U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter held a public town meeting in Penn College’s Professional Development Center on Tuesday morning, fielding wide-ranging questions from more than a dozen constituents in the crowd. Second in line among Senate Republicans to assume chairmanship of the appropriations committee, Specter is holding a series of town meetings across Pennsylvania during the fall recess. Among the hot-button topics advanced by area residents were the recent Wall Street bailout, inequities of health-insurance coverage, ballot access for third-party candidates, the costliness of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup and finding budget priorities in the competition for federal funding.