National and State News-Friday, May 18th

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - The fate of a new immigration plan in Congress is still iffy, but President Bush and key negotiators call it a good compromise. It would beef up border security, but also
grant rights to current illegals. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it's doomed unless Bush guarantees Republican votes.

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) - The compromise immigration plan set for debate in Congress next week is already causing concern for (m) millions of poor, would-be migrants in Mexico. Instead of helping guestworkers, the new plan emphasizes visas for skilled workers with good educations.

BAGHDAD (AP) - One of the joint U-S-Iraqi urban outposts has come under attack in a city north of Baghdad. Troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships fought off insurgents today, killing at least six of them. Three Iraqi police officers are dead in a suicide car bombing elsewhere.

CHICAGO (AP) - A single holdout on the jury has spared an Illinois killer the death penalty. Instead, Juan Luna gets life in prison for killing seven people 14 years ago in a robbery at a
chicken-and-pasta restaurant near Chicago. Luna claims he didn't do it and is appealing his conviction.

WHITEHAVEN, England (AP) - A young British woman is charged with aggravated vehicle-taking after a spat with her boyfriend. Police say she put all his stuff in his van and dumped it in the harbor. The boyfriend says he hasn't told her yet that their wedding is off, but says he thinks she can "put two and two together."

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is reporting that two federal agencies are testing bee feed to determine if it is tainted with the same additive that is being blamed for killing the nation's cats and dogs. So far, the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration has found no link to the food additive -- melamine.

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Relatives and friends of three members of a slain family of three are planning a memorial service at a Lancaster church on Saturday. The service for Thomas and Lisa Haines and their son Kevin at Otterbein United Methodist Church will be closed to reporters and cameras will be banned. The three were stabbed to death last Saturday in their home.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An autopsy is scheduled today on the remains of a baby found in a Pittsburgh woman's freezer. Police have charged 22-year-old Christine Hutchinson with abuse of a corpse. A spokesman for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner says until the
autopsy is conducted officials won't release any information about the baby's age or cause of death.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court is expected to mull arguments about famed death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal for several months before issuing a ruling. Both sides were in court yesterday arguing appeals of a lower court that upheld his conviction for
killing a Philadelphia policeman in 1981 but overturned his death sentence.

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) - The widow of a soldier from Bucks County killed in Iraq says she always called him her "Renaissance Man." Jennifer Dunckley says that's because her husband, James, did everything he did perfectly. The Pentagon says the 25-year-old Army sergeant was killed Monday by small-arms fire.