Flexing his incumbent muscle, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's reelection campaign looks to have at least double the cash of his rivals Bill Peduto and Michael Lamb.

Ravenstahl's campaign announced this morning that as it had $781,510.76 in cash at the end of 2012  as of today. Peduto's team said last week it raised almost $330,000 by the end of the year, but blacked out of the councilman's brief report how much cash was left after expenses. Lamb, the city's fiscal watchdog, has not released any totals but is due to formally announce his candidacy tomorrow.

The year-end report filing deadline is Thursday, Jan. 31.

UPDATE: Ravenstahl's figure was reported in the disclosure of financial interests form all city elected officials were required to file today. Lamb reported having $236,795.75 in his main campaign account and Peduto only listed his city council account, which was zeroed out last year.

Something odd is going on in state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin's corruption case.

Melvin's lawyers are trying to unseal federal court documents regarding a woman who claimed she got a STD from a doctor she was dating, claiming her identity could have a bearing on the justice's case. The Post-Gazette is trying to intervene to find out what's going on, but has promised not to identify the woman.

From Paula Reed Ward:

Last week, Justice Orie Melvin, who faces criminal trial later this month, filed a motion seeking to reveal the identity of a woman who claimed in a federal lawsuit that she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from a doctor she'd been dating.

Justice Orie Melvin's attorneys asked -- and received permission -- to file their supporting briefs under seal. They claimed in their filing that the woman's allegations have "direct bearing" on Justice Orie Melvin's trial.

The attorney for the woman identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, Stephen S. Stallings, filed his response to the justice's brief Friday, also under seal.

He earlier had called Justice Orie Melvin's attempts to reveal his client's name "disgusting."

The newspaper is not seeking to identify Jane Doe, Post-Gazette attorney Fritz Byers wrote in his brief.

"[T]he Post-Gazette seeks access only to the reasons proffered by Justice Orie Melvin in her motion as to why she believes she is entitled to make Jane Doe known to the public."

Mr. Byers said the newspaper has no interest in publicizing the name of Jane Doe or information on the underlying case; rather, "the public interest being advanced by the Post-Gazette is in learning why Justice Orie Melvin believes that Jane Doe's privacy interests, which supported the initial sealing, are now outweighed by her rights to publicly disclose Jane Doe's identity."

Mr. Byers said that by allowing the parties to file the documents under seal, the court denied public access to a judicial document that Justice Orie Melvin considers to impact "critical Constitutional interests."

The justice is due to go on trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court next week.

One of Rep. Tim Murphy’s first initiatives as a new House subcommittee chairman is an examination of mental health issues raised by the slaughter of 20 first-graders and six adults in Newtown, Conn. 

Mr. Murphy announced the initiative today, one month after gunman Adam Lanza opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Mr. Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, is chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The subcommittee expects to hear from leading experts on mental health.

“We will seek out any and all expert perspectives to gain a better understanding and learn how we can do better,” said Mr. Murphy, who worked as a child psychologist before his election to Congress.

“For too long, mental illness has been a topic saved for the shadows, often going unmentioned,” he said. “Newtown serves to inspire thoughtful examination on mental health policies.”

Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said the Newtown shooting pushed mental health to the forefront and provides an opportunity for construction discussion on a topic that has often been ignored.

“While we do not know what caused the tragic events in Newtown to unfolded, it has generated a national debate on guns, violence, cultural factors and mental illness,” he said. “We must seek to gain a better understanding of societal factors, potential causes, and their overall impact upon outbreaks of violence.”

Michael Lamb will make it official on Wednesday.
The city controller will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination mayor in a morning event at Cannon Coffee, in Brookline, a venue chosen to reflect the Mt. Washington resident's South Hills roots.   Afterwards, he'll drop by Strong's Cleaners, in Homewood, a stop, in a heavily African-American neighborhood, that will highlight a crucial constituency that could be decisive in a race between three white city office holders.
Councilman Bill Peduto announced his bid to challenge Mayor Luke Ravenstahl earlier this month.  Mr. Ravenstahl has yet to make a formal announcement but has said repeatedly that he plans to run for re-election.
Mr. Lamb's entry into the race raises the prospect of splitting the potential opposition to the incumbent, but the controller has said that a three-way is winnable for one of the challengers.  Mr. Lamb won election as controller in 2007.  Prior to that, he was the Allegheny County prothonotary before that office was abolished in a consolidation of the county's row offices that he supported.
Mr. Lamb, a Penn State graduate, earned a law degree at Duquesne University and a masters in public policy at Carnegie-Mellon University.  He is the son of former state Sen. Thomas Lamb.