Canary in the Coal District: Democrat Conor Lamb is claiming victory in a special election for Pennsylvania’s  18^th Congressional district, but with some absentee ballots still uncounted, the race is too close to call officially. Lamb leads by 641 votes. Nevertheless, he said, “It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it!”

Just coming close is considered a major victor for a Democrat in a district that went for President Trump by a margin of 20 percent. Republican Rick Saccone lagged in fundraising and was a less than inspiring candidate. Two days ago he said of his opponents, “Many of them have a hatred for our country. I’ll give you some more—my wife and I saw it again today—they have a hatred for God.”

Whoever is declared the winner, he will serve only until the end of the year. The current 18^th District will disappear under court-ordered redistricting.

The Obit Page: Physicist Stephen Hawking, who was both the most famous scientist and disabled person in the world, has died at home in England at age 76.

Wheelchair bound and rendered unable to speak by Lou Gehrig’s disease, Hawking roamed the universe and contemplated the nature of time with his mind. He spoke using a computer that issued an electronic voice that became known all over the world.

Hawking was diagnosed in 1963 and given just a year or two to live. Instead, he went on to become a leader in the study of black holes, the universe’s gravitational pits that don’t even let light escape. His 1988 book, “A Brief History of Time,” became an international bestseller that made Hawking’s cosmic understanding comprehensible to the common reader.

He said, ““When you are faced with the possibility of an early death,” he recalled, “it makes you realize that life is worth living and that there are a lot of things you want to do.”

Tyrant Sore at Rex:  Former Secy. of State Rex Tillerson learned he was fired when he saw President Trump’s tweet announcing his replacement. Trump wrote, “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State.”

Gina Haspel, a lifer at the CIA, is being named the first woman to run The Company.

Leaving the White House for California, Trump spoke to reporters about Tillerson saying, “We were not really thinking the same.” He said, “Really, it was a different mind-set, a different thinking.”

It’s no secret the two did not agree with each other on major issues and Trump persistently undermined Tillerson, disrespecting him until the end. Tillerson said Trump called him yesterday from Air Force One to tell him he was fired, hours after he already knew it.

The Wood: The New York Post updated its 1981 headline about Donald Trump and Marla Maples; “Best Sex I’ve Ever Had” is now “Worst Rex He Ever Had.”

Next Up: Trump praised Tillerson’s replacement, Mike Pompeo, as someone who agrees with him. Primary for Trump is personal loyalty and Pompeo may be the man. For instance, he has been one of the vocal critics of the Iran Nuclear deal, a target of Trump’s. “We’ve had a very good chemistry right from the beginning,” the President said yesterday.

Pompeo’s replacement carries some baggage with her. A former clandestine operations officer, she was party to the post 9/11 “enhanced interrogation” of al Qaeda prisoners. Read that as “torture.”

The Personnel Dept.: Also departing the Trump administration is President Trump’s “body man,” John McEntee, who was escorted out of the White House Monday when his security clearance was revoked. He was immediately given a paid position with Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.

The White House did not explain McEntee’s firing. CNN reported that he is investigated for “serious financial crimes,” but there was no detail.

In San Francisco, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman James Schwab quit, saying he could “no longer bear the burden” of telling lies for the Trump Administration.

ICE had issued a statement saying that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf had allowed 800 illegal immigrants to escape when she tipped them to an impending ICE raid. Schwab said the statement was overblown. “I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.”

Pink Floyd: President Trump attacked Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday during a visit to inspect prototypes of his border wall. “Governor Brown does a very poor job running California,” Trump said. “The place is totally out of control. You have ‘sanctuary cities’ where you have criminals living in the sanctuary cities.”

Brown took control of a state with a huge budget deficit and has it running in the black. But never mind.

At the wall samples, Trump said he prefers taller. “The larger it is, the better it is because it’s very hard to get over the top.” He said of border crossers, “These are like professional mountain climbers. They’re incredible climbers.”

Britain Alone: Another opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin was found dead in his London home on Monday. Nikolai Glushkov, 68, a former executive of the Russian airline Aeroflot who had said he feared he was on a Kremlin hit list, had strangulation marks on his neck.

It’s beginning to look like Russia’s internal battles are being fought in England. Just nine days ago a former Russian spy and his daughter were the targets of a nerve agent attack. Anne Applebaum writes in The Washington Post

That Britain is increasingly alone as it heads for the exit door of the European Union. London has become the playground of Russian oligarchs, criminals and — evidently — hit men.

She writes, “Now that it is leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom no longer has a set of allies it can rely upon to help craft a response. It has no favors it can draw upon either: For the past year, British diplomacy has been focused on Brexit to the exclusion of all else. As if to underline this weakness, even the White House was stunningly opaque, condemning the attack but repeatedly refusing to mention Russia. The American president, so quick to insult Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, has yet to tweet a single syllable.”

Walkout: Students across the country are planning to walk out of class for 17 minutes today 10 am to commemorate students killed in the Parkland, Fla. school shooting and to demand tighter gun control. Some have the support of their school districts, and some don’t. One Texas school district is threatening three days suspension for students who walk out.

Friendly Skies: United Airlines, the carrier that dragged an overbooked passenger down the aisle, has managed to go one worse. A flight attendant ordered a woman to put her puppy in a pet bag in the overhead bin. The dog barked for about a half hour before going silent and was found dead on arrival at New York’s Laguardia Airport.

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