National and State News-Tuesday, May 15th

LAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) - Despite winds of 25 miles per hour, firefighters are managing to keep a sprawling wildfire along the Georgia-Florida border in check. However, officials warn that more
residents may have to evacuate. And in northern Georgia, more than a thousand acres have burned since Sunday in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it seems that President Bush is trying to run out the clock to avoid having to deal with reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Bush has ordered that new rules be put in place by the end of 2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty did not mention the controversial firing of federal prosecutors as a factor in his resignation. But Justice Department officials who know him say it played a role in his decision to leave after 18 months on
the job.

MIAMI (AP) - The defense says the case against terror suspect Jose Padilla is an example of the government overreaching after the September eleventh attacks. The government says Padilla and his two co-defendants supported terrorism and promoted violence. Testimony
begins today in Miami.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The fighting between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah continues to intensify. And now Israel may be drawn into the infighting. Israeli troops fired at a key Gaza-Israeli border crossing where Hamas gunmen opened fire on Fatah forces. Witnesses say five Fatah men were killed.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The five major Democratic candidates for mayor of Philadelphia spent a day dashing across the city seeking last-minute votes for what is shaping up to be a very close primary election today. No matter where they go, all five find a common theme: Just as
polls have suggested, many voters are waiting until the last minute to make up their minds.
For example, Blayney Stukes met millionaire candidate Tom Knox yesterday at the Reading Terminal Market. Stukes said he was torn between Knox and former City Councilman Michael Nutter. He said he expected to make up his mind in the voting booth tomorrow. The other three major candidates are congressmen Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah and state Representative Dwight Evans. Recent polls show about a fifth of likely voters are undecided.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Today is primary election day in Pennsylvania. Democrats and Republicans will settle nomination races for the state's highest court and Philadelphia mayor. And voters in school districts across Pennsylvania decide whether to increase local income taxes in exchange for reduced taxes on residential real estate. Public interest in the primary is spotty. And with summerlike weather forecasts in most of the state providing another
distraction, most voters aren't expected to bother going to the polls. Terry Madonna is a pollster and public-affairs professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. He says there's simply nothing on the ballot that has caught the fancy of voters across the state.

PHILADLEPHIA (AP) - A regional rail train rearended another in a tunnel near a downtown Philadelphiua station, causing minor injuries to more than 30 people. Many were carried on stretchers from the trains following the evening rush hour accident yesterday. A nursing supervisor at Temple University Hospital says a dozen people were treated there and four were admitted. She says one was admitted to the intensive care unit for observation after reporting
tingling in the fingers. It's unclear why the trains bumped. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority says it involved an R-Six train bound for Norristown and an R-Five train headed for Doylestown.

MIAMI (AP) - For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city the title of worst road rage. But a survey being released today shows Pittsburgh's drivers are among the most courteous. It found that the Steel City was second only to Portland, Oregon, among the nation's 25 biggest metro areas. The poll was released by AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance. The survey was conducted by Prince Market Research. It has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

HADLEY, Pa. (AP) - A Mercer County teenager who loved animals was checking on a deer he had just run over when he was struck and killed by a truck. The Sunday night accident killed 18-year-old Zachery Shook. Authorities say he hit the deer, stopped his vehicle while
partially blocking the opposing lane and jumped out to check on the animal. That's when a pickup truck in the opposing lane hit Shook, killing him. Relatives and close family friends described the teenager as "a farm boy." They say his dream was to work on his father's small
dairy farm after graduating in June from Commodore Perry High School.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - The Erie County Coroner says a race car driver who crashed into a wall at the Eriez Speedway had a fatal heart attack that led to the crash. Coroner Lyell Cook says his ruling is based on an autopsy on the body of 52-year-old Daniel McGarvie yesterday. The crash happened about 10:30 last night during a practice lap, when McGarvie's car drove head-on into a concrete barrier. McGarvie was a veteran driver at the dirt track in Greene
Township. State police say they're still investigating the crash.