As we just discussed, the speculation over who takes on Tom Corbett in 2014 got a little boost this weekend with reports that U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz is edging closer to a bid.

Reporting from the Democratic state committee meeting in Hershey, the websites Capitolwire and PoliticsPA reported that Montgomery County Democratic Chairman Marcel Groen said Schwartz is "80 percent of the way" to running for governor.

The congresswoman was one of several Democratic officeholders and law enforcement officials who appeared at a gun-control event today in Philadelphia with Vice President Joe Biden.

Afterward, she declined at first to discuss the upcoming race: "We should talk about gun safety. That's what I'm here for. I'm here as a member of Congress. We can talk politics another time."

But several minutes later, asked about the 80 percent number, she smiled and said: "That's pretty accurate."

On a weekend where the rest of us were contemplating the future of Pittsburgh's police chief, wondering how a Stanley Cup contender could score just two goals over 120 minutes, or getting a weird vibe from Taylor Swift, party officials in Harrisburg were hard at work talking about an election 21 months from now and another for a statewide appellate court opening.

The main news out of the Democratic Party state committee was the possibility that MontCo's Allyson Schwartz is growing nearer to joining the governor's race next year. There are a lot of candidates buzzing around Tom Corbett's fetid poll numbers and as we noted two weeks ago, Schwartz has a health $3 million she can put into a race already.There was also speculation about her possible run in December.

Schwartz has gone from starting a women's health clinic to serving in the state Senate to joining Congress in 2005, and is on the Ways & Means committee and vice-chair of the pro-business New Democrat Coalition.

As the University of Minnesota's Smart Politics blog notes, if sucessful she would be Pa's first female governor and only the third House member in the governor's mansion in the past 100 years (after William Scranton and Tom Ridge).

The Dem committee also endorsed Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge (and former cop) Joe Waters for the state's open Superior Court spot over Pittsburgh's Mike Wojcik in a 199-62 vote. Republicans at their winter meeting chose Cumberland County's Vic Stabile, a former deputy attorney general, as their preferred candidate for the seat. Stabile also ran for the court in 2011 when he was defeated by David Wecht by 10 percentage points.

Good morning, early Early Returners. No snow from Nemo, but plenty of political news. Let's get started:

1. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane makes her first official command a big one, shutting down the "Florida loophole" allowing gun owners denied a concealed-carry permit in the Keystone State to use one from the Sunshine State instead.

2. From yours truly, an operation in Wilkinsburg with more than $4 million in tax-exempt property draws questions as Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald begins his inquisiition into non-profits. Is Strength Inc. really a non-profit charity, despite IRS troubles, rescinded grants from the county and shuttered buildings? And if not, why wasn't it rooted out earlier?

3. The Paterno family has released its rebuttal to Penn State's Freeh Report, calling the inquiry conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh a "profound failure." Among the rebuttal's authors is former Pennsylvania governor and Pittsburgh native Dick Thornburgh. Check the full thing out at Paterno.com, but drink some coffee first -- it's more than 200 pages long

4. The charmingly named Yinzercation education advocacy group holds a rally for increased education funding, calling on Gov. Tom Corbett to repent his earlier cuts and send more money to public schools. You'll also see a schoolteacher doing the limbo -- I promise.

5. And just for fun, the New York Times' piece on the cross-state Wawa v. Sheetz competition. By its choice of a Wawa for the dominant image on the article, it looks like the Gray Old Lady has already picked a side.

So late last year, the office of Councilman Patrick Dowd put together what they thought was a pretty innocuous annual District 7 newsletter. (Scroll down if you'd like to see why others disagree.) They were printed up in the city's own shop in mid-January and sent to the city's mailroom.

From there, they were supposed to be picked up by a mailing service the city contracts with to  slap postage and address labels on city mailers and to fold them. But instead, they sat and sat and sat, despite multiple assurances that the company would be picking them up, according to Mr. Dowd.

After a bit of digging, Mr. Dowd found out on Wednesday the newsletter had become the subject of a "legal investigation" by the city's Law Department, which was reviewing whether or not the mailer fell within the city's franking privilege -- basically, the privilege of council members and the mayor to mail constituents on the city's dime. Generally speaking, these mailers cannot be partisan or political. But you can put a picture of yourself, say, on the city's garbage pickup calendar.

Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, said there was a sentence that was inflammatory and defamatory of Mr. Ravenstahl. She said all mailers are reviewed by city treasurer Margaret Lanier.  Mr. Dowd was unaware of this policy.

Either way, this led to a polysyllabic tongue-lashing from Mr. Dowd to city solicitor Dan Regan. In an email, he called Mr. Regan "puerile and unethical." He complained that no one had informed him of this review and demanded to know the parameters of it.