National and State News-Thursday, May 31st

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush discusses Iraqi reconciliation and the rising number of U-S casualties with Iraq's President Jalal Talabani today at the White House. The administration, meantime, says Bush envisions a long-term American military presence in Iraq, similar to the one in South Korea.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Taliban are claiming responsibility for a helicopter crash in Afghanistan that has killed five Americans, a Briton and a Canadian. Officials say the Chinook transport was apparently shot down.

ATLANTA (AP) - Health officials in North America and Europe are seeking the passenger lists of two trans-Atlantic flights boarded by an American infected with a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis. Officials want to get in contact with dozens of passengers and crew members who may have come into contact with him.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top F-B-I official says violent crime has increased for the second year in a row nationwide. Assistant F-B-I Director John Miller says the bureau's focus on counterterrorism has decreased the number of agents devoted to traditional crime fighting.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Cheaper may be safer when it comes to convertibles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that affordable convertibles by Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen earned higher marks in side-impact crash tests than some higher-end models by B-M-W and Audi.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Illegal immigrants have filed suit seeking unpaid wages from a janitorial firm facing federal immigration and tax charges. The suit filed in federal court in Philadelphia says some plaintiffs were rounded up in February and deported before
receiving their final paychecks. Others say they worked 80- or 100-hour weeks without earning overtime pay or even the minimum wage. So far, there are 14 plaintiffs, mostly from Mexico, who worked for Rosenbaum-Cunningham International. In Philadelphia, the
janitorial contractor placed workers in Dave and Buster's, the restaurant chain that has a popular waterfront outpost in the city. The company and three executives were indicted this year in Michigan on still-pending federal charges of harboring illegal immigrants and failing to pay $18 million in taxes.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Governor Ed Rendell says all projects in the 10-year capital plan of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be protected if the state leases the roadway. The governor has been advocating turnpike privatization for months. He says it would generate nearly one (b) billion dollars a year for the state's crumbling road system and cash-strapped mass
transit agencies. But legislators have balked at the proposal, and tunpike commission head Joseph Brimmeier recently said such a move might doom some turnpike projects. Rendell said yesterday officials know that the projects won't be scuttled and "shouldn't try to scare
people." Brimmeier later issued a contrite statement, saying he would not comment further until he spoke to Rendell.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Philadelphia-area parents who owe child support can get their situation cleared up -- no questions asked -- if they pay what they owe by tomorrow (Friday).
But authorities in Philadelphia, Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties say they'll have stepped-up enforcement after the amnesty. Montgomery County Sheriff John Durante says there will be unannounced sweeps by deputies from a five-county task force.
Durante says Montgomery County collected more than one (m) million dollars in back child support in a pilot program last summer that involved a similar regional task force.