EN ROUTE -- On the lookout for your local political insiders? You'll be hard-pressed to spot them in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg this weekend.

It's time again for the annual Pennsylvania Society festivities, when a large portion of the state's movers and shakers get together to talk Pennsylvania in ... New York City.

The weekend is anchored around the annual holiday dinner -- this is the 114th -- of the Pennsylvania Society, which describes its genesis thusly:

In 1899, an historian and native Pennsylvanian named James Barr Ferree, who was living in New York City, invited 55 fellow Pennsylvanians living in New York to join him for dinner at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. While feasting on oysters and Delmonico steaks, they decided to form a group known initially as "The Pennsylvania Society of New York." Their goal was to establish a society "uniting all Pennsylvanians at home and away from home in bonds of friendship and devotion to their native or adopted state." They decided to meet for dinner every year, same time, same place.

But many of the folks filling the morning Amtrak from the capital are heading east for the myriad surrounding parties and receptions, whose high-profile guests lists include Gov.Tom Corbett, Karl Rove, U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey and many more.

The 2014 governor's race may provide the most fodder for the state-wide intrigue mill, but Western PA onlookers will have enough to keep them busy: There are competing receptions for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his expected-but-unannounced 2013 challenger, Councilman Bill Peduto.

For a full listing of events, PoliticsPA is your source.

If this all sounds a bit smokey-back-rooms, well, New York has a law against that. In any case, your Harrisburg correspondents are on the story, party dresses and notebooks in tow. 

Sen. Pat Toomey's office announced this afternoon that Toomey has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki how the agency is addressing the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at the Pittsburgh VA hospital.

Toomey wrote in the Dec. 4 letter:

"I respectfully request information regarding the steps that are currently being taken to address the Legionnaires' outbreak and the plans being formulated to ensure the safety of current and future patients at all facilities in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The men and women who have bravely served our country deserve to know that their health care needs will be met in a safe and secure environment."

Toomey's counterpart, Sen. Bob Casey, has also written to Shinseki, asking for information about the cause of the outbreak.

Bruce Castor, a Montgomery County Commissioner, told PoliticsPA in a story posted this morning that he's thinking about challenging Gov. Tom Corbett in the 2014 Republican primary:

“I am considering the possibility of becoming a candidate for Governor,” Castor said. “I believe that Governor Corbett is vulnerable.”

For months, murmurs of a possible primary challenge have circulated among Republican insiders. Castor is the first person to say he’s pondering a run and he’s among the top tier of potential candidates.

“It looks to me like Governor Corbett has not fulfilled the promise he came into office with,” Castor said. “That could change and everything could end up being terrific a year from now. But if it’s not I want to be in a position where I haven’t sat on my hands.”

Castor, a former district attorney, has faced Corbett before, in the 2004 primary for attorney general. Corbett won with 53 percent. 

The AP quoted Corbett's political adviser, Brian Nutt, pointing out that Castor's comments arrived just before the annual Pennsylvania Society weekend in New York City, with its mingling of political and business movers.

"This is the season of people talking about running for any number of elected offices," Nutt told the AP.

There's no election on the calendar, but Allegheny County Democrats have a date to nominate their candidate for the 42nd District House seat previously held by soon-to-be-Sen. Matt Smith.

Smith resigned his House seat Nov. 30 after winning the 37th District Senate seat formerly held by John Pippy, a Republican. Smith ran concurrently for the two seats.

The speaker of the House will call a special election to fill the seat after members are sworn in, and the speaker is elected, on Jan. 1. County and state Democratic committee members living in the district are scheduled to vote on their candidate Dec. 16 in Mt. Lebanon.

"We usually try to get the nomination organized and the candidate chosen as quickly as possible," said Grant Gittlen, executive director of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee.

As of this afternoon, no candidate had submitted a letter of intent, which they must do to secure a spot on the ballot. But this story by politics editor James O'Toole names former Mr. Lebanon commissioner Dan Miller as a candidate for the party's nomination.