National and State News-Thursday, May 3rd

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) - The first high-level talks in years between the U-S and Syria are about to take place at an international conference on Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice will meet Syria's foreign minister today. There's no official indication of a similar meeting with Iran being in the works.

WASHINGTON (AP) - As lawmakers seek consensus on an Iraq war funding bill to replace the one vetoed by the president, the only area of agreement between the two sides is that the Iraqis are testing their patience. A number of compromises have surfaced on Capitol Hill, all involving some sort of benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A bus carrying members of a high school drum corps has been involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Authorities say about 30 people were hurt but most of the injuries are minor.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - It'll be a packed stage at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, tonight as ten Republican presidential hopefuls meet in a debate. No candidate will get all that much time -- the program runs 90 minutes -- and experts say the main concern would be a major gaffe by someone.

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - In an arrest almost as dramatic as the depiction of the crime on America's Most Wanted, a Washington state man has been nabbed in Hong Kong on charges of raping his daughter and posting the video on the Internet. A struggle with the bodybuilder reportedly injured four Chinese police officers during the arrest.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Numerous injuries, most of them believed to be minor, are reported in a crash involving a tour bus carrying high school students and a tractor-trailer on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A school spokeswoman says the bus was taking members of the Elizabeth Forward High School drum corps, the school band director and several parents from Allegheny County to a band competition in Wildwood, New Jersey.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The National Weather Service confirms that a weak tornado touched down in a Mercer County trailer park on Tuesday night. The tornado was a Category Zero on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the weakest possible, with winds of about 75 miles per hour. No one was injured, but two mobile homes were damaged, a barn was destroyed and trees were downed.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Archeologists digging at a site where George Washington and his slaves once lived have unearthed portions of the president's house. They say the "long-shot" discovery near Independence Mall in Philadelphia is changing their views of how the house was built. Officials say the dig turned up a section of the kitchen wall as well as the foundation walls from the main house.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Candidates for Pennsylvania highest court are being asked to speak out on issues more than ever this year, and some are doing just that. In responses to a questionnaire, three candidates acknowledged a desire to take another shot at wiring at least one of their past legal opinions. And all six candidates who completed the questionnaire said they would at least consider allowing T-V and still cameras to record oral arguments
before the state's high court.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A towering six-ton painting depicting the Battle of Gettysburg was sold
recently in North Carolina after decades in storage. And the agent handling the transaction says it could resell quickly for more than ten (m) million dollars. The cyclorama is 76 feet longer than a football field. It's meant to be displayed in a round room to give viewers the feeling they are at
the battle.