Saying he wasn't pleased by his own decision, the judge presiding over the criminal case against the Orie sisters on Tuesday ordered that the two women be tried separately. (Today)

An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge this morning agreed to sever the trials of state Sen. Jane Orie and her sister Janine Orie, who were scheduled to go to trial at the end of this month on charges they misused the senator's legislative staff to run an election campaign. (Yesterday)

Rick Santorum has pulled even with Mitt Romney in two national polls while vaulting ahead of him in his home state, Michigan, the site of one of the next two primary contests in the tumultuous Republican presidential race. (Yesterday)

The defense attorney for state Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, is asking for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate alleged leaks from the grand jury. (Yesterday)

Several Pittsburgh students are in Harrisburg for Valentine's Day, but it's not so they can deliver chocolate and flowers to Gov. Tom Corbett. Instead, it's so they can send him a message: that the governor's proposed education budget is breaking students' hearts. (Yesterday)