The cameras may have been trained on Mayor Thomas Menino on Tuesday night for his State of the City address, but before the speech more than a few eyes were glancing toward the front row, where U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz was seated between Congressman Stephen Lynch and City Councillor Michael Ross.

Her office is reportedly close to indictments in the patronage scandal that engulfed the state’s Probation Department. An independent report, requested by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, in 2010 called the hiring and promotion processes riddled with “systemic abuse and corruption.”

The independent report followed a Boston Globe series on the department, noting that current and former state lawmakers frequently supported candidates for jobs within the agency. The report did not directly link lawmakers to the alleged hiring and promotion abuses.

On Tuesday, the Globe reported that results of a federal probe, in the form of indictments, were likely on their way.

“I got up this morning and I read it like you and everyone else,” state Rep. Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat and a member of House leadership, told the State House News Service. “I don’t know what the deal is. I don’t know what the indictments are. I’m sure by the end of the day, there will be wild rumors.”

The rumors already had a running head start, with names and numbers in heavy circulation among the state’s chattering class.

For her part, Ortiz declined to comment on the investigation to the Reporter when asked about it after the mayor’s speech.

Political observers also noted the presence of Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law professor and former Obama administration official who is angling to take on U.S. Sen. Scott Brown this fall. Warren made her way through the crowd of elected officials, with some help from Roger Lau, who has worked as an aide to U.S. Sen. John Kerry, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano and others.

Brown, a Wrentham Republican who occasionally has been the recipient of kind words from Menino, also attended the speech.

Baker receives arts committee, Yancey loses post audit committee

Newly-elected City Councillor Frank Baker (District 3) was handed the chair of the Arts, Film and Tourism Committee as City Councillor Charles Yancey (District 4) was slid out of the chairmanship of the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, under the committee assignments for 2012 released last week by City Council President Stephen Murphy’s office.

Yancey, who is a frequent critic of the Menino administration and often used the committee as a bully pulpit, received the chairmanship of the Environment and Health Committee instead. City Councillor Tito Jackson (District 7) who was the vice chair of the Post Audit committee last year, ascended to the top of the committee.

City Councillor Bill Linehan (District 2) stayed atop two committees that will command the spotlight in 2012: The Census and Redistricting Committee, which is handling the redrawing of the political boundaries for the city’s nine council districts, and the Economic Development and Planning Committee, which will scrutinize the any casino proposed in Boston. Murphy had originally intended to set up a special committee on gambling, but backed off after he said he was approached by his colleagues, who preferred to send the issue to the economic development committee.

City Councillor Matt O’Malley (District 6) assumed the chairmanship of Government Operations, which was previously held by former City Councillor Maureen Feeney (District 3).

City Councillor Mark Ciommo (District 9) retained his post as chair of the budget-reviewing Ways and Means Committee, while City Councillor At-Large John Connolly kept his Education Committee chairmanship.

Yancey, who said he created the Post Audit committee in 1984, told the Reporter on Monday that he had not sat down with Murphy yet to discuss the changes.

Yancey said he would have preferred the Ways and Means Committee.

“I have far more experience than Ciommo,” Yancey said, adding that Murphy was likely rewarding supporters.

Yancey ran against Murphy for the presidency last year, but, he added, he harbored “no ill feelings” about the moves.

In Mattapan, another candidate for U.S. Senate

The former head of a Haitian-American cultural organization unexpectedly threw his hat into the ring for US Senate last weekend. Eno Mondesir of Mattapan made the announcement on Saturday to a small group of  supporters outside the State House. As a Democrat, he will compete against Elizabeth Warren, among others, to challenge incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) in the November election.

Mondesir resigned on Dec. 28 from his longtime role as      chairman of Haitian-Americans United, Inc., which stages the annual Haitian Unity Parade in Mattapan and Dorchester, among other cultural events. According to Marie Auguste, the secretary of the HAU board, Nesly Metayer will serve as interim chair of the non-profit’s board.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Material from managing editor Bill Forry and State House News Service contributed to this report. Check out updates to Boston’s political scene at The Lit Drop, located at dotnews.com/litdrop. Email us at newseditor@dotnews.com and follow us on Twitter: @LitDrop and @gintautasd.