POLICE SAY THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TUESDAY AFTERNOON ACCIDENT ON ROUTE 22 THAT KILLED A NEW JERSEY WOMAN AND HIMSELF HAD A RATHER LENGTHY RAP SHEET.  FINGERPRINT RECORDS WERE USED TO IDENTIFY KEVIN MESSINGER AS THE DRIVER OF THE PICKUP TRUCK INVOLVED IN THE CRASH THAT KILLED 31 YEAR OLD JOLENE LABAR, WHO WAS MARRIED 3 MONTHS AGO AND 1 MONTH PREGNANT ACCORDING TO HER FAMILY.  POLICE SAY MESSINGER WAS NO STRANGER TO THE LAW.  HIS RAP SHEET RANGES FROM BATTERY, TO GRAND THEFT TO DISORDERLY CONDUCT.  POLICE SAY MESSINGER, WHO LIVED IN FLORIDA BUT WAS BORN IN EASTON, STOLE A VACUMN CLEANER FROM THE PALMER PARK MALL'S BOSCOV'S STORE AT 5 O'CLOCK TUESDAY AFTERNOON.  AS POLICE PURSUED HIM, MESSINGER ENDED UP DRIVING WEST ON THE EASTBOUND SIDE OF ROUTE 22 BEFORE SLAMMING INTO AN ONCOMING CAR DRIVEN BY LABAR, OF WASHINGTON, NEW JERSEY.  LABAR WAS DEAD AT THE SCENE.  MESSINGER DIED A COUPLE HOURS LATER AT THE HOSPITAL.

77-YEAR-OLD CATHERINE BAKER KNOLL'S WEBSITE HAS A LETTER POSTED FROM THE LEUITENENT GOVERNOR SAYING SHE HAS A RARE FORM OF CANCER.  BAKER KNOLL SAYS SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEURO-ENDOCRINE EARLIER THIS SUMMER.  THE CANCER IS KNOWN TO ATTACK THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND HORMONE GLANDS.  TREATMENT COULD BE AS SIMPLE AS HORMONE PILLS, OR AS INVASIVE AS SURGERY.  BAKER KNOLL SAYS SHE WILL CONTINUE WORKING AND SAYS SHE'S FEELS FINE.  BAKER KNOLL PLANS TO RESUME A FULL WORK SCHEDULE AND BE PRESIDING OVER THE STATE SENATE BY SEPTEMBER. 

THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE VICTORY 2008 CHAIRPERSON HAS SPENT HER WEEK CANVASSING PENNSYLVANIA AND SAYS SHE HAS LEARNED SOMETHING DURING THOSE BUS TRIPS.  "MANY, MANY DEMOCRATS HAVE AN OPEN MIND ABOUT JOHN McCAIN", SAYS CARLY FIORINI.  IT'S A LONG WAY FROM AN "OPEN MIND" TO ACTUALLY VOTING FOR SOMEBODY HOWEVER.  SO HOW DOES  FIORINI THINK JOHN McCAIN CAN BRIDGE THAT GAP?  FIORINI SAYS "I THINK WE HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC AND SUBSTANTIVE."  A POPULAR THEME FIORINI HAS HEARD IN HER STOPS:  WHAT WILL A McCAIN PRESIDENCY DO TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMY AND PROTECT JOBS.

BIDS ARE DUE ON THE MAJOR PART OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION CENTER EXPANSION.  THE CONVENTION CENTER AUTHORITY WILL OPEN THE BIDS THURSDAY, AND BOARD CHAIRMAN BUCK RILEY SAYS IT WILL UP TO THREE WEEKS TO ANALYZE THE 1,700 TO 1,800 PAGES TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LOW BIDDER HAS MET THE SPECIFICATIONS.  THE BOARD ALSO WILL ANALYZE THE "DIVERSITY PLANS" ON MINORITY HIRING.  THE STATE LEGISLATURE SET ASIDE $700 MILLION FOR THE EXPANSION IN DOWNTOWN PHILADELPHIA, BUT OFFICIALS SAID IN MAY THE PROJECTED COST COULD BE AT LEAST $90 MILLION OVER THAT.  THE CURRENT PLAN, IF CITY COUNCIL GOES ALONG, IS TO RAISE THE HOTEL TAX PAID BY TOURISTS BY 1.5 PERCENT TO SUPPORT THE EXPANSION.  OFFICIALS HOPE TO HAVE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED BY 2010.

THE AMISH ARE EXPANDING THEIR PRESENCE IN STATES FAR BEYOND PENNSYLVANIA AS THEY SEARCH FOR AFFORDABLE FARMLAND TO ACCOMMODATE A GROWING POPULATION.  THE AMISH NOW NUMBER AN ESTIMATED 227,000 NATIONWIDE, UP FROM 123,000 IN 1992, ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS FROM ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE.  OVER THE SAME PERIOD, AMISH SETTLEMENTS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED IN SEVEN NEW STATES, PUTTING THEM IN AT LEAST 28 STATES FROM COAST TO COAST.  AMISH COUPLES TYPICALLY HAVE FIVE OR MORE CHILDREN. WITH MORE THAN FOUR OUT OF EVERY FIVE DECIDING IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD TO REMAIN WITHIN THE CHURCH, THEIR POPULATION HAS GROWN STEADILY.  MORE THAN HALF THE POPULATION IS UNDER 21.  A SMALL PORTION OF THE INCREASE IS ALSO DUE TO CONVERSIONS TO THE FAITH.