National and State News-Monday, April 9th

BAGHDAD (AP) - Tens of thousands of Iraqis have marched through the streets of two holy Shiite cities to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. Militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for the rally, and marchers chanted, "we obey your call." Al-Sadr wants American forces out of Iraq.

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush heads to Yuma, Arizona, today to check on construction of a fence with Mexico. The president also will push for the creation of a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

ATLANTA (AP) - Easter celebrants swapped sandals, sundresses and bonnets for coats, scarves and heavy socks yesterday. It was unseasonably cold in the eastern two-thirds of the country. A low of 30 degrees kept many people away from the annual sunrise service
at Georgia's Stone Mountain Park.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The comic strips "B.C." and "The Wizard of Id" will continue despite the death of creator Johnny Hart. Hart died of a stroke over the weekend while working. He was 76.
Family members have been helping Hart with the strips for years.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Zach Johnson says he's just a "normal guy" from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He's also the 2007 Masters champion. Even though Tiger Woods was bearing down on him in the final round, Johnson held on to win for only the second time in his career.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - One judge accepted a free ticket to the 2006 Super Bowl, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another spent a night at the ritzy Nemacolin Woodlands Resort as
a guest of a trial lawyers' group. In taking the freebies, none broke the law or violated any state
ethical rule. They did what was required with gifts worth 250 dollars or more -- disclosed them on documents filed annually with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. But some experts on judicial ethics say it's time for Pennsylvania to join the majority of states in adopting a general ban on judges accepting gifts from special interests. The state Code of Judicial Conduct is silent on the issue, although it emphasizes judges' responsibility to protect their
independence and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - They campaigned on promises to get things done in the House of Representatives. But the 50-member freshman class is finding that won't happen overnight.
Three months into the session, the newcomers are waiting to see signs of movement on most of their priorities. Reforms to the chamber's internal rules passed, but not much else.
Representative Joseph F. Brennan, a Lehigh County Democrat who had been a legislative aide, says he knew better than to think he was going to transform the state right off the bat.
Still, he has been frustrated by the lack of action on cutting property taxes or changing the health-care system.

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - F-B-I Director Robert Mueller is expected to attend the funeral of slain agent Barry Lee Bush in Pottstown on Thursday. The 1 p-m service for 52-year-old Bush, who lived in Forks Township, will be held at the Hill School Center for the Arts. He will be buried at a nearby cemetery. Officials say Bush may have been killed by another agent's gun
as the F-B-I confronted a group of bank-robbery suspects in New Jersey. Bush, a married father of two, graduated from Pottstown High School in 1972 and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1976. Friends remember him as a Civil War enthusiast who also enjoyed
golf and tennis and was active with several children's charities.

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Foreclosures accounted for 20 percent of all house sales in the Poconos in the first quarter of 2007, up from less than 10 percent last year. The Pocono Record says the increase does not appear to be related to deceptive sales practices alleged to have caused a round of foreclosures in Monroe County several years ago. Broker Vicki Brockelman tells the newspaper that people simply can't afford mortgages they took out at the height of the
real-estate boom. She says many of the foreclosed houses are only a few years old, suggesting people cannot keep up with their payments after the teaser rates on adjustable-rate mortgages expired. The average sale price for a foreclosed home this year is 139-thousand-500 dollars, down 3 percent from last year.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh's 16-year-old Carnegie Science Center is planning an expansion that will allow it to focus more on ecology and the city's three rivers. Director Joanna Haas says an 18-month review has led the center to believe it could better serve visitors by expanding its focus on ecology and the rivers. Despite the center's success since opening in 1991, Haas says it is time for the museum to reinvent itself and ensure that it remains relevant, important and engaging. The Heinz Endowments has given the center 250-thousand dollars
for planning purposes. The center aims to have a proposal, including projected costs and a design, by years-end.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Lawyers for a man shot by Easton police five years ago plan to cite a history of complaints against the department when a civil trial begins in federal court today
in Philadelphia. Michael P. Hogan is suing the city, former Mayor Thomas F. Goldsmith, police Chief Larry Palmer and six of the police officers who responded to the domestic call at his home in February 2002. Police say they fired after Hogan pointed a rifle at them. Hogan's attorney says he was trying to surrender and wasn't threatening officers. Hogan pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and terroristic threats in 2003, and served a year in prison. Hogan's civil-rights case comes as the city is trying to settle a 20 (M) million dollar lawsuit filed by the widow of an officer accidentally shot to death by another officer inside the police station two years ago.