No doubt readers of this space have been wondering for weeks now: "What happened to Tonya Payne and the effort to remove her from her post chairing the Democratic Party's city committee?" Well, wonder no longer. Jim Burn, who chairs the county committee, has stripped Payne of the chair, and removed her from the state committee as well. "Tonya is a friend," Burn told me, sadly. "I hate doing this no matter who is involved, but this stings even more." Burn notifed Payne of his decision in a Dec. 1, 2009 letter. But even in Pittsburgh, it seems, some rules still apply.