Welcome to Capitol Notes, a snappy collection of digestible news tidbits about what's happening under the green dome of your state Capitol, available only online.

RATING THE GUVS
A lot of people would like to tell Gov. Ed Rendell exactly what they think of him.

Well, a new Web site lets them do just that.

Pennsylvania's first-term incumbent Democrat is ranked 39th out of 199 past and present U.S. governors, according to Rate It All, a Web site that allows visitors to weigh in on grading everything from asthma medications to zoos.

Mr. Rendell's rating is 2.8 on a 5-point scale.

One reviewer calls him a charismatic and effective leader, while others blame him for raising state income taxes in 2004 and increasing tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Actually, the latter was done by the Turnpike Commission, but hey, governors, just like baseball managers or football coaches, often get the blame (or credit) for things they may not do personally.

Former Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, now a U.S. senator, topped the list with a rating of 3.67. Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland is last, with a rating of 1.47. He recently completed a prison term for accepting expensive gifts, including a hot tub, from state contractors.

The site rates Republican gubernatorial challenger Lynn Swann, too, but not on his political prowess. Mr. Swann, a former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, is ranked 37 of 74 on a list of all-time football greats. He averages 3.5 on a 5-point scale.

Visitors to the Web site had plenty to say about U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, but nothing to say about his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Bob Casey.

Mr. Santorum, a conservative Republican, is at a lowly 102 on the list of 110 American politicians and officials. Visitors to the site called him self-righteous, arrogant and intolerant. But another visitor rated him as attractive, and someone else called him "a lightning rod who speaks his mind."

Pennsylvania's other U.S. senator, Arlen Specter, who is not up for re-election, fared better. Site visitors ranked him 54 on the list of 110. They called him a "bulldog that will take on anyone," "an old war horse," and "exactly what we need."

The state as a whole fared better than any of its politicians. Site visitors put Pennsylvania sixth among the 50 states and give it a rating of 4.11.

Read what site visitors said -- or add your own two cents about the Keystone State -- at www.rateitall.com.

OKAY, PITTSBURGHERS, WE LOST THIS ONE BUT LET'S STAY CALM
The state Department of State has been running weekly contests where people vote about aspects of life in Pennsylvania. It's a way to get people used to voting by computer, the new way of voting in Pennsylvania.

Last week, on a Web site, www.votespa.com, the department asked people to vote for their favorite Pennsylvania-related food product. The choices were the cheesesteak (synonymous with Philadelphia), pierogies (usually identified with Pittsburgh or Western Pennsylvania), funnel cakes (the favorite of country fairs) and Lebanon bologna (found in Lebanon and Lancaster in Eastern Pennsylvania).

Primanti Brothers sandwiches weren't on the list.

Well, sad to say, but not really surprising, cheesesteaks won, with 956 votes. Pierogies were second at 508, followed by funnel cake at 486 and bologna as 263.

This week, Pittsburghers have a chance to rebound, however, as voters can pick their favorite roller coaster. Choices are the Thunderbolt at Kennywood Park, the Storm Runner at Hersheypark, and two others. Go to www.votespa.com to vote.

And those of you who are registered, don't forget to vote -- for real -- in Tuesday's primary election.

SPEAKING OF TUESDAY
Russ Diamond, the independent candidate for governor, is going to be seeking a lot of signatures from voters on primary day.

To get onto the November ballot, the Lebanon County businessman needs more than 67,000 signatures of registered voters, a daunting task.

But this week, his candidate petition was downloaded from his Web site (www.russdiamond.org ) more than 1,100 times. Also, 115 petitions have been sent out to supporters through regular mail.

Each Diamond supporter with a petition will be asked to collect at least 100 signatures at the polls Tuesday.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REAPPORTIONMENT ALREADY?
The boundary lines for state House and Senate districts are redrawn every 10 years -- to reflect population changes after each census. The next time this redistricting process is scheduled to be done is after the 2010 census.

But Rep. Tom Tangretti, D-Westmoreland, has weighed in already with a proposal that would seriously alter the way the lines are redrawn.

Instead of having the General Assembly redraw the lines, as in the past, Mr. Tangretti thinks a nonpartisan state agency should be formed to handle the politically sensitive task of reapportionment.

He has submitted a bill, House Bill 2665, to create this new agency, which would also redraw the lines for congressional districts in Pennsylvania.

The agency would have to maintain the equality of population in all of the districts while "respecting the boundaries of municipalities," Mr. Tangretti said.

Districts would have to be as compact as possible and avoid "peculiar and disfigured shapes," he added. Incumbent legislators love to include all their pockets of strength inside their district boundaries, no matter how odd-shaped the district ends up looking.

Capitol Notes wishes Mr. Tangretti good luck with this one. Taking politics out of reapportionment is akin to removing heat from the sun -- not too easy.

IF YOU'RE A GYPSY MOTH, BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will soon resume aerial spraying to control gypsy moths in eight counties, mostly in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Suppression efforts will be conducted over 82,000 acres of private and public forestlands and state game lands in Pike, Lackawanna, Wayne, Luzerne, Monroe, Lycoming, Tioga and Franklin counties.

The department didn't undertake aerial spraying from 2003-2005 because the gypsy moth population had declined.

In 2001, there were 237,559 acres of forests defoliated by the insects, but that dropped to only 55,798 acres in 2002.

Spraying isn't cheap. It cost $1.5 million to protect trees from the moths in 2002.

Oak defoliation by the moths is rising again and action must once again be taken, department officials said.