John Hanger, acting secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and state Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, are no strangers, having tangled on many occasions about environmental and energy issues.

It's expected they'll go at it again Wednesday when the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee that Ms. White chairs meets in Harrisburg to consider Gov. Ed Rendell's August nomination of Mr. Hanger for DEP secretary.

When Mr. Hanger was nominated seven months ago, Ms. White said she wouldn't support his nomination because he had accused her of being corrupt due to her ties to various extractive industries.

"She stated when he was nominated that she was disappointed with the governor's nomination and she has not changed her position," said Patrick Henderson, the committee's director.

"I would say she's not inclined to support the nomination but is holding the hearing to give an opportunity to publicly question the nominee."

Mr. Henderson said that during the last seven or eight years when Mr. Hanger was executive director of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, he testified before the committee and called her integrity and motives into question.

If you want power and fame, run for governor. But if you want wealth, be a professor, a bean counter or a turnpike czar.

At least 96 state employees are paid more than Gov. Ed Rendell, whose salary is $174,435. All together, at least 656 have salaries in excess of $150,000. At least 3,836 are paid more than $100,000 a year.

That's a big bill footed by taxpayers, and government watchdog groups say high salaries should be scrutinized carefully. The state employees' bosses, of course, say they earn every penny.

John C. Cavanaugh, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, tops the list with a $327,500 salary. That's 7 1/2 times as much as the average Pennsylvanian makes in a year. Still, it's much less than the $558,378 that the state of Georgia pays the chancellor of its university system.

With a salary of $320,000, James Preston, executive director of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, isn't far behind Mr. Cavanaugh.

Stephen M. Curtis, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, comes in third with compensation of $227,584, including a $37,500 housing and car allowance.

Other Pennsylvania state workers earning more than the governor include judges, university professors, seven investment officers for government employee retirement systems and two legislative aides, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found in a review of salaries from dozens of state agencies that responded to right-to-know requests in February and March.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chairman fired by Gov. Ed Rendell can receive a maximum annual state pension of about $6,100.

The estimated figure is an Associated Press calculation based on information provided by the State Employees' Retirement System under a Right-to-Know Law request.

The part-time job paid $28,500 annually and Mitchell Rubin served on the commission for nearly 11 years.

Rendell ousted Rubin from the job on Monday citing "overwhelming" evidence that he accepted a no-work contract from a state senator for $150,000.

The contract was described in the recent corruption trial of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia.

The former head of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation has stepped up pressure on the board that fired him from his $150,000-per-year part-time position.

Michael Hershock, 64, who was ousted March 2, said in a letter from his attorney that he "remains willing to discuss and negotiate a severance package" as allowed by his contract. The letter from his attorney, Walter Cohen of Harrisburg, threatened a lawsuit if a response isn't received by March 27.

"I am hopeful that you will encourage your client to negotiate a settlement with us that will save both the foundation and Mr. Hershock a significant amount of time and expense," Cohen wrote in the letter dated Wednesday and addressed to foundation attorney James White.

Foundation officials have said Hershock was fired from the fundraising foundation over a dispute about his expenses. Among them were a $1,032 hotel bill at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, where Hershock met with a potential donor, and a satellite installation at Hershock's home in New Mexico. The foundation was created in 2001 by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

Mitchell Rubin's status as chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission appears to be in jeopardy.

Gov. Ed Rendell took the initial steps to determine whether he can and should remove Rubin as his appointee to the board overseeing the nation's oldest superhighway, Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said Thursday.

Rubin held a no-show job as a state Senate consultant, according to the federal indictment of former Sen. Vincent Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat who paid Rubin $150,000 a year in state tax dollars. A jury Monday convicted Fumo of 137 criminal charges, including one concerning Rubin's employment. Fumo could face up to 10 years in prison when sentenced July 13.

Rubin's wife, Ruth Arnao, a longtime Fumo aide, was convicted of 45 counts, including obstruction. Prosecutors said she benefited from Fumo's largesse.

Rubin, 57, of Philadelphia has not been charged. He could not be reached for comment.

The acting chief of Pennsylvania's Labor and Industry Department was too drunk to sign a citation for public drunkenness, according to Harrisburg police.

Sandi Vito entered a rehabilitation facility last week, shortly after news stories were published about the incident at the bar of a downtown hotel.

The Patriot-News of Harrisburg published a copy of the citation in Thursday's editions. It said Vito, 43, was "extremely drunk" and the line for her signature contained the entry "too drunk to sign."

Vito has been acting secretary since February 2008, earning $136,000 a year. She is awaiting a Senate vote on her nomination by Gov. Ed Rendell to serve in the position on a permanent basis.

Four state gambling regulators attended a September conference at a posh Rome hotel that cost their agency about $27,000 and included charges by at least one of them for the pool bar, laundry and limousine service.

The state Gaming Control Board members and a staffer took the trip with approval of Gov. Ed Rendell's office after Rendell imposed a ban on state travel, officials acknowledged Wednesday.

The five attended the International Association of Gaming Regulators conference at the Rome Cavalieri, where rooms cost more than $400 a night.

Board member Sanford Rivers of Churchill said he paid for his trip in advance and became concerned about it after Rendell imposed the travel ban last fall.

"Being the governor's appointee, the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass the governor," Rivers said. He said he called Greg Fajt, Rendell's chief of staff, who approved it. Rivers said the costs might seem high because of the value of the U.S. dollar in Italy.

Gov. Ed Rendell called for an investigation of a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board contract awarded to a top PLCB manager's husband, even as more details surfaced questioning the contract bidding process, including suspicions from competing firms that the award was "fishy" and seemed like an inside job.

The PLCB recently awarded a $173,000 contract to Solutions 21, a West End consulting firm whose president is married to a state store system regional manager. PLCB officials said the process was legitimate, but it led to calls from state legislators for an explanation, and Mr. Rendell yesterday agreed.

When it comes to teaching its employees good manners, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is keeping it all in the family.

The PLCB recently awarded a $173,000 contract to Solutions 21, a West End consulting firm whose president is married to the PLCB's Western Pennsylvania regional manager. The contract prompted demands for an explanation from two state senators despite assurances from an PLCB spokesman that the bidding process was entirely above board.

Buddy Hobart, president of Solutions 21, which is located at 152 Wabash Ave. in the city's West End neighborhood, is married to Susanne Hobart, the Western Pennsylvania regional manager for the state store system, the PLCB spokesman confirmed after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette received an anonymous tip about the relationship.

Neither Mr. Hobart nor Mrs. Hobart returned calls for comment, but Mrs. Hobart "had no role in the procurement process," said Nick Hayes, a spokesman for the PLCB.