National and State News-Monday, April 2nd

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - Officials in the Solomon Islands say there are reports of people and villages being swept away by a tsunami that was just minutes behind a massive undersea earthquake. At least 13 people are dead, others are missing and the death toll
is expected to go up.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The annual Airline Quality Rating report doesn't have much good to say about the friendly skies. The number of complaints have stabilized but the survey says more passengers were bumped, more bags were lost and there were fewer on-time flights last year than in 2005.

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) - More violence in Iraq. A suicide truck bomber targeted a police station, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 130 in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. A
parked car exploded in a garage in Baghdad, killing at least three people.

NICKEL MINES, Pa. (AP) - A new school has replaced the building in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where a gunman shot ten Amish girls six months ago today, killing five. The old building was torn down ten days after the shooting and the new, one-room, New Hope
Amish School opens today.

UNDATED (AP) - The stadiums are ready and so are the fans as another season of Major League Baseball gets into full swing today. Today's slate includes seven American League games and six in the National League. In last night's opener, the New York Mets beat the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals six-to-one.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A nationally known clergyman who spoke to more than five-thousand people about Philadelphia's homicide epidemic last evening plans to meet with city officials
today. He's Bishop T-D- Jakes, the pastor at The Potter's House in Dallas. Speaking at a church in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Jakes called the homicides a "murder march" and said it's got to stop. There have been more than 100 homicides in Philadelphia in 2007, well over the total at this time last year.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Governor Ed Rendell wants to allow health care workers who aren't physicians perform many duties they're not allowed to do now. They include taking medical histories and giving physical examinations. Rendell's plan would also allow dental hygienists to
practice without a dentist's supervision in certain settings, including schools and clinics. And, in an effort to play catch-up, his plan would end Pennsylvania's distinction as the only state in
the nation barring nurse midwives from prescribing drugs. Physicians say they're watching this carefully. They say they don't want to be competing for patients with people who have only a
fraction of their training. Other states have addressed licensing issues in piecemeal fashion, but Rendell's plan would deal with the issue more broadly.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Officials say a statewide radio transmission service will be 180 (m) million dollars over budget when it's completed in about three years. The system is meant to allow different rescue agencies to communicate with one another and PennDOT during an emergency.
The state has already been working on the project for ten years and spent nearly 311 million dollars on the radio system. That's well over the 179 million dollars it was supposed to
cost. When it is completed in about three years, the total bill is expected to top 360 million dollars, partly due to added expenses after the September eleventh attacks. Still, the fact that the system is not up-and-running has some state legislators criticizing those in charge.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Some of Pennsylvania's 31-hundred private clubs have long relied on revenue from illegal poker machines. The dawn of state-licensed casinos has prompted concerns that state police will increase enforcement of those laws. State police say that's not so. Major John Lutz, who's in charge of liquor control enforcement statewide, says officers only respond
if a complaint is made. Often, it comes from a disgruntled club member or spouse. Lutz says no matter what club leaders believe, there are no orders to increase raids. State Representative Tom Caltagirone says he plans to introduce legislation to allow clubs to operate up to five poker machines. But the Berks County Democrat acknowledges that the chance of passage is slim.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Starting today, people applying for jobs at Pennsylvania schools will need to submit their fingerprints. The prints will be put into a national criminal database.
Taxpayers won't be picking up the bill. Instead, job applicants will pay a 40-dollar fee to cover the cost. The new law allows schools to hire employees on a 90-day provisional basis until the federal check is completed. The old law required background checks for child abuse and other
crimes for most applicants. But those checks cover only offenses that occurred in Pennsylvania.

NICKEL MINES, Pa. (AP) - A new school symbolizing a new beginning stands ready for Amish students who survived a shooting. The violence killed five of their classmates exactly six months ago today. The one-room New Hope Amish School is scheduled to open this
morning, a few hundred yards from the spot where the massacre took place. Built by the entire community, the school is protected by more sophisticated locks on its doors and is reachable
only by a private drive. It replaces the West Nickel Mines Amish School, which was torn
down October 12th.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadephia high school teacher assaulted after he took an i-Pod away from a student says he will be in court to see one of the attackers sentenced. Sixty-year-old Frank Burd is recovering from a broken neck and brain injury in the February 23rd assault at Germantown High School. The attack caused widespread outrage, prompted other teachers to talk about assaults on them and has led the district to change the way it handles student violence. Burd says he will be in court because he wants to see the person who would do this to him. He says he wants the student to see him as well. Burd says he isn't sure he will ever return to the school, where he directed plays, took yearbook photos and taught photography.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Car sharing in Philadelphia is becoming competitive. With car sharing, drivers can rent vehicles by the hour or day. The rate typically includes the cost of gas, insurance, parking and maintenance. Since 2002, the only operator in Philadelphia has been the nonprofit PhillyCarShare. It has more than 300 vehicles at 40 locations around the city.
Starting today, there's a for-profit competitor: Washington, D-C-based Flexcar. The newcomer says it's starting with 30 cars downtown and plans to increase to 100 by the end of the year.
Philadelphia will be Flexcar's 11th city to operate in.

DUSHORE, Pa. (AP) - State police say a woman and her two children died in an early-morning fire in Sullivan County this weekend. Police identify the victims as 34-year-old Mariam Crane and her eleven-year-old son and nine-year old daughter. Trooper Richard Geffken says another daughter was not home when the pre-dawn fire broke out Saturday. Geffken says the three victims were found in their beds in the home in Fork Township, about 50 miles west of Scranton. Sullivan County Coroner Wendy Hastings says the fire destroyed the home, making the cause difficult to investigate.