Tom Flaherty learned a few things in his 21 years as Pittsburgh's controller before moving on to the county bench. One of his best tricks -- besides grabbing headlines; his local clip files were outdone only by Pope John Paul II -- was with refund checks to city residents. Piles of the checks sat on a table in his conference room, which Flaherty would sign personally, oftentimes with a message to the enriched city citizen.

The message was clear: The city treasury owes you this money but it's coming through the grace of Tom. City Council president Darlene Harris seems to know this one too.

Harris's office released a list today of 900 city taxpayers who are due money from the city treasury, mostly for old (2007) property sales where tax proceeds have been sitting in escrow. The city hasn't been able to locate those due the money and if they don't step forward by April 1 the money will be forwarded to the state.

Harris -- who is pondering a run for mayor -- wants you to know she doesn't want this to happen. Her office today released a list of the 900 names generated by city departments and the controller's office, noting they were due between $1 and $26,000. (There is about $140K total in escrow, which would average to $155.)

Harris's office released a similar list last year. Said her office today: "Unclaimed money, by law, must be turned over to the appropriate state governments. Fortunately, City Council President Darlene Harris has pushed for a more proactive attempt in returning this money to the rightful owners. This cash belongs to ordinary people like you."

The list is here and will be posted later on the council website. Those seeking help in retreiving the funds may call the councilwoman's office at 412-255-2135.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl confirmed yesterday that his North Side neighbor, Dan Onorato, was the mystery candidate he had in mind as his choice to succeed him.

Mr. Ravenstahl alluded to an unnamed potential candidate at the news conference in which he upended Pittsburgh politics in announcing announcing that he would not seeking re-election.   But until Monday, he had declined to identify his preference.  After a weekend as the object of speculation about the race, the former county executive and unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee for governor released a terse statement saying that he was not a candidate and would remain on the Highmark lobbying perch where he'd landed after deciding not to seek a third term as executive.

Happy daylight saving time, Early Returners. I know you're all wound up from Sunday's local Democratic endorsement nailbiter, but here's a handful of stories we think you should check out.

1. Here's Jim O'Toole's full story on the endorsement.

2. Andrew McGill and Ed Blazina write on local municipalities struggling not to collect windfalls after the reassessment. 

3. Len Barcousky profiles Krista Harris, 28, the youngest member of Allegheny County Council. She was appointed last week to replace veteran Republican member Vince Gastgeb, who stepped down to serve on the Allegheny County Airport Authority. 

4. Sequestration, what? Americans are in denial about the impact of sequestration, a new poll said. The story from McClatchy. In the meantime, we'll try to do a better job of scaring you. 

5. OK, but probably not these Americans. Tracie Mauriello writes about Army and Marine Corp veterans who will have to foot more of their tuition bills because of cuts to assistance programs for veterans pursuing higher education.  

In the Democratic committee endorsements Sunday, there was little suspense on the top line -- Michael Lamb was unopposed in the mayor's race --  but there were some surprises elsewhere on the ballot.

In city Council District 8, the seat Mr. Lamb's rival, Councilman Bill Peduto, is vacating to run for mayor, his longtime aide, Dan Gilman, won with 33 votes over Jeanne Clark, 23, and Sam Hens-Greco, 14.  In the only other contested council race in the city, former Councilwoman Tonya Payne won over the man who defeated her for the Democratic nomination four years ago, incumbent councilman R. Daniel Lavelle.  Ms. Payne had 45 votes; Mr. Lavelle, 37.

From a field of 14, the four endorsed candidares for vacancies on Comon Pleas Court were Mark Tranquilli, Jen Satler, Paul Cozza and P.J. Murray.