National and State News-Monday, May 14th

BAGHDAD (AP) - An al-Qaida front group is claiming responsibility for the capture of three U-S soldiers on Saturday. Four-thousand U-S troops backed by aircraft, intelligence units and
Iraqi forces are looking for the soldiers. U-S and Iraqi forces killed two suspected Sunni insurgents during today's search.

LAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) - Hope in the form of rain is turning to fear in Florida today as stronger winds are on the way as firefighters face another hard day battling a massive wildfire
along the Georgia-Florida line. The wildfire has burned 234-thousand acres and is only 30 percent contained in Florida.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - DaimlerChrysler announced this morning its money-losing Chrysler Group will be sold to a private equity firm for seven-point-four (b) billion dollars.
Cerberus Capital Management will hold a majority stake at 80 percent. Chrysler lost one-point-five (b) billion dollars last year.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran's president says Tehran will retaliate if the U-S strikes the country. His comments come in response to Vice President Cheney's recent remarks that the U-S and its allies will prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

MIAMI (AP) - With no mention of the charges that got him arrested in the first place -- Jose Padilla's terror trial gets under way in Miami today. Padilla has been in jail since May 2002,
accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the U-S. Padilla is on trial for allegedly supporting Islamic extremists.

ANNVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Classes in the Annville-Cleona School District in Lebanon County are canceled because of a teachers strike. About 120 teachers in the district have been without a
contract since August. Talks broke off last Tuesday with the sides far apart, especially on salary.

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - Police in Lancaster County are urging residents to take extra precautions after the murders of a couple and their teenage son in their home on Saturday. Police say 50-year-old Tom Haines; his 47-year-old wife, Lisa: and their 16-year-old son, Kevin, were killed about 2:30 Saturday morning.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh's beleaguered Republicans are calling on fellow G-O-P members to write in the name of a high-profile city businessman for mayor in tomorrow's primary. They hope to get enough votes to get their candidate, Mike DeSantis, on the November ballot.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jury selection begins today for the retrial of two men who prosecutors say are responsible for May 2000 pier collapse that killed three young women in Philadelphia. Michael Asbell of Merion and Eli Karetny of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, are charged with risking a catastrophe, three counts of involuntary manslaughter, among other offenses.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Tomorrow marks the first judicial election in Pennsylvania since former Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro became the first state judge to be ousted in a normally routine retention vote. Seven party-endorsed candidates are being challenged by ten other candidates for the Supreme Court and Superior Court.