Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), the first Vietnam combat veteran to be elected to Congress in 1974, died Monday of complications from gall bladder surgery. A vocal critic of the Iraq War, he was 77-years-old and completed 36th year in Congress last week.

As the leading Democrat on the House panel overseeing Pentagon spending, his death leaves House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) without a key ally on defense and foreign policy issues. In addition, it adds to the difficult situation that the Democratic Party finds itself in, putting yet another Democratic seat up for grabs in a year that their party is struggling to maintain its 78-vote edge in the House.

A former car wash owner from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Murtha moved through the ranks up to becoming one of the most powerful members of Congress, serving on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Such a position gave him sweeping authority to determine how federal dollars were dispersed and who would receive them.

Murtha unabashedly used his power to benefit his constituents in hishome town and his home state. Over the years he has been subjected to on-going ethics scrutiny because of this.

Cleveland’s TV station owners are – as are other corporations – taking advantage of the job problems – by slashing the pay of its workers. It’s for no other reason than they can apparently get away with it.

The Cleveland Scene has been watching this issue.

This item on its blog reveals that WKYC-TV, Channel 3, is slashing pay without dealing with its union. Just cut it and let them run to the NLRB, I guess is the attitude.

What people need to do is tell WKYC that they will boycott the station’s news as long as its workers are being so shabbily treated.

Here’s the Scene piece:

TROUBLE IN TV LAND

After nine months of difficult negotiations, management at Cleveland’s WKYC-TV3 has broken off labor negotiations and implemented a unilateral pay cut for union members.

The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA) says the station is in violation of its contract, which should have been in place for another 18 months. It’s filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board and is now seeking a federal injunction to enforce the contract.

Cleveland State sophomore guard Trevon Harmon has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 7.

A native of Pasadena, Calif., Harmon averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists as the Vikings won at UIC (74-63) and Loyola (59-56) to move into second place in the League standings. He had a team-high 17 points and five assists against UIC on Thursday and then 14 points and six rebounds versus Loyola on Saturday while shooting 50 percent (11-for-22) from the field for the week. Against Loyola, Harmon’s layup with 3:54 remaining tied the game and the Vikings never trailed again. His steal with 30 seconds left led to two free throws by Tim Kamczyc that gave Cleveland State a 57-54 lead.

For the season, Harmon averages 11.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Cleveland State (12-12, 8-4 Horizon League) will play host this week to Valparaiso on Thursday and nationally ranked and League-leading Butler on Saturday at the Wolstein Center, where the Vikings have won 13 consecutive League games. The CSU-Butler game is the Horizon League Network Game of the Week and a re-match of last year’s Horizon League championship game won by the Vikings.

They announced the Oscar nominations last week and overall, there weren’t a lot of surprises to be had. With the exception of the Best Actress, every major category looks like it has a lock. So, if I give my list of who is going to win I should look like a genius, but if things are not as they look, then I may feel foolish by the end of Oscar night. I’ll take my chances:

Best Supporting Actress

Mo’Nique should have this all wrapped up for her performance in Precious. While Maggie Gyllenhaal is excellent as the girlfriend who is weary of her country music singin’ alcohol chuggin boyfriend in Crazy Heart, and the two female stars of the George Clooney film Up in the Air are very good in their roles, no one in this category can compare to Mo’Nique’s incendiary performance in Precious. She owns the screen from the moment she appears on it. “A Ha!” you say; I failed to mention Penelope Cruz for Nine. No I didn’t. I would rather come up with a list of other actresses that should have her spot than think of that movie again.

Best Supporting Actor

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young announced Friday that he had turned over a copy of the sex tape involving his ex-boss and his mistress, Rielle Hunter, to the FBI. In court documents, Young said his attorney sent a copy of the tape to federal investigators, but that he still has the original tape in a safe deposit box in Atlanta. On Thursday, he was held in contempt of court for refusing to hand over all copies of the tape.

North Carolina Judge Abraham Penn Jones told Young:

"These items are to be produced and turned over to the court. The court will put them under lock and key - and under seal - until the lawsuit is resolved."

The tape in question reportedly shows Edwards engaged in sexual activities with a then-pregnant Hunter. Young recently revealed on ABC's "Good Morning America" that he had been offered a "gigantic" sum of money to sell the tape, but that he had declined.

Hunter said that she tried to destroy the tape that she and Edwards made in 2006 by yanking the tape out of its cassette.

Young claims in his new book "The Politician" that he found the tape in a home Hunter rented after she moved. He said he was able to restore the tape, and has had it in his possession since then.

There's a darn good movie on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Monday night at 6 p.m. "Seven Days in May" is a favorite of mine because one of the co-authors of the novel, Fletcher Knebel, was a reporter for The Plain Dealer in the 1950's. Rod Serling took his best-selling novel and wrote a thrilling screenplay.

The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl champions tonight after disposing of the favored Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Miami. The Colts got off to a quick 10-0 lead after one quarter, but the Saints would cut their lead to only 4 at intermission with two field goals. New Orleans, who had a 4th down call backfire on them late in the first half at the Colts goal line, would surprise the Colts with an onside kick to start the second half and convert it for a go-ahead score at 13-10. The Colts would quickly answer with a 10 play 76 yard drive and a one point lead. That would be the last time that Peyton Manning's club would have the lead, however, as the Saints would score the next 15 points for a 31-17 victory. Leading the way in the New Orleans' Super Bowl victory was quarterback Drew Brees, who went an outstanding 32-29 for 288 yards and two TDs.

Here is how the scoring went down in tonight's contest:

I've heard complaints about my silence recently, so let me get this off my chest.

Brent Larkin was so right in the Sunday Plain Dealer about the proposed passenger train linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

I've been stupefied ever since the governor started touting it about a month ago. Strickland truly is out of touch. A sage once said, "You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy."

Larkin points out that "trains will average about 40 mph -- not quite twice as fast as a well-conditioned bicyclist could pedal, and barely half as fast as a driver can travel on Interstate 71." The Amish travel almost as fast in their horse drawn buggies.

You can drive to Columbus via I-71 in two hours. My Camry will make the round trip on one tank of gas, $40, less than the cost of a train ticket. The train will take almost twice as long, assuming that it's on time, and then you'll take a cab or get a ride to get to where you're actually going. And you'll need a hotel room because you can't do the round trip in one day.