Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's campaign rivals called on him to oust Police Chief Nate Harper Thursday and criticized him for failing to do so sooner.

Councilman Bill Peduto urged the mayor to place Mr. Harper on a leave of absence while city Controller Michael Lamb, citing the serial controversies surrounding the police department, said the chief should be forced to step down. Mr. Ravenstahl has said that he still has confidence in the chief.

"The people of Pittsburgh need a chief of police that is focused on the safety of the public 24/7, not a chief that is distracted by a federal grand jury, FBI agents raiding police headquarters, and daily allegations of misconduct,'' said Mr. Peduto. "Mayor Ravenstahl must immediately place Chief on Harper on a leave of absence, so that the chief can focus on those issues. That way, the people of Pittsburgh can be guaranteed that they have a chief that is focused 24/7 on public safety. The leave of absence should continue until the federal investigation is completed."

Joanna Doven, the mayor's press secretary, blasted Mr. Peduto, who, along with Mr. Lamb, is challenging her boss for the Democratic nomination for mayor.

"This is Bill Peduto being classic Bill Peduto. He'll say and do anything popular at the moment to benefit himself,'' she said in a statement. "Keep in mind that this is the same Bill Peduto who just a few years ago signed his name on a letter asking a judge for leniency toward his convicted friend and City Councilwoman. This request after she was found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars. This latest stunt just once again shines light on the hypocrisy of Bill Peduto.''

The spokeswoman referred to former city Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle, who resigned from council in 2008 while pleading guilty to 17 counts of ethics and corruption charges.

Mr. Lamb also decried the mayor's response to the police controversy.

"The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has been engulfed in controversy the past few months, distracting from their core duty of protecting the people of Pittsburgh. The Bureau needs leadership from the Mayor,'' the controller said.

"We ask our police officers to put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis to protect Pittsburgh and the least we can do is give them a semblance of stability so they can focus on the task at hand. We don't need a consultant to tell the city how to manage its affairs; we need leadership from the Mayor. If Chief Harper is not prepared to step down, the Mayor needs to make that decision for him. It's time for the mayor and the chief to do the right thing so that our police officers can focus on protecting the city – not controversies."

The mayor's office had no immediate rebuttal to the Lamb statement.

Mr. Peduto's statement on Mr. Harper followed another effort to attempt to put the administration on the defensive on public safety issues. Earlier in the day, he appeared at a Homewood press conference with state Rep. Ed Gainey. D-East Liberty, and other community leaders, to call on the mayor to enforce city legislation requiring the reporting of lost and stolen guns. Mr. Ravenstahl, while a member of the national group, Mayors Against Gun Violence, has refused to enforce that law arguing that to do so would fly in the face of a state law preempting municipal action against guns.

Sorry for the late start, Earlybirds — how about that Parkway traffic, amiright?

1. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is standing by his man, announcing his support for police chief Nate Harper in a news conference yesterday. FBI agents pulled subpoenaed documents Tuesday from police headquarters, though Harper says he hasn't received a target letter. Mr. Ravenstahl says the chief told him he didn't do anything wrong, and so Mr. Ravenstahl believes him. Cue rainbows and sunshine.

2. Pittburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is standing by his other man, announcing his support for campaign spokesman Robert Harringer, who was charged with obstructing an officer in November in Florida. Mr. Harringer says he was detained after trying to record with his iPhone a police officer's rough handling of another man. The mayor said Harringer was "practicing his First Amendment rights." Maybe he should be police chief.

After the jump, Mayor Luke stands by Manti Te'o, Lance Armstrong and Mark Rubio's water bottle.

From Molly Born at the main site:

Authorities in Palm Beach County, Fla., have issued an arrest warrant for Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's campaign spokesman.

West Palm Beach police arrested Robert Matthew Harringer, 24, a Florida native, Nov. 30 and charged with resisting an officer without violence, according to Palm Beach County court records.

The warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court Jan. 22.

A new court date is set for 9 a.m. Friday.

Mr. Harringer could not be reached immediately for comment.

UPDATE with more detail:

Mr. Harringer said early Wednesday afternoon that there is no longer a warrant for his arrest and that it was a misunderstanding.

"I was not given a notice of arraignment, nor my lawyer, and it's been taken care and there's no longer a warrant," he said.

But according to a Palm Beach County Constitutional Clerk & Comptroller spokeswoman, the records as of 2 p.m. still show an open warrant.

They also show that Mr. Harringer's attorney, Robert Foley, requested another hearing for Friday.

Mr. Harringer waived his arraignment and is pleading not guilty, the spokeswoman said.

According to West Palm Beach affidavit of probable cause, Mr. Harringer interfered as police questioned a witness Nov. 30.

A West Palm Beach officer was talking to a woman who was the apparent victim of a battery.

Police saw what happened and took a male suspect into custody, according to the affidavit.

While police still had the woman sequestered, Mr. Harringer came up, and it "appeared that Harringer was consoling her but was preventing her from answering our questions," according to the affidavit.

The officer first asked Mr. Harringer to "step back because he was interfering with my investigation" and then told him to step away from the crime scene.

Mr. Harringer then took out his iPhone to record part of the encounter, according to the affidavit.

He approached the scene several times while recording, according to the affidavit. The officer wrote in the affidavit that he warned Mr. Harringer more than once that he would be arrested for obstruction if he didn't stop. He wrote that he advised Mr. Harringer "no less than 8 times" to leave he scene.

More than once Mr. Harringer "demanded" a badge number for the officer who arrested the battery suspect.

According to the affidavit, Mr. Harringer also mentioned several names, including Congressmen Lois Frankel, who he said he worked for, and Dave Arronburg, the state attorney for West Palm Beach, who he told officers he knew.

UPDATE with reaction from Ravenstahl:

Mr. Ravenstahl said today it was his understanding that Mr. Harringer watched as a police officer kicked a man he was trying to arrest and the officer became angry when Mr. Harringer pulled out a camera phone and tried to record part of the encounter.

"It was him practicing his First Amendment rights," the mayor said.

He said he has known Mr. Harringer for about a month and chose him in part because of his experience in Congress.

He said Mr. Harringer thought his lawyer had taken care of the matter and he didn't realize a warrant had been issued for him.

The matter put Mr. Harringer in "a tough situation but I think he did the right thing."

This wasn't how Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Blair, wanted to start his first hearing as chairman of the U.S. House Transportation Committee.

Instead of opening with his prepared statement about infrastructure investment and navigation rights, he began with an apology.

"Last night I was quoted in response to the State of the Union address that [President Barack Obama] was lying," Mr. Shuster said. "I regret using those words."

He had been quoted this way in Politico: "I think he's lying about CEO's – they want to invest in a country that has high-speed rail. Really? Tell me what CEO said that, that cares about high-speed rail."

He backpedaled this morning.

"I regret using those words," Mr. Shuster said. "While I continue to disagree with the president on these things I do not think the president is a liar."