National and State News-Tuesday, April 3rd

BAGHDAD (AP) - Some Iraqi civilians say they weren't impressed by Senator John McCain's visit to a Baghdad market Sunday. One vendor called McCain and his delegation "pretenders," saying they used the visit to try to make the situation in Iraq seem better than it is.

LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the next two days are "fairly critical" to resolving the crisis over 15 sailors captured by Iran. Iran says it's seeking to come to a
solution through "proper diplomatic channels," a statement that Blair says brings hope that the dispute will soon end.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - Relief efforts are under way for survivors of the tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific yesterday. Medical teams are to fly into coastal areas tomorrow. Twenty-eight people have been confirmed dead.

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Microsoft is suing companies that it says are selling software intended for schools. An attorney says thousands of unsuspecting U-S consumers have purchased the
software, which they aren't licensed to use. Most of it comes from the Middle East.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Florida fans are celebrating after the Gators beat the Ohio State Buckeyes for the N-C-double-A basketball championship. One Florida player says "it's truly the year of the Gator." But brokenhearted Buckeyes fans say they're "crushed."

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A suburban Pittsburgh man is scheduled to appear in court this morning to be arraigned in his daughter's death. Prosecutors say William Lorenzo Page left Nyia Page outside in the freezing cold to die. Page, who is from Braddock, is charged with homicide, kidnapping, making false reports and aggravated assault in her death.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Sentencing has been delayed for a Philadelphia ninth-grader who pleaded guilty to attacking a teacher who took an iPod from a student. Fifteen-year-old James Footman was to have been sentenced today. He pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault and related charges in the injury to Germantown High School math teacher Frank Burd.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Officials say the decisions of three PennDOT district executives to retire have nothing to do with a blundered response to the Valentine's Day snowstorm. Officials say the district executives made their deicisions before the storm. One district executive says he is ready to retire after more than 35 years working for the state.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An Erie County judge says a surrogate mother doesn't have to repay 48-thousand dollars in child support she got from an Ohio man who fathered triplets. The judge says the money paid to 33-year-old Danielle Bimber of Corry was for the benefit of the children, not for Bimber.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - A murder defendant accused of shooting a man across the street, then crossing the street to shoot again at point-blank range, is on trial in Chester County. He's 31-year-old Dwight Echols, and he is accused of killing Keith Shelton outside the Elks Club in Coatesville in the pre-dawn hours of May 22nd, 2005.