NEWS AND NOTES

--The local news of the day is Don Barden surrendering 75% of the new North Shore Casino to billionaire Neil Bluhm. Not even the name (Majestic Star) will remain. Yeah, Don Barden turned out to be a great choice by our state. Good to see that all that time and effort was well worth it.--Who's up for a Wall Street Journal opinion piece called "Pittsburgh Stealers"? Me, me!--Yesterday we had the Pirates Movie. Here's TMZ's version of the Muppets as Hollywood actors.--Pitt grad Nick Sliwinski took home $463,201 from the World Series of Poker. --Raise the Jolly Roger takes last week's reader suggestion a step further and investigates the growing legend of Pirates 1B Doug Mientkiewicz. I'm telling you, this is a powderkeg ready to explode.--Gas-Pump Santa Claus' run has come to an end. He ended up stealing $44,000 in gas.--Here's a nice Mt. Lebanon Magazine article on Art Rooney Jr. --ESPN 1250's Top Fan contest is down to the Final 10. It's ...