming, including growing evidence that scientists used phony research to perpetuate the global warming myth. Al Gore just might be the last person on earth clinging to the climate change hoax.

Imploding UN Global Warming Forecasts on Front Page of Washington Post | NewsBusters.org

Do you have a question about regional, state or national politics? Tony Phyrillas has the answers and will respond to your question via video posted online at The Mercury’s Web site. If you would like The Mercury's award-winning political columnist and blogger to respond to your question about current topics, e-mail him at tphyrillas@gmail.com and look for Tony's video response on The Mercury's Web site, www.pottsmerc.com

The Mercury is conducting an online poll, offering readers an opportunity to grade Barack Obama's first year as president. I've already cast my vote. You can vote at the newspaper's Web site.

Another major Pennsylvania newspaper is backing Joan Orie Melvin for Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Tuesday's General Election.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

What we do care about is legal acumen, temperament and moxie. And on all three counts, Judge Orie Melvin of Marshall, a Republican and a state Superior Court judge since 1997, is the best choice for the state's highest court.

Read the full endorsement at the link below:

For Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Elect Joan Orie Melvin - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

P.S. -- Joan Orie Melvin has already been endorsed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Harrisburg Patriot-News.

The biggest race on the Nov. 3 ballot is to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which is now split 3-3 among Democrats and Republicans.

The candidates are reform candidate Jane Orie Melvin, a Republican, and Jack Panella, the Democratic Party machine candidate, who is running attack ads against Orie Melvin instead of giving voters a reason to support him.

Three of the state's leading newspapers (and among the most liberal newspapers at that) are urging voters to support Orie Melvin.

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason congratulated Supreme Court candidate Judge Joan Orie Melvin on receiving the endorsement of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Patriot News on Sunday.

From a Republican Party of Pennsylvania press release:

"Judge Joan Orie Melvin is an incredibly impressive candidate and I am pleased to read that The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Patriot News all agreed," Gleason said. "In their endorsement, The Philadelphia Inquirer noted Judge Joan Orie Melvin's 'outsider's viewpoint' and credited her call to create an independently appointed agency to monitor corrupt judges. Clearly, with the story of the Luzerne County judicial scandal still dominating headlines, Pennsylvania voters are looking to elect a Supreme Court justice that will seek to root out corruption, not stand idly by while it takes place."

"The Philadelphia Inquirer's endorsement also criticizes Democrat candidate Jack Panella for his 'special interest campaign war chest' which has come through sizable donations from trial lawyers and big labor groups. We agree that the donations he has received raise serious questions about whether or not Jack Panella, if elected, will be beholden to these special interest groups who have donated so generously to his campaign."

"Judge Joan Orie Melvin's strong work ethic, distinguished record and judicial temperament make her the only choice for Supreme Court on November 3rd, and I am overjoyed that so many Pennsylvanians, including three of our state’s largest newspapers from the western, eastern and central Pennsylvania, are voicing their support for her campaign."

The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsement of Judge Joan Orie Melvin for Supreme Court reads:

Of the two appellate judges vying for Supreme Court, Joan Orie Melvin of Pittsburgh edges out Jack A. Panella, her Easton colleague on the state Superior Court. Melvin, 53, earned the state bar's highest rating and was cited for being "genial and fair- minded" with a "solid record of performance" on the bench over a 24-year period. ("Editorial: Best judicial choices," The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/25/09)

Click here to read the text of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s full endorsement.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette endorsement of Judge Joan Orie Melvin for Supreme Court reads:

The other consideration is one dear to our core principles. If Judge Panella wins this race, the court will be down to six men and one woman (Justice Debra McCloskey Todd). The other female justice, Jane Cutler Greenspan, agreed not to seek a full 10-year term after Chief Justice Ralph Cappy retired last year.

Advantage, Judge Melvin, who would strike a small but important blow for gender balance by keeping the number of female justices at two.

The Post-Gazette endorses Judge Joan Orie Melvin for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. ("Supreme Court: In a duel of two top jurists, it's Judge Melvin," The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Click here to read the text of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s full endorsement.

The Patriot News endorsement of Judge Joan Orie Melvin for Supreme Court reads:

But on Nov. 3, voters can choose only one, and after meeting with the candidates and reviewing their records, our choice is Judge Joan Orie Melvin.

She has experience at all levels of the judiciary, having served as a judge in the municipal courts in Pittsburgh, Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County and has been on the Superior Court since 1997. ("Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge: Our choice is Orie Melvin," The Patriot News, 10/25/09)

Click here to read the text of The Patriot News' full endorsement.

For more information about Orie Melvin, visit her campaign Web site, www.judgeoriemelvin.com

The Newspaper Project, the grassroots organization launched in February to support a constructive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers, has released this new animated video by Bill Hinds, creator of the Tank McNamara cartoon series.

For more on The Newspaper Project, visit www.newspaperproject.org

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS

Some members of the Pennsylvania Senate are working on a plan to put a final nail in the coffin of many newspapers across the state.

A bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature proposes removing public notices from newspapers and allowing government agencies to post information online on various Web sites.

That would not only drive away much-needed revenue for struggling newspapers, but would leave taxpayers in the dark about how government spends their money, argues the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

From an editorial in The Mercury:

Nearly a century ago, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law requiring local townships, boroughs, school districts and other government entities to place notices in the local newspaper advising citizens of pending ordinances, budget spending proposals, property sales, election information, zoning changes, among other important issues.

The idea behind that early law was to inform residents affected by government plans. For years, that legislation provided a safeguard of open government — making it more difficult for elected officials to enact laws and spend money without notifying taxpayers.

Now, Senate Bill 419 would allow the government to control its own public notices and eliminate the independent, third-party verification that newspaper publication provides. It would be all too easy to manipulate the bidding process, favor certain contractors, and shield critical information.

Have you ever tried to navigate through a state Web site? It's nearly impossible to find information. And believe me, government bureaucrats will make it as difficult as they can to find legal notices online.

And what about the people who don't have access to the Internet? SB 419 clearly falls under the category of "If it's not broke, why fix it?"

It also makes you wonder what the real motive of lawmakers is. Could the bill be payback for newspapers exposing all the corruption in Harrisburg?

It's time to contact your local state senator and tell them that SB 419 should never see the light of day.

Read more in this editorial published in The Pottstown Mercury.

Kevin Carey, policy director for Education Sector, an independent think tank in Washington, D.C., believes higher education could be the next industry to suffer a decline in the Internet age.

The Internet has already dealt a fatal blow to newspapers, the once dominant source of news and information.

Writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Carey warns that America's colleges and universities could be the next victim of the Internet.

From Carey's column:

Newspapers are dying. Are universities next? The parallels between them are closer than they appear. Both industries are in the business of creating and communicating information. Paradoxically, both are threatened by the way technology has made that easier than ever before.

While the elite schools probably can weather the expansion of college offerings over the Internet, there will be victims, Carey argues: "Less-selective private colleges and regional public universities, by contrast — the higher-education equivalents of the city newspaper — are in real danger."

Read the full column, "What Colleges Should Learn From Newspapers' Decline" at The Chronicle of Higher Education Web site.

Everyone knows the newspaper industry is struggling, but there seems to be a growing number of people who are enjoying watching the demise of some of the nation's great newspapers.

Randy Siegel, co-founder of the Newspaper Project, argues that many of the people who are sounding the death knell have ulterior motives.

From Siegel's column in The Providence Journal:

As newspaper companies fight for survival and try to rectify many of the mistakes they have made in the last decade, they don’t deserve a break from anyone — their readers, their advertisers, or their competitors. What they do deserve, however, is a little more objective coverage of their problems and more detailed disclosure about the possible motives of those "critics" and "analysts" who are hardly unbiased observers.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.

You can find out more about the Newspaper Project at www.newspaperproject.org

There's also an interesting column by Leonard Pitts Jr. that says politicians and government bureaucrats would love to see fewer newspapers because there would be no one left to hold them accountable.

From Pitts' column:

Too many of us fail to understand what that death would mean, believe newspapers provide no service they can't get elsewhere ... Local TV news specializes in crime, weather and sports. CNN has a national purview. Even the Internet primarily synthesizes reporting done in other media.

No, only the local paper performs the critical function of holding accountable the mayor, the governor, the local magnates and potentates for how they spend your money, run your institutions, validate or violate your trust. If newspapers go, no other entity will have the wherewithal to do that. Which means the next Blagojevich gets away with it.

Read "Don't expect sympathy cards from crooks, corrupt politicians," at The Miami Herald's Web site.

Be sure to read "Telling your stories is our privilege," by Nancy March, editor of The Mercury, at the newspaper's Web site.

Gil Spencer, the very entertaining columnist for The Delaware County Daily & Sunday Times in Primos, imagines the kind of treatment newspapers would get if they showed up in Washington, D.C., asking for a government bailout.

Here's a portion of his column, which is a preview of an exchange Spencer imagines having with Sen. Ted Kennedy:

Sen. Kennedy: Of course. Billion! Why should the American people lend your industry $25 billion?

Spencerblog: Because it will be good for the economy?

Sen. Kennedy: We’re asking the questions here.

Spencerblog: Because it will be good for the economy!

Sen. Kennedy: Good answer. And how will it be good for the economy, Mr. Spencerborg?

Spencerblog: It will keep thousands of newspaper men and women employed so they can buy stuff and not have to go on the dole. Also, newspapers help the public know what’s going on.

Sen. Kennedy: Like by bringing up painful things that happened almost 40 years ago?

Spencerblog: I’m sorry? I’m not sure ...

Sen. Kennedy: Let me see if I can refresh your memory ... (reading) “The Kennedy family has a long history, but it mostly involves helping themselves to power, sex, and money and not caring who gets hurt in the bargain as long as it’s not them.” Ring any bells?

Spencerblog: Oh, that. Yes, well. I do recall, I’m not sure I ...

Sen. Kennedy: In what way was this helping the public’s right to know?

Spencerblog: As I recall senator, that was written in response to a comment ... Of course, I’d like to apolo ...

Sen. Kennedy: Yes, it WAS written in response to a comment. This one: “The Kennedy family has a long history of public service and helping the poor, the disenfranchised, the minorities and the advancement of civil rights. These are important American values and Caroline Kennedy would vote for them as a senator.” Something in there you don’t agree with?

Read the full column, "Spencerblog is fighting for newspapers," at the newspaper's Web site.