Acting on concerns he first expressed during last year’s campaign, the new governor cited a wave of exonerations nationwide and questions about the effectiveness of executions.

The Democratic National Committee said Thursday the convention will be held the week of July 25, 2016. The two other finalists were Brooklyn, New York, and Columbus, Ohio.

In addition to the 5 percent tax on the value of the gas at the wellhead, the proposal would charge producers 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet of volume. It would include some exemptions for gas given away for free, extracted from low-producing wells and wells brought back into production.

“It makes sense to have a cut off since older judges are most at risk of becoming incompetent,” Marks said. “Setting a specific age for retirement reduces the need for discipline that embarrasses judges and threatens public confidence in the courts.” …

NEW YORK TIMES: In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf, a newly elected Democrat, is scrapping his Republican predecessor’s conservative approach to expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Wolf said this week that he would instead pursue a straightforward expansion of the government health insurance program for the poor, no longer charging premiums or limiting benefits for some enrollees.

So if you really think U.S. troops, depleted and debauched from their illegal and immoral occupations of recent years, are going to take on Russian armor and infantry (still the best in the world) you’d be wrong.

NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN: …European leaders completely bought into the notion that the economic crisis was brought on by too much spending, by nations living beyond their means. The way forward, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany insisted, was a return to frugality. Europe, she declared, should emulate the famously thrifty Swabian housewife.

“Governor Wolf directed DHS to withdraw the ‘low-risk’ (Healthy) health care package from further federal consideration,” wrote Kait Gillis, press secretary for the state Department of Human Services (DHS).

PENN LIVE: Anne Covey, the judge most famous for her involvement in the NCAA Pennsylvania State University case, has been asked by the state Bar Association to withdraw from this year’s historic Supreme Court election.

Gormley and Kistler, a Democrat and a Republican, maintain the ideological balance of the court, boast impressive legal resumes and — most importantly — are expected to pledge not to run in the November election that will tie up three seats on the state’s highest court for the next decade…