Pirates bat .220 in Q-poll

Sorry Pirates fans - no good news out of Quinnipiac University's poll this morning.

The survey of 1,420 Pennsylvania adults found 51 percent backing the Philadelphia Phillies, compared to 22 percent who root for the Pirates. Allegheny County was unsurprisingly their biggest backers, with 76 percent pledging local allegiance, 8 percent choosing the St. Louis Cardinals, 5 percent for the New York Yankees, 2 percent in Boston Red Sox hats, and 1 percent for the Phils. 

Perhaps Buccos fans should focus on last night instead.

In other headlines:

- The state House approved a measure to extend unemployment benefits, poising it for Senate approval and the governor's signature today. That came as the Department of Labor and Industry released this month's unemployment figures, showing that rate dropping from 7.5 percent down to 7.4 percent.

- An anti-budget-cut rally organized the Service Employees International Union showed above-average creativity, with participants opening umbrellas and singing, "It's raining now - spend the surplus," to the tune of "It's Raining Men." In a twist of irony, they moved their event inside to the Capitol rotunda, when it, in fact, was raining outside. Check out the video, via John Micek of the Morning Call's blog. 

- House Majority Leader Mike Turzai is expected to endorse a new school voucher bill from Rep. Jim Christiana on Monday, says the PA Independent. That measure, as we noted on Wednesday, would remove a provision in an earlier proposal that would broaden the program in its third year. Instead of including middle-class students in the vouchers, they could receive private-school scholarships, through an expansion of a current tax credit program for businesses that donate to scholarship funds.