Habemus budgetam!

Pardon the twisted Latin, but WE HAVE A BUDGET!

After 101 days of the multi-act budget circus in Harrisburg, Gov. Ed Rendell tonight signed a 2009-10 state budget into law.

Now things can start to get back to a semblance of normal.

This protracted impasse affected everyone, including the local courts.

Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva couldn't hire a court reporter, a manager for the custody office or make sure court-appointed attorneys got paid. The commissioners tightened their finances to get through the crisis.

The devil will be in the details to see where are the funding cuts to get the budget balanced and signed into law.

Time for more fingerpointing will come over why this took way too long.

But we have a budget.

Amen.