Jane Orie picks interesting cause

You can't keep Jane Orie down.

The McCandless Republican is back out in public on a major policy issue for the first time since her March mistrial on corruption charges, and chose a typically fiesty issue on which to do so: gambling.

Ms. Orie's people have long said that the corruption case brought by DA Stephen Zappala (there's that name again) was rooted in the state senator's opposition to gambling, so it was eye-opening when her first big policy push in months concerned reforms to the Gaming Control Board's investigations bureau. The last time she said much publicly was during AG Linda Kelly's confirmation hearing.

From John Manganaro's story in the PG:

Mr. Zappala's father, former state Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr., is chairman of the Pennsylvania Casino Association.

That has raised questions about whether Ms. Orie's criticisms of the gaming industry could be the latest chapter in an ongoing and much publicized political feud between the two families -- a charge Ms. Orie denied.

"These reforms are clearly not moving along on my suggestion alone," she said. "Reforms have been made in the past, and they will be made in the future. It is my job as a legislator to protect and advocate for the people of Pennsylvania, and that's what I'm doing."

Representatives from the Pennsylvania Casino Association could not immediately be reached for comment.

Photo: State Sen. Jane Orie, left, and her sister, Janine Orie, leave the Allegheny County Courthouse after a mistrial was declared. Bob Donaldson/PG