Pennsylvanians do not want their lottery to be privatized, as Gov. Tom Corbett is proposing, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll.

The poll found that 47 percent of those polled strongly opposed the privatization with 17 somewhat opposing it. Only 7 percent were strongly in favor with 11 percent being somewhat in favor of the move.

Most people polled, 75 percent, said they would play the lottery about the same amount as they do now if it were privatized, but a not insignificant number of people, 19 said they would play less frequently.

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll interviewed 622 Pennsylvania voters between January 29 and February 3. The margin of error is reported as plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

A recent editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out that although lotteries as natural candidates for privatization that it is hard to make the decision with so little input from the public.

What do you think? Should the Pennsylvania Lottery be privatized? Share your opinions in the comments area below.

The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, filed a lawsuit to stop the privatization. Some state lawmakers, lottery employees and others joined in the lawsuit. Other lawmakers, including state Rep. Mark Painter (D-Montgomery) have signed a friend of the court, or amicus brief, according to a release from Painter’s office.

"It was really a shock for me as a newly elected legislator," said Painter in the news release. "The governor took it upon himself to sign away control of the lottery without even consulting with those who represent the people who will be most affected."

The lawsuit claims that the governor does not have the authority to privatize the lottery without approval from the legislature.

Valentine’s Day is traditionally a day when couples go out, so what happens when so many couples go out on the same night? Two words: babysitter shortage.

It can be difficult in the first place to find someone you trust to look after your children, but Valentine’s Day presents an additional challenge. Most couples would like to go on Valentine’s Day, which stretches the babysitter pool and on top of that, many babysitters themselves have Valentine’s Day dates, whether they’re grandparents, students or anywhere in between.

If you're still searching, you can look online. There are some websites where sitters can register.  (Disclaimer: I have not tried any of these sites to book a sitter. If you have and would like to share your opinion of the sites with your neighbors, please let us know in the comments area below. Please also let me know if I’ve missed any good ones.)

• Care.com
• Nannypro.com
• SitterCity.com

You can also use the Philadelphia Craigslist to look for a sitter or to post an ad for one in domestic gigs.

I’d like to use this post to help connect local couples wanting to get out for Valentine’s Day and local babysitters who haven't yet been booked, so, if you fit either one of those categories, please post in the comments below.

Please make sure to include in your post:

• Your name
• Your town
• Some contact information, such as an email address or phones number. If you feel uncomfortable with that, I would suggest setting up a quick Yahoo or Gmail account to share.
• You are welcome to include other information, but I would suggest not getting too specific about your children in our comments. Once you contact each other, you can go through details.

So do you all know that Smithfield Barn is on Facebook now?  Have you liked them yet? You should as they are getting many treats and treasures ready for spring!

I had a preview today and had ever so much fun photographing some stuff! Follow them on Facebook now and get ready for their spring time opening!

Wonder how long this will rot? And if that blue tarp comes loose and lands on a car or truck driving along that might be a problem…

This is Chester County, Pennsylvania.  These are million dollar views that shouldn’t turn into million dollar developments.  But that is what is happening.  It is NOT happening in this photo, but the purpose of this photo is to remind Chester County residents what is indeed irreplacable.  This view doesn’t come in the Mount Vernon  Carriage Home Model.

Yesterday I opined at length at the way the weather story was being reported. Basically I think the idea was to scare us to death.

Or simply keep us inside, sitting in front of the TV, captives to the weather mania that was sweeping the region.

We even had a cute name for the Nor'easter that was bearing down on the area and taking dead aim at New England.

Nemo.

I'm not kidding. We're now naming winter storms, the cold weather equivalent of hurricane season. Here's some background on how that came about.

The problem was Nemo wasn't acting as it was supposed to, at least not in the Philadelphia suburbs. Finding Nemo? Apparently Nemo was having trouble finding us.

It rained most of the day.

I decided to post a story on DelcoTimes.com and update it each hour on the snow watch. All morning and all afternoon I waited but failed to see nary a flake. It finally started to snow just a bit as I was driving home.

At best I would say we got a dusting. Which is odd, since I could have swore I heard a lot of forecasters just a few hours before saying they were "upping" their snow totals. To which I would reply, "what snow total?"

That is not to say this was not a huge storm. It dropped upwards of two feet of snow on New England. The problem is this is not New England. Even someone as geographically challenged as I am can see that.

The "northern and western" suburbs? I don't know where they hell they are.

What I do know is that I don't need Doppler radar to tell me the forecast yesterday missed the mark. Maybe we should all just stick our head out the window.

Yesterday morning I heard everything from driving in the rain being 'treacherous," to that old standby, "If you don't have to go out, don't." How do you think that went over with bar and restaurant owners on what would normally be a busy Friday night.

Another reporter stationed in Bucks County breathlessly reported the first few flakes, only to be deflated a half hour later when it changed back to rain.

Did the Lehigh Valley and parts of Bucks County get some snow? Sure. Did we? I can't find it, other than the dusting on my front lawn.

I know I'm not going to win this fight. I know the next storm will get hyped just as much as this one did.

But I'm no longer buying. It borders on being a public disservice.

Yesterday being Exhibit A. I rest my case.

We managed to escape the brunt of the storm.

Saturday is expected to be cloudy and windy with gusts as high as 36mph, according the the National Weather Service.

The snow should clear our early, according to NBC 10’s Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz.

The Sunday forecast is sunny with a high of 37, but Sunday night  and into Monday morning, there is a chance of freezing rain after 1 a.m., according to the NWS.

Compare these homes locally and nationally with finished basements.

The winter storm sweeping up the East Coast on Friday has prompted several postponements in the Ardmore area. (Find the National Weather Service's updated forecast here.)

Lower Merion Township libraries and the Ardmore Avenue Community Center will open at noon Saturday, because of expected overnight snow and ice, township spokesman Tom Walsh announced Friday afternoon.

"The late openings will give Township Public Works employees time to ensure that whatever snow that has fallen is plowed, with roads and municipal parking lots cleared," Walsh said in a statement to media.

The Lower Merion High School boys' basketball team will now meet Ridley for the Central League title game at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at Marple Newtown High School, the team website aceshoops.com announced.

The game had been scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at that location.

Milkboy in Ardmore announced via Facebook that its Sacred Heart Poetry Showcase scheduled for Friday night had been cancelled and that the restaurant would be closing at 7 p.m.

The poetry event will be rescheduled, according to the announcement.

Lower Merion School District announced the following:

The Lower Merion High School pool open swim 8-9pm cancelled.

The Combined Bala Cynwyd/Welsh Valley Winter Dance has been rescheduled to Friday, April 12 from 7-9pm.

The Pancake Breakfast at Belmont Hills Elementary School scheduled for Saturday, February 9 is cancelled and rescheduled to Sunday, February 10 at 8am.

Patch will update this list as more schedule changes are announced.

If you know of a storm-related delay, cancellation or closure, please tell us in the comments section below.