DAILY BEAST Column: …Much like the humans he documents who came to rule Earth, Jared Diamond is out with a new book sure to increase his rule in the classroom.

…After six years of steep declines across the Southwest, illegal crossings have soared in South Texas while remaining low elsewhere. The Border Patrol made more than 90,700 apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley in the past six months, a 69 percent increase over last year.

HARRISBURG (April 9) – A Commonwealth Court ruling issued Wednesday calls into question the validity of the consent decree imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Penn State as a result of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

From beginning to end, U.S Rep. Schwartz gave York businessman Tom Wolf a taste of front-runner status, questioning him on various fronts: the bank loan used to partially fund his $10 million campaign contribution, his “unconventional candidate” business background, and his sometimes wonky explanations of policy issues.

Corbett’s biggest contributors included John S. Middleton, a Philadelphia Phillies co-owner and major GOP donor, who gave $250,000. Contributions from the highway construction industry zoomed past the $160,000 mark and the political committee and chief executive of Ohio-based coal mine operator Murray Energy gave Corbett’s campaign at least $50,000…

USA TODAY: Reimbursements to doctors who provide Medicare services in 2012 ranged from nearly $21 million to a single Florida ophthalmologist to the $27,000 for the average anesthesiologist, according to the first look at government payment data in 35 years…

Six-day libraries in every neighborhood can help mitigate some of our woes. This is why Philadelphians applaud the mayor’s budget, which would restore $2.5 million to the Free Library’s general fund. If approved by Council, six-day libraries and more books on shelves will become a reality next year.

There 3,000 workers are installing a huge set of turbines, pipelines and refrigeration units, building a terminal that will send American natural gas around the world by the end of next year. By 2017, the facility built by Houston-based Cheniere Energy could handle roughly a sixth the amount of gas that flows from Russia to Europe every day.

WASHINGTON POST: … On a 34-to-8 vote, the Senate gave final approval to the legislation Monday afternoon. The bill would impose only civil fines, rather than criminal sanctions, on those caught with less than 10 grams of the drug…

This coming Thursday April 10 at 7:30 pm at Lancaster Catholic High School 650 Juliette Ave Lancaster PA. 17601

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz launches her first TV ad in the Democratic primary for governor Monday, a 30-second spot that highlights her work in the state senate helping enact a landmark children’s health insurance program.

Released Monday, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index measured the share of adults without health insurance. That shrank from 17.1 percent at the end of last year to 15.6 percent for the first three months of 2014.