JOHNSTOWN — Former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel said he will run for the 12th District Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Murtha.

Singel, a Democrat, was a state senator from 1981 to 1987 before becoming lieutenant governor under Gov. Robert Casey.

Singel is a Johnstown native and announced his candidacy there. That was Murtha's hometown.

The special election to fill the rest of Murtha's term will be held as part of Pennsylvania's May 18 primary. Also decided that day will be the Democrat and Republican nominees for November's general election to decide who will serve a full two-year term in the seat.

UNIONTOWN — A Republican commissioner of Fayette County sued her two Democrat colleagues saying they conspired to cut her out of county business because she is critical of them.Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink's federal civil rights suit filed in Pittsburgh targets the county's other two commissioners, Vincent Vicites and Vincent Zapotsky.Zimmerlink says the others have conspired to exclude her from various county decisions by various means, including meeting in secret — allegedly in violation of the state's Sunshine Act.She says the others are retaliating against her exercise of "free speech, political activity and political dissent."

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the state's Department of Transportation will release fuel payments to local municipalities a month early to help with the costs of cleaning up after a pair of strong winter storms.Rendell on Friday directed PennDOT to release $308 million in liquid fuel payments to local governments starting March 1.PennDOT usually issues the payments to 2,556 local governments April 1 to help cover the costs of transportation expenses including snow removal.Rendell said getting the funds out early will help communities pay off expenses related to the back-to-back storms earlier this month.