National and State News-Monday, May 7th

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) - Search and rescue operations resume today in Greensburg, Kansas, after an F-five tornado Friday destroyed much of the town. Eight people have been found dead so far and that number could rise. Residents are being allowed back to their homes this morning to retrieve what is left.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - There could be a little less pain at the pumps soon. Analysts say there are signs that rising prices may be peaking thanks to recent declines in oil and gas futures. Gas prices last week surged to a record nationwide average of three-dollars, seven cents per gallon -- up 20 cents from two weeks ago.

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - A vote comes today in the Senate on whether to allow lower-priced prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and more than 30 other countries. Supporters say the medicines cost much less and believe the imports will drive prices down. Opponents
warn the quality and safety of drugs from other countries can't be guaranteed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Spider-Man 3" smashed box-office records this weekend, taking in 148 (m) million dollars. That put it ahead of the previous record debut of 135 (m) million set last summer by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." The weekend's only other new wide release, the romantic drama "Lucky You," bombed with two-point-five (m) million.

PARIS (AP) - France has a new president. Nicolas Sarkozy -- a pro-American conservative and an immigrant's son, defeated Socialist Segolene Royal -- 53 percent to nearly 47 percent with an 84 percent voter turnout. Sarkozy plans to push for a stronger global role for France and anti-crime reforms.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia-based Comcast Corporation is planning to roll out a jazzed up mailbox for its high-speed Internet customers. Called SmartZone, the mailbox can play, log and forward voice mail messages. It will show up as a highlighted window shaped like a T-V remote control in the upper left hand corner of Comcast-dot-net. There will be tabs for regular e-mail, as well as voice mail and a T-V planner where Comcast customers can view schedules for their favorite shows as well as search and browse programs. It's Comcast's version of T-V Guide listings that can be customized. Comcast plans to begin SmartZone later this year.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A rally is planned for this afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda to show support for a bill protecting nursing mothers. The bill would allow breast feeding in public and ban companies from firing women who breast feed or use a breast pump at work. It would also extend tax credits to companies with policies encouraging breast feeding. The sponsor, state Senator Connie Williams, says the bill is positioned for a Senate vote this week.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A company that wants to build a electricity-generating windmill farm near Harrisburg had a problem with a similar operation in Cambria County. But a spokesman for Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa says it has improved its quality control since mid-March, when large pieces broke off seven turbine blades. No one was injured in the mid-March incident, but nearby residents said pieces of the blades flew more than 500 feet. The blades are 140 feet long, about 14 feet wide and weigh about seven tons. The company say workers at Gamesa's factory in Ebensburg misapplied glue to the blades. Since then, the company has decided that blades must get a 100 percent passing grade from inspectors or they won't be shipped.

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) - A Lebanon County man already charged with the rape of a 24-year-old woman in April is now also accused of molesting a four-year-old girl in 2005. He is 31-year-old John Russell Field of North Lebanon Township. In the latest charge, he's accused of molesting the girl as she lay in his bed while the child's mother and sister were in the next room.
Field was first arrested after a 24-year-old Harrisburg woman accused him of sexually assaulting her on April 25th. Field is suspected of using a drug to incapacitate her. He posted bail on that charge but is now held in lieu of 150-thousand dollars bail on the new charge.
The Harrisburg woman met Field through a telephone dating service.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The American Red Cross is sheltering two families displaced from a row house fire in West Philadelphia. Fire Marshal John Dougherty says the fire began in some
belongings on the porch of one of the houses, then quickly spread to other homes. Neighbors say people who rented that house for a brief period had moved out a few days ago -- but left some things behind. The fire in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia began late Saturday night and took about an hour and 20 minutes to put out, going into Sunday morning.

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - The senior pastor of an Altoona church that caught fire says the building is a total loss. The Reverend Timothy McGarvey says nothing could be saved, even the church records. But there weren't any injuries reported and the Altoona Alliance Church has fire insurance. The the fire was reported about half an hour after Sunday services ended. Only a few people were still in the building. The church is part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
denomination.

WAYNE, Pa. (AP) - The sprawling estate of the wealthy family that inspired the famous 1940 movie "The Philadelphia Story," is up for sale. A scion of the Montgomery-Scott-Wheeler-Family says the 50-room mansion and 360-acre grounds in Radnor Township, Delaware County, are officially on the market. No word on the going price, although land in the surrounding area has been listed for as high as 900-thousand dollars an acre.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The chairman of the Democratic Party in Cambria County has collapsed and died, seconds after giving a roaring introduction to a state judicial candidate at a breakfast rally at a Johnstown restaurant. Witnesses say 80-year-old Bill Joseph of Franklin had introduced state Superior Court Judge Seamus McCaffrey on Saturday when he collapsed. McCaffrey is a candidate for the state Supreme Court. Norman Joseph says his father had few health complaints and no known heart problems. Bill Joseph was active in the Democratic Party throughout his adult life and became county chairman in 1978. U-S Representative John Murtha has called Joseph a good friend. Funeral services will be held Thursday at Saint Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church in Johnstown.