HIGHWAYS CONDITONS, HOUSING PRICES TOP PENNSYLVANIA NEWS

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, AP

Motorists have long grumbled about Pennsylvania's notoriously potholed highways, but rarely has state government come in for more criticism over infrastructure than it did in 2007.

Between PennDOT's botched response to a freak Valentine's Day snowstorm that stranded hundreds of motorists and lawmakers' highly unpopular plan to toll Interstate 80, transportation issues helped drive the news in Pennsylvania this year. And state officials found themselves dealing with one blown tire after another.

What else got the Keystone State talking in 2007?

Prominent politicians put their defense attorneys on speed dial. Corporate profits sagged and houses took longer to sell. A mayor fought for the right to rid his city of illegal immigrants. Joe Paterno's salary was revealed. A champion racehorse, Barbaro, lost his battle to survive the horrific injury he suffered at the 2006 Preakness.

Pennsylvania had its share of lighter moments, too: NBC's hit sitcom "The Office" paid a visit to Scranton, Britain's Prince Charles and wife Camilla landed in Philly, and charities in Erie puzzled over the identity of a generous — an EXTREMELY generous — benefactor. (More on that later.)

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It was one heck of a traffic jam, and it was largely avoidable.

Hundreds of motorists spent a frigid night in their vehicles last Feb. 14-15 as snow, ice and freezing rain blocked 150 miles of interstate highway in eastern Pennsylvania. Transportation and emergency officials conceded they failed to prepare for the storm, then did not respond quickly enough as the situation deteriorated. The state said it has addressed many of the communications and logistical problems that contributed to the travel nightmare.

In July, the Legislature voted to introduce tolls on Interstate 80, with the aim of raising $116 billion over 50 years for highway and bridge projects. The plan, which awaits federal approval, drew fierce opposition from business owners, residents, truckers and public officials in northern Pennsylvania. One furious resident said lawmakers viewed the rural population that lives near I-80 like "ignorant hicks" who wouldn't put up a fight.

Powerful state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo battled federal charges that he defrauded taxpayers and a local nonprofit he controlled out of more than $2 million. Among the juiciest allegations: that the Philadelphia Democrat used Senate staff to spy on his ex-wife. "I know in my heart that I have not done anything illegal," said Fumo, who has beaten two other federal raps in a 30-year Senate career.

Fumo wasn't the only state official under a cloud. A senator from western Pennsylvania, a Superior Court judge, and a former representative also faced criminal charges in 2007. Meanwhile, state Attorney General Tom Corbett began an investigation into whether legislative leaders illegally paid staffers nearly $4 million for performing election work on state time. Results of that probe are still to come.

Away from the capital, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta famously tried to give illegal immigrants the boot as the city of 30,000 sought to penalize landlords who rent to illegals and businesses that employ them. But a federal judge blocked the measure in July after a nine-day trial, ruling that immigration is a federal matter. While the city appeals, Barletta, who has emerged as a national figure, is mulling a run for Congress.

The state's two largest cities elected mayors in 2007. In Philadelphia, former city councilman Michael Nutter promised a fresh start after a troubled eight years under John Street; and in Pittsburgh, 27-year-old incumbent Luke Ravenstahl defeated a Republican challenger to remain the youngest chief executive of a major U.S. city.

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One of the year's biggest stories — the Virginia Tech massacre — sadly touched Pennsylvania. Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, of Bellefonte, was among the victims of a suicidal student, Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.

Closer to home, Alec Kreider, 16, was charged with fatally stabbing three people — Kreider's classmate and the victim's parents — inside their Lancaster County home. The motive remains unclear. Kreider has pleaded innocent.

Philadelphia struggled with more than a homicide a day — and a police officer, 54-year-old Chuck Cassidy, was among the victims. Gunfire wounded four other Philly officers in 2007. Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor, made an impassioned plea for gun control, but he faced staunch opposition from both Republicans and Democrats in a state where hunting and Second Amendment rights are cherished.

Amish students who survived a shooting that killed five of their classmates returned to school in a new building on April 2, exactly six months after the rampage. The New Hope Amish School sits a few hundred yards from the site of the old school, which was demolished.

In July, one of the most bizarre and puzzling crimes in recent Pennsylvania history was evidently solved. Authorities arrested a man and woman on charges they planned the elaborate bank heist that ended in the death of a pizza deliveryman in 2003. The deliveryman, Brian Wells, 46, told police he had been forced at gunpoint to rob a bank near Erie while wearing a bomb locked around his neck. As police waited for a bomb squad to arrive, the device exploded, killing him.

It was a difficult year for a trio of market-leading Pennsylvania companies.

Hershey, the nation's largest candymaker, cut 1,500 jobs and closed plants in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Toll Brothers, the nation's largest builder of luxury homes, recorded its first quarterly loss in 21 years, and its chairman and chief executive called 2007 the "most challenging" fiscal year in company history.

Shares of Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, tumbled to a 20-month low on news of slowing revenue growth.

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Call it the $100 million mystery: A donor, known to the public only as "Anonymous Friend," gave that staggering sum to charity over the summer.

The philanthropist is as private as he or she is generous, and the few people who know the giver's identity are not telling. The money will be distributed to 46 nonprofit groups in Erie, including a food bank, a women's center, a group for the blind and three universities.

On the pop-culture front, Scranton threw a huge party for Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper-supply company of "The Office," the NBC comedy set in the city. In October, thousands of fans descended on the city for a three-day celebration of their favorite TV show, and more than a dozen cast members made appearances.

Prince Charles took some good-natured ribbing about U.S. independence from Britain as he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, paid a January visit to Philadelphia.

The royal couple did some historical sightseeing, visited an inner-city neighborhood and attended a concert at the Academy of Music. "I'm enormously proud to be walking in my great-great-grandfather's footsteps," said the prince, referring to the 1860 visit to Philadelphia by the future King Edward VII.

In Pennsylvania sports, Lancaster County native Floyd Landis was stripped of his Tour de France title because of a positive doping test. Bill Cowher, who led the Steelers to Super Bowl glory two years ago, retired from coaching after 15 years. Eagles coach Andy Reid dealt with heartache off the field: Two of his sons, both of them severely addicted to drugs, were sentenced to prison.

MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins led the Philadelphia Phillies to their first division title since 1993, but the Phillies were swept in the first round of the playoffs by World Series-bound Colorado.

After a protracted court battle, one of the biggest secrets in all of Pennsylvania sports was finally revealed. Yes, we're talking about Paterno's salary. It turns out the Penn State icon makes more than $500,000 a year — a lot of money, to be sure, but a relative bargain compared to coaches at other big-time football schools.