Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

Confirming what even the most casual observer of state politics already knows, a new report names Pennsylvania as one of the Top Three Most Gerrymandered states in this great nation.

The findings by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School come as politicos gear up for a once-a-decade redrawing of the Keystone State's legislative and congressional maps.

Reformers are pushing to take that critical decision out of the hands of politicians and turn it over a non-partisan commission.

You can dive deep into the report over your coffee this morning, but to save you a bit of time, here's a clip-and-save guide to what you need to know.

According to the study:

"In the 26 states that account for 85 percent of congressional districts, Republicans derive a net benefit of at least 16-17 congressional seats in the current Congress from partisan bias. This advantage represents a significant portion of the 24 seats Democrats would need to pick up to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

"Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania consistently have the most extreme levels of partisan bias. Collectively, the distortion in their maps has accounted for seven to ten extra Republican seats in each of the three elections since the 2011 redistricting, amounting to one-third to one-half of the total partisan bias across the states we analyzed

"Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia have less severe partisan bias but jointly account for most of the remaining net extra Republican seats in the examined states.

"The seven states with high levels of partisan bias are all states where one political party had sole control of the redistricting process. Court-ordered modifications to maps in Florida, Texas, and Virginia -- all originally drawn under sole Republican control -- have reduced but not entirely curbed these states' partisan bias.

"States where Democrats had sole control of redistricting have high partisan bias within state congressional delegations, but the relatively small number of districts in these states creates a much smaller effect on partisan bias in the House overall.

"By contrast, maps drawn by commissions, courts, and split-control state governments exhibited much lower levels of partisan bias, and none had high levels of bias persisting across all three of the elections since the 2011 round of redistricting."

"There is strong evidence that the bias in this decade's congressional maps is not accidental," the report reads.

"With the exception of Texas, all of the most biased maps are in battleground states. These states routinely have close statewide elections and a fairly even distribution of partisanship across most of the state -- two factors that do not naturally suggest that there should be a large and durable underrepresentation of one political party," the report concludes.

Extreme Maps by The Brennan Center for Justice on Scribd

The rest of the day's news starts now.

Moving the Allegheny County P.D. to the Parkway Center Mall will cost the county twice as much as it thought, The Tribune-Review reports.

The Penn Hills schools in Allegheny County need state oversight, Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, tells The Post-Gazette.

There's a Great White. In the Water. Near Jersey. PhillyMag has the story.

A Philly City Councilman has been stabbed near his home during a robbery, The Inquirer reports.

Philly's Philm Ophice will rally for more tax credits (no, those aren't typos, it's a sight gag. Close the email window.). Billy Penn has the story.

Here's your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day (Who's Ready for Some Baseball Edition):

Accelerated evictions in West Philly are spurring some emergency hearings, NewsWorks/WHYY-FM reports.

The Pa. doctor who was arrested at the Trump Hotel with a gun has a date with a judge, The Associated Press reports (via WITF-FM).

Emmaus Borough in Lehigh County has canceled its carnival and is going after the promoter, The Morning Call reports.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton has endorsed Republican Paul Mango for governor in 2018, the Pittsburgh businessman's campaign has announced. You can watch the video here. There's no embed code for some bizarre reason.

Stateline.org explains why some universities charge extra for engineering, nursing and business degrees.

Politico explains how Steve Bannon and Scott Pruitt 'boxed in' the prez on the Paris climate accords.

Ex-FBI chief Jim Comey could appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee as soon as next week, Roll Call reports.

WolfWatch.

Gov. Tom Wolf heads to Philly today for a 10 a.m. tour of the Philly Shipyard Apprenticeship Training Academy.

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, holds a 5:30 p.m. reception at the Hyatt hotel in Philly tonight. Admission ranges from a merely ridiculous $1,000 all the way up to a truly offensive $25,000.

Heavy Rotation.

We're still not sure how we feel about this one. It's new solo single from ex-Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, "Wall of Glass."

Thursday's Gratuitous Hockey Link.

Pittsburgh made efficient work of Nashville on Wednesday, with a dominant 4-1 win at home. The Pens lead the series 2-0. The word 'sweep' is already being mentioned, but it's entirely too soon for that.

And now you're up to date. See you all back here in a bit.