One of their first actions by state lawmakers will be to select the new leadership that will work with Christie.

Sheila Oliver of East Orange is expected to be the new Assembly Speaker, replacing the retiring Joe Roberts.  The Democratic caucus is anticipated to select Majority Leader Steve Sweeney to replace Dick Codey as Senate President.

Seton Hall  political science professor Joe Marbach says having new legislative leadership and a new Governor will make a difference in dealing with the state's budget problems.

Marbach: Now you'll have folks who don't necessarily have vested interests from prior practices. It's a real opportunity to break from the past.

Marbach says a new spirit of bipartisan cooperation might last until there's clash between the priorities of the new Republican Governor and the Democratic legislative leadership.

Both Wagner and Attorney General Tom Corbett have formally declared their campaigns for governor, opponents have stepped up their criticism each time the men announce high-profile audits or charges.

Democratic candidate Tom Knox says it's wrong to run for statewide office while holding another post, and Republican Jim Gerlach says Corbett's legislative corruption investigation is a conflict of interest for someone who wants to be the next governor.

Wagner dismisses the complaints.

Tom Corbett is elected as Attorney General. I'm elected as Auditor General. He's a prosecutor, I'm a fiscal watchdog. The way I view it we're both doing our job. That's what the people of Pennsylvania elected us to do.

Corbett has repeatedly said he won't step down, and he'll keep looking into corruption charges.

His latest opponent, state Representative Sam Rohrer, says he applauds the ongoing investigation, which recently charged ten Republicans.

Rohrer deflected questions about whether Corbett should step down, saying that's up to the Attorney General.

The so-called "mass" clinics are the nation's first partnership between federal and state health agencies.

"This is important because we are getting a large number of people who are at high risk for the complications of H1N1 vaccinated in a short period of time," said Dr. Kevin Yeskey of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

About 1,000 vaccinations were given Friday at Delaware Technical and Community College-Terry Campus in Dover. Other clinics are scheduled for the Delaware Tech-Stanton Campus in New Castle on Saturday and Delaware Tech-Owens in Georgetown on Sunday.

Those considered to be at the highest risk for H1N1 are infants and children six months to 4 years of age; pregnant women; and those aged five to 64 with chronic conditions.

So far, of the 1,791 H1N1 cases reported in Delaware, there have been five deaths and 13 hospitalizations, according to the Delaware Division of Public Health.

And though the number of cases seems to be stabilizing, officials say the public should not get a false sense of security.

"In the last three weeks we've actually seen the numbers going down," said Rita Landgraf, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. "But this is not traditionally the flu season. So we are still reinforcing good hygiene practices as well as prevention through vaccination."

State-wide more than 87,000 vaccinations have been administered.

Despite some concerns about the H1N1 vaccination, Dr. Yeskey says it is safe.

"Yes, this is a safe, effective vaccine and it prevents the disease."

The afternoon roll call for the ninth district bicycle cops happened in Rittenhouse Square, where pedestrians, bicycles and cars often compete for space on narrow roads and pavements.

The send off took place in full view of some of the city's most rugged cyclists — bicycle messengers like David Sellers.

Sellers: If the bike lane stays open and its just made for busses and bikes, then cars that are in the bike lane, they need to be pulled over and they need to get a ticket just as much as us. If we get a ticket for $300 dollars for riding on the pavement, cars should get a ticket for $500 dollars for riding in the bikelane.

In fact, the current fine for both motorists and bikers who run red lights, ride the wrong way down a one-way street, and don't yield to pedestrians is $119.50.

Police say they will be handing out both warnings and tickets to bikers. Motorists caught driving in the bike lanes along Spruce and Pine streets will also face fines.

It's not just jocks and exercise fanatics who run marathons, says Dr. Matthew DeCaro, a cardiologist at Thomas Jefferson University.

He says a national campaign to get fit has pushed a wider variety of people to run marathons.

DeCaro: Some of these people may have risk factors from the congenital perspective that make them higher risk for developing complications but especially now that the spectrum is shifting toward an older population of patients, many of whom would never have been active like this before, they've been brewing problems under the hood and just did not know it. So they're at risk for having this come out during that heavy exertion.

A Philadelphia Marathon spokesperson says no special medical precautions are being taken this year, because officials believe they already have a strong medical support system in place.

The jury now must decide whether John Lewis deserves the death penalty.

Sandra Schultz Newman is a retired Pennsylvania state Supreme Court Justice who now practices law across the region. She says the jury could hear testimony from witnesses, family members and arguments from the lawyers about mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

Schultz: An aggravator might be the kind of weapon that was used and how painful the murder was…And the mitigators would be: was there some history in their relationship? You can bring in the childhood .. to show the person had a tough childhood and they were exposed to child abuse and drugs and everything else.

If the jury decides the severity of the crime outweighs any mitigating factors, Lewis can be sentenced to death. If not, he will receive a sentence of life in prison.

Steward Farrell, director of the Coastal Research Center at Richard Stockton College says the beach replenishment projects are worth the expense.

Farrell: It's extremely important if we want to continue living right at the oceanfront and deriving the income and benefits from the fact that people come to the shore to spend time, recreate, and enjoy it.

But Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, says it's time to reconsider beach replenishment.

Dillingham: The sand very rarely stays on the beach after the storms and requires investment of millions of dollars of public monies every couple years to make sure that the houses will remain protected.

Dillingham says a better long term solution would be for the government to buy those beach front homes, move them back from the coast, and restore wetlands which serve as buffers against storms.

Valero officials cite poor economic conditions paired with significant capital spending requirements and high operating costs as reasons for the closure.

"The decision to permanently close the Delaware City refinery was a very difficult one,” said Valero Chairman and CEO Bill Klesse in a written statement. "We have spent the last year diligently trying to avoid this situation, and I have worked closely with Gov. Markell in an effort to find a different outcome. Earlier this fall, we shut down the gasifier and coking operations in an attempt to improve reliability and financial performance, but the refinery’s profitability did not improve enough. Additionally, we have sought a buyer for the refinery, but feasible opportunities have not materialized. At this point, we have exhausted all viable options."

Valero started informing employees of the decision today and is negotiating with union officials at the plant to determine severance terms.  Valero will begin the process of shutting down the plant, which had been producing 210,000 barrels per day, immediately.  It expects closing the refinery will save the company approximately 450 million dollars next year.

Governor Jack Markell says the state will move quickly to address the closure.  He's directed the Departments of Labor and Health and Social Services to assist workers effected by putting together rapid response teams similar to the ones used earlier this year when the GM Boxwood Road plant closed.

"We need to help those hundreds of dedicated workers put their time and talents to work in a way that helps them and their families." said Markell.

Governor Markell is also asking the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to identify any environmental issues at the facility and work with Valero to catalogue issues the company has responsibility to resolve.

"To protect the health and safety of everyone who lives near the facility, we need to ensure accountability for environmental issues that come from closing a refinery, and we will," Markell said.

DNREC secretary Collin O'Mara has assembled a team of environmental scientists and engineers to over see the shutdown.

"We have been working with the refinery on issues associated with a planned maintenance shutdown of the entire refinery for weeks  and are prepared for it." said O'Mara.  "The orderly shutdown of  the equipment has already begun with the shutdown in October of one of the refinery's major processing units.  the remaining units have been operating at reduced rates and will be taken offline in a manner portective of health, safety and the environment."

Test the Bump

Delaware's lone Congressman Mike Castle may not be a believer in the bump.  Castle appeared on the program in a taped segment that aired November 9.  (Click here to see the interview.)  By coincidence, the very next day the Susquehanna Polling and Research firm started a poll of the U.S. Senate race in which Castle is running.  Fate had established a perfect method of putting the "bump" to the test, or as it turns out, put it to rest.  According to the poll, Castle trails Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden by five percentage points.  That's a drop of 26 points since the last Susquehanna poll in April.  If Colbert had the impact he claims, Castle's numbers should have gone up, especially against a candidate who may or may not be in the running.  (Biden says he's "very seriously considering" running for the Senate, but he doesn't have timetable on when he'll decide.)

Party Foul?

Maybe the problem isn't that the Colbert bump doesn't exist, maybe it just doesn't work for Republican candidates.  Maybe the Colbert bump is partisan.  Colbert plays a conservative commentator on TV, but usually ends up mocking many Republican ideals, which could play more favorably with D's than R's.

University of California-San Diego political science professor James Fowler examined this idea in a report published in a journal of the American Political Science Association.  His research found that Democrats saw an increase in fund raising following an appearance with Colbert, while Republicans saw a drop in campaign donations.  "Republicans, if anything, the evidence sort of suggested that they might be harmed by going on this show," says Fowler.  "There almost appears to be a 'Colbert bust' for Republicans who go on the show."  Fowler says it's more difficult to isolate the impact of the 'bump' on an individual candidate.  That's because to get real results, you would have to compare Castle's result from going on the show to another candidate in a similar situation against a possible high profile candidate who did not go on the show.  "So if somebody from the Kennedy clan announced that they are running against someone who went on The Colbert Report, that might be a good comparison.  In this case, it's just hard to know."

The president of Susquehanna Polling Jim Lee attributes Castle's poor showing in the poll not so much to the lack of a "bump", but rather due to his vote against health care reform on the Saturday night before the poll started and before the interview aired.  "I think that some of the media attention on that vote certainly was captured in this survey, since we started this poll literally two or three days following that vote."  Lee says, from what he's read, the coverage of Castle's 'no' vote seemed to be slightly negative.  "One of the reasons why Biden is doing better in this poll among Democrats than back in the spring, is because of that no vote," says Lee.  He says while Castle's vote may have hurt his numbers with Democrats, which have a good majority in registered voters in the state, it may have helped his standing among Republican voters.

First Bump

(WARNING: Self-promotion ahead)  The Colbert Bump may not have helped Castle, but could it be that his possible opponent got a bump of his own?  Beau Biden appeared in an interview on WHYY's Delaware news magazine First (Video here) before the vote and before Castle's appearance on cable.  According to the poll, not only did Castle's numbers fall by 15%, but Biden's numbers shot up by 11%.

Listen:

Hundreds of union workers rallied in the shadow of Pier 98, which is nothing more than a run down remnant of what was the past of the shipping business in Philadelphia. State Representative Bill Keller is a dredging supporter. He says environmentalists who are against the deepening of the river channel need to know research shows the work won't cause any problems.

Keller: There's 12,000 pieces of paper that say this dredge is safe, it's good for the economics it create jobs and has zero environmental impact. There's 12,000 pieces of paper that say that. Science says that. What do they say they want one more piece of paper, it's all bull *bleep*.

Union officials say the dredging could provide thousands of jobs and revitalize the port and the region's economy.