With two more work days for state legislators and their challengers to submit ballot petitions, it's still not entirely clear whether the April 24 primary date is about to hopscotch down the calendar a few months.

Recent news reports inquiring on that question to top state Senate Republicans show either some internal conflict, or a growing acceptance that of letting that election go forward as planned.

Take Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, to the Wilkes Barre Times Leader on Monday:

"The fact that this is a presidential election year does not preclude moving the primary," Pileggi said.

The paper also notes that today is the revised deadline set for completing new legislative maps, with the intent that they be voted the following week. 

This morning, though, Capitolwire.com reports that Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati favors leaving the approaching primary date where it is.

"I think we need to be cautious about moving the primary," Scarnati told Capitolwire in an interview. "The electorate would be upset and this could make them angry. I hope anyone who wants to do that will listen to voters and hear what they feel about if we do that after the court rejected the legislative plan and called it unconstitutional. I have some concerns about how the public will react to that."

Scarnati cites the need to complete the budget in June, when there's the most information available on the state's revenues, as a another reason for not delaying the contest.

Both state and federal courts have ruled that the primary date should go forward as planned, using the 2001-approved legislative maps.

House Republicans still seem intent on using newly drawn maps for the primary, though the required public comment and challenge periods make that increasingly unlikely without altering the primary date.

Music journalist, critic and historian Rich Kienzle has lots more about presidential campaign music at his Get Rythmn blog over the the PG's Community Voices platform:

"Mackenzie Carpenter authored an excellent and quite comprehensive story on Presidential Campaign music in Sunday's PG. In it, she mentioned a number of the more interesting campaign songs. In this entry, we're going to give you some of the actual songs she mentioned and much more. It would be impossible to mention them all, but we'll look at others not so well known, covering as many candidates as we can find with some context and a bit of music criticism for good measure."

Pittsburgh's Ken Gormley -- author of the essential "The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs Starr" -- is interviewed in next week's "Clinton" on PBS. The two-part film debuts Feb. 20-21.

"I had a keen sense that the filmmakers were intent on capturing for the show the 'true' Bill Clinton-both his brilliant successes as a public figure and his failures that caused him to be dogged by scandal," Gormley said in a statement. "It should be an incredible film."

Gormley is the dean of the Duquesne Law School. Press release from the school below:

The retry of the corruption case against state Sen. Jane Orie and her sister Janine will be separate this time around. From Paula Reed Ward:

An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge this morning agreed to sever the trials of state Sen. Jane Orie and her sister Janine Orie, who were scheduled to go to trial at the end of this month on charges they misused the senator's legislative staff to run an election campaign.

The trial for the Republican from McCandless still is set to begin Feb. 27. The trial for Janine Orie has not been rescheduled.

Attorney James DePasquale, who represents Janine Orie, had asked that his client be tried separately since the two sisters were initially charged. Judge Jeffrey A. Manning had repeatedly denied the request until this morning during a pre-trial hearing.

He referred to the additional charges filed against Jane Orie in the summer, alleging perjury and forgery that prosecutors say arose out of the mistrial in the case last year.

"I don't want to do this three times," Judge Manning said. But he continued, "I'm concerned I'm doing a disservice to both defendants by keeping these cases joined."

After the hearing, Mr. DePasquale said he believed trying the sisters together was unfair, especially with the additional charges against the senator.

"I just thought that would have been too prejudicial for Janine," he said. "I've always thought it would be better for my client to be severed -- from Day One.

"Better late than never."

Later today, Judge Joseph M. James, who supervises the grand jury, will hold a hearing on a motion by Jane Orie's attorney asking that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate a possible leak in the grand jury.

William Costopoulos has accused the prosecution of releasing information that another sister in the case, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, received a letter indicating she was a target of the grand jury.

Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus has denied the allegation.

Justice Orie Melvin has not been charged. Her attorney, J. Alan Johnson, did attend this morning's hearing.