HARRISBURG — Tom Corbett is picking up more support in his bid for the Republican Party's endorsement for governor.

A straw poll of GOP state committee members from southeastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday showed support for Corbett, the state attorney general.

Southeastern caucus chairman Michael Meehan of Philadelphia said the vote was nearly unanimous, although he isn't releasing the results of the unofficial vote.

Corbett faces competition for the GOP nomination from state Rep. Samuel Rohrer.

On Saturday, the central Pennsylvania GOP caucuses voted to back Corbett.

The full state committee is slated to vote on an endorsement next month.

HARRISBURG — U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak on Tuesday challenged Sen. Arlen Specter to a series of debates in the run-up to Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, but the Specter campaign suggested one debate might be its limit.Sestak, a second-term congressman who is trailing Specter in the polls and fundraising, said he wants to face off with the fifth-term senator in at least one public forum in each of the state's six media markets.Sestak said Specter, who abandoned a more than four-decade affiliation with the Republican Party and became a Democrat last year, should be held accountable for votes he cast with the GOP over the years and particularly the domestic policies of former President George W. Bush.A campaign spokesman for Specter said the senator has traditionally participated in a single debate aired on statewide television during primary-election campaigns. All of those were GOP primaries.

WAYNESBURG — Waynesburg University plans to build a new chapel named for the parents of an alumnus who donated $3 million for the project.The new chapel will seat about 600, about three times as many as the university's current chapel.It will be named for the parents of Dr. Roy Roberts, who donated money toward the $7 million project.

TARENTUM — A Wisconsin water park company announced plans for a facility near a struggling Pittsburgh-area mall.Great Wolf Resorts of Madison, Wis., said Zamias Services will develop a hotel-water park resort near The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. Zamias owns the mall in Frazer Township.The mall has struggled with vacancies since it opened in 2005, though the water park could make the mall a regional attraction.Great Wolf said its resorts typically include a hotel with 300 to 600 rooms connected to an indoor water park and entertainment area, complete with theme restaurants and other attractions.The company didn't say when the resort will open.

PITTSBURGH — A county councilman and others who oppose the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's plan to close a suburban hospital sued to stop a county agency from issuing $1.2 billion in tax-exempt bonds to the hospital network.Allegheny County Councilman Charles McCullough said UPMC doesn't deserve the money if it closes the 123-bed UPMC Braddock hospital on Jan. 31.County council approved letting the county's Hospital Development Authority issue the bonds.UPMC is now asking a state agency, the Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities Authority, to issue the bonds in case the lawsuit filed Tuesday by McCullough's group derails a county bond issue.McCullough said his group will try to stop any state-issued bonds, too.