John Perzel was in handcuffs for his arraigment / Image credit Scott Detrow

Former Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel turned himself in this morning in Harrisburg to face charges in a legislative corruption case. Perzel is one of 10 people connected to the House Republican caucus charged in a probe into the alleged misuse of public resources and workers for campaign purposes.

PA State Rep John Perzel (right) with the crime fighting dog (left)

(updated: Grand Jury report links below)

Former state House Speaker John Perzel is among 10 people connected to the House Republican caucus who are being charged in a new phase of a legislative corruption probe.

Attorney General Tom Corbett says Perzel, a Philadelphia Republican, his former chief of staff Brian Preski and former House GOP counsel Brett Feese are among those charged with misuse of public resources and employees for campaign purposes.

Corbett: “Perzel developed a scheme, or a cover story, that the databases and programs were for constituent services, and would be available to all House Republican members and their staff. In reality, Perzel was able to use the data and software programs for his own campaigns, and for the campaign arm of the caucus, the House Republican campaign committee.”

Perzel served as House Speaker from April 2003 until Nov. 2006. He was first elected to the Assembly in 1978 and continues in that position representing District 172 in Northeast Philadelphia.

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Ahmed Awa is a popular region in Iraq for hiking / Image credit Jamie Wilmore and Tyler Wagner

A senior Iranian prosecutor says the three Americans detained in July were involved in espionage. It’s not known whether formal charges have been filed in the Iranian courts, but it does suggest that the government is planning to put them on trial.

The three include Josh Fattal, an Elkins Park, PA native, who most recently was living in Oregon. On July 31 the trio called a friend to report that they had accidentally strayed into Iran and were surrounded by Iranian border guards.  Since that time the three have been detained in Iran.

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NBC10 is reporting that an agreement has been reached and the six day transit strike is over, Buses, trolleys and subways will be running before Monday morning’s rush hour. The contract is expected to be ratified by the full membership of  The Transport Workers Union Local 234 during a vote scheduled for later today.

The strike began last Tuesday, Nov 3 at 3:00 a.m. The union has been working without a contract since March. One of the union’s biggest gripes was that its pension fund being underfunded. We’ll have to see what’s in the new contract that will help address this. SEPTA wanted the workers to contribute more into the pension fund, but the union pushed back saying that it was management’s fault that the retirement fund was so low.

It’s Our Money blog reports that the Transport Workers Union Local 234 has a made a counter proposal to SEPTA’s latest offer. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who is part of the negotiations, said earlier today that the two sides reached a tentative deal.

TWU members went on strike on Tuesday halting bus, trolley and subway service in Philadelphia. The SEPTA board and the union members were scheduled to vote on the tentative deal this afternoon.

But it appears the union wants something better. Now, SEPTA has to decide whether to accept the union’s latest demands.

Governor Ed Rendell speaking on WHYY’s Radio Times this morning said that the SEPTA Board has revised its original contract offer and that now it’s up the union leadership to decide if it’s acceptable. Rendell said the changes were non-economic, adding that the SEPTA Board has made it clear that they don’t have anymore money to throw in. Rendell says if the deal is accepted the strike could be over before the afternoon commute.

Click below to listen. Fast foward to the -37:00 on the player’s counter to hear Governor Rendell

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