National and State News-Thursday, March 8th

NEW YORK (AP) - Witnesses say a woman was hurling children through broken windows in hopes of saving them from an apartment building fire in the Bronx, New York. But nine people couldn't be saved. Eight children were among those killed in a late-night fire. A relative says the victims were mostly immigrants from Mali.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Despite a security crackdown in Baghdad, insurgents have become emboldened. The new commander of U-S troops in Iraq says additional U-S forces will be sent to areas away from the capital where militants are regrouping.

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - House Democratic leaders have scheduled a news conference today to announce a plan that would require the withdrawal of U-S troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008. Troops would start coming home sooner, by the end of this year, if the Iraqi government didn't meet goals for providing security.

MIAMI (AP) - Getting a jury to convict the man who kidnapped, raped and buried Mark Lunsford's nine-year-old daughter alive is just the first part for Lunsford. He says Jessica Lunsford's case won't be completed until the killer is sentenced. A Miami jury could give John Couey the death penalty.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Today is International Women's Day and this year's theme is ending discrimination and violence against girls and women and punishing the perpetrators. The U-N Security Council has called for an end to what it says is "pervasive violence" against them during armed conflicts.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Governor Ed Rendell has a meeting in Philadelphia today with Pittsburgh Penguins owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux, among others. They're hoping to work out an agreement to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Rendell says he's optimistic despite problems this week. The Penguins issued a letter Monday blaming government officials for failing to reach a deal. Yesterday, Burkle met with the mayor of Las Vegas, but it's unclear what he was offered there. Kansas City has offered the Penguins free rent and half of all revenues at a new arena if the team moves there.

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Westmoreland County coroner is expected to announce today whether criminal charges should be filed in the death of a 14-year-old boy. Coroner Kenneth Bacha is also to rule on whether
Louis Farrell's death was a suicide, accident or homicide. Farrell died from a shot fired from state Senator Robert Regola's gun. Regola, the boy's neighbor, was out of town at the time. Regola's lawyer and the district attorney agree that it appears to be suicide. But the D-A says it looks like Regola violated state firearms law by allowing his teenage son to keep the handgun. Regola's lawyer says no charges should be filed at all.

WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) - A state police fire marshal cannot determine what caused a fire that killed seven people in Greene County last month. State police in Washington, Pennsylvania, say the house was so severely damaged the fire marshal couldn't tell how the fire started. The February 17th fire in Franklin Township killed 26-year-old Rebecca Eddy, three of her children, two nephews and a niece. County Coroner Greg Rohanna issued death certificates last month saying the deaths were accidental because no foul play was
suspected. The state police investigation had focused on space heaters used in the home, because the home's natural gas service had been shut off nearly two years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says a Lehigh Valley soldier is one of three who died together in Baghdad on Saturday. Twenty-one-year-old Army Sergeant Ashly Moyer of Emmaus died from a roadside bomb. She was killed along with 25-year-old Sergeant Brandon Parr of West Valley, Utah, and 23-year-old Sergeant Michael Peek of Chesapeake, Virginia. All three were assigned to the 630th Military Police Company,
based in Bamburg, Germany.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's top education officials says the state plans to help the Philadelphia School District as it attempts to crack down on classroom violence. Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak has asked the department's safe schools advocate to help the district. He wants the advocate to ensure that teachers and administrators understand procedures for removing disruptive students from class. The advocate is also expected to submit a report by March 19th on whether the district should revise disciplinary procedures. The idea would be to remove disruptive students from the classroom more easily. The district has already announced steps it's taking to improve school safety after a serious teacher assault at Germantown High School last month.