Welcome to Capitol Notes, a collection of Harrisburg news tidbits that didn't make it into print and is available only on line.

BARRICADES AT THE CAPITOL
Just in time for Monday's noisy protest by citizens over legislators' hefty pay raise, some physical changes have occurred outside the front entrance of the Capitol building, where the demonstrators are to gather.

One tier of concrete steps, those closest to the building, has been torn out completely, replaced by metal fencing and wooden boards that block virtually the entire main entrance. Only a small space about 4 feet wide remains for people to enter the building.

The work, said to be regularly scheduled maintenance and repairs, was also going on at a second Capitol entrance, a few hundred feet away. It has been almost entirely closed off with scaffolding and yellow "caution'' tape.

Thirdly, parking signs that list the names of each of the 50 senators -- and designate the spaces where senators park right in front of the Capitol -- were suddenly removed a week ago.

Eric Epstein, an organizer of the "Rock The Capital" protest against the pay raise, said he thinks "the timing is curious'' for this work.

"It's a transparent attempt to deflect attention from the pay raise,'' he said. "These legislators normally trip over themselves to get to a TV camera, but now they've created roadblocks and barriers and barricades for this Sept. 26 demonstration.

"This work on the building could have waited, but all of a sudden the front steps to the Capitol are 'under construction','' he said. "They're just trying to insulate themselves from public outrage. I think they're scared of their constituents. They can run but they can't hide.''

He said the protestors still plan to enter the building by other entrances Monday afternoon to try to meet with legislators and urge them to repeal the pay raise.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG GOES ON
The Civil War Preservation Trust, which strongly opposes a plan for a $200 million slot machine casino near the historic Gettysburg battlefield, was pleased with a statement by Gov. Ed Rendell last week.

On the Pennsylvania Cable Network, Rendell, former mayor of Philadelphia, said, "I wouldn't want a casino two blocks from the Liberty Bell and, if it were my decision, I wouldn't want it anywhere close to the historic area of Gettysburg. You don't want to have young children seeing a casino next to a great historic shrine.''

Trust President James Lighthizer applauded Rendell.

"We could not agree more with his remarks about the casino plan. Gettysburg is America's most sacred shrine to our nation's Civil War dead.''

But wait a minute, Rendell press secretary Kate Philips said this week. Don't read too much into his statement.

"The governor has his personal opinion on the Gettysburg casino, and it's that Gettysburg already has phenomenal attractions in its historic features.''

But, she claimed, "The governor has neither a role nor influence in where casinos are located in Pennsylvania.'' In that respect, she added, "His personal opinion doesn't matter.''

Doesn't matter? No influence? Some may find that hard to swallow, since Rendell, the state's most important public official, named three of the seven members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

That's the powerful group which, by late next year, will decide where the state's five new non-racetrack casinos will be located. One of them could be just outside Gettysburg. (The other four board members were named by legislative leaders.)

"The governor cannot dictate to the commission,'' Philips insisted.

Lighthizer disagreed, saying, "The governor greatly underestimates his influence with the gaming board. The governor and state Legislature appointed the gaming board members and are ultimately responsible for any decisions made by those appointees. To argue otherwise, as the governor's press spokesperson has repeatedly tried to do, isn't likely to fool anyone.''

Stay tuned. The battle over the proposed Gettysburg casino is far from over.

WHAT'S THIS? GOOD NEWS ABOUT PENNDOT?
Hold the phone. The state Department of Transportation -- the butt of many motorists' complaints and jokes -- has won a major national award.

Gov. Ed Rendell announced this week that PennDOT won the award for rebuilding a heavily trafficked interchange west of Philadelphia, where Interstate 76 (which at that point is known as the Schuykill Expressway) meets Routes 202 and 422 in King of Prussia. The project involved widening five miles of Route 202 and improving the road connections, which handle 180,000 vehicles a day.

The National Partnership for Highway Quality gave its 2005 award to PennDOT, the general contractor (Allan Myers Inc.) and the designers, URS Corp. and Gannett Fleming Inc.

Capitol Notes is actually familiar with that busy network of roads, having traveled them in the mid-1990s when they were very confusing, and then again just a week ago. We can confirm that roadway is much wider and easier to follow.

IT'S GOOD TO BE A PITTSBURGH STEELER
Or even a retired Steeler. Former defensive star Dwight White, famous from the Steelers' Super Bowl days of the 1970s, has been named chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council on Fitness and Sports.

"Dwight was not only a tremendous football player, but he was an extraordinary athlete who is still committed to making physical activity a part of a healthy lifestyle for all Pennsylvanians,'' said Gov. Ed Rendell.

FILE THIS UNDER "LONGSHOTS"
State Rep. Peter Daley, D-Washington, is again pushing for a smaller, "unicameral'' Legislature in Pennsylvania.

That means there would be just a single chamber in the Legislature and not two, as there are now with the House and Senate.

The House has 203 members and the Senate 50. Daley would like to see one chamber with 125 districts, or less than half the legislators we have now.

The current public furor over legislators' pay raises have also caused some critics to wonder why Pennsylvania needs 253 legislators.

But Daley has introduced this bill in five previous sessions and it hasn't gone anywhere, probably because it would cost a lot of his colleagues their jobs.

Nebraska is currently the only state with a unicameral Legislature.

FROM SCRIBE TO SPIN DOCTOR
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Johnna Pro is trading in her pen and notepad for a nice desk on the third floor of the state Capitol -- in the office of Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll.

Pro, who spent much of 2003 covering the governor and Legislature, will earn $80,000 a year as Knoll's communications director, a sizeable raise from her newspaper pay.

Pro, who starts Oct. 10, will be the fifth person to hold the communications job since Knoll became lieutenant governor in January 2003. Some people say Knoll can be tough to work for.

KUDOS TO DEMOCRATIC STAFF
The state Senate Democratic caucus staff this week gave the United Way more than $5,700 it raised to aid Hurricane Katrina victims.

"Everyone on staff was so moved by the tragedy in the Gulf region (of New Orleans and Mississippi), they wanted to find a way to express their empathy,'' said Anthony Lepore, chief of staff.