National and State News-Tuesday, June 12th

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - Over lunch today on Capitol Hill, President Bush will lobby Republican senators to support his immigration reform bill. Many Republicans oppose the bill, which has stalled in the Senate. A White House spokesman says the president will tell senators that immigration reform is "too important" to pass up.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Justice Department says it will seek a full hearing before the 4th U-S Circuit Court of Appeals, after a three-judge panel harshly rebuked the Bush administration's anti-terrorism strategy. The panel ruled two-to-one that U-S residents cannot be locked up indefinitely as "enemy combatants" without being charged.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The president of Afghanistan is calling a friendly fire attack "a tragic incident." Officials say Afghan police mistook U-S troops on a nighttime mission for Taliban fighters and opened fire on them. The Americans returned fire and even called in attack aircraft. The result: seven Afghan police officers are dead.

BAGHDAD (AP) - Attacks on bridges appear to be the latest effort to deepen the turmoil in Iraq. There have been three such attacks since Sunday, including one in which three U-S soldiers were killed. The bombings have made travel to and from Baghdad even more
difficult.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The oldest of the baby boomers will become eligible to collect Social Security next year but if two new reports are any indication, they won't be rushing to retire. Most baby boomers expect to work longer than their parents. The reports say boomers will live longer and remain more active.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The state House Speaker's Legislative Reform Commission plans to vote today on whether to recommend expanding the state Right-to-Know Law. That's a law
protecting public access to records of the state and of local governments in Pennsylvania. The commission also plans to vote today on whether to endorse term limits for lawmakers or committee chairs. The bipartisan panel's nonbinding recommendations passed yesterday included limiting campaign contributions in gubernatorial, legislative and statewide races. But the panelists couldn't agree on what the limits should be. About half the Republicans and all Democrats on the panel blocked a recommendation to reduce the Legislature's size.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Legislation banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other public spaces and work places will face a fight in the Senate. It was endorsed unanimously by a state Senate committee, but senators acknowledge that lobbyists are applying heavy pressure to
scale it back. They say amendments to allow smoking in places like private clubs, neighborhood taverns and slot-machine casinos are being drafted. The amendments could be debated on the Senate floor as early as this week. The bill's sponsor, Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Montgomery County, has tried for more than a decade to get such a smoking ban through the Legislature. He says attempts to carve out exemptions ignore the fact that secondhand smoke is considered a carcinogen.

STOYSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The State Ethics Commission is investigating the finances and wages of a western Pennsylvania township after months of complaints by residents. Residents have been independently looking into the finances of Quemahoning Township, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Supervisors are accused of using their powers to award themselves
excessive wages and other perks, including automobile costs. Township board Chairman Sam Donia says an ethics investigator visited the township twice last week to begin gathering
information. Records show some supervisors have made as much as 58-thousand dollars annually, getting pay outs for their cars of up to $600 per month. State law allows 650 dollars per month for car costs.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh attorney is collecting funds to help pay the legal fees of a state senator who faces trial on weapons charges. Senator Robert Regola will stand trial on weapons charges stemming from the July death of a 14-year-old neighbor who shot himself in the head with the lawmaker's handgun. Louis Farrell's death was ruled a suicide. Brad Mellor, the attorney, established the Regola Legal Fund. He says he fears a conviction in Regola's case will hurt the rights of gun owners statewide. Regola has been charged with perjury, false swearing, reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a weapon by a minor.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Chester County detectives say two county prison guards conspired with a prisoner to attack another inmate. The guards are a 26-year-old Philadelphia man and a 34-year-old Coatesville man. They face a preliminary hearing on June 19th. They and the man accused of beating up the inmate are with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and related offenses. The guards are also accused of falsifying prison reports in an attempt to cover up the attack.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - The lawyer for a Marine from Canonsburg says he was justified in killing three Iraqi brothers in a battle that left 24 civilians dead. The lawyer spoke yesterday at a hearing to determine whether 22-year-old Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt should stand trial. Sharratt is charged with three counts of unpremeditated murder in the biggest U-S criminal case of the Iraq war. Defense lawyer Gary Myers hasn't disputed that Sharratt killed the men in a 2005 battle in the Iraqi town of Haditha. Sharratt told investigators that two of the men he killed were armed. He said he couldn't tell if the third was armed or not, but he felt threatened.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An artist's nude depiction of bathing with milk and honey has been removed from a Pittsburgh arts festival due to complaints by one of the city's largest businesses. The video installation by Carolina Loyola-Garcia was covered up and unplugged over the weekend by P-P-G, which owns the plaza where the multimedia display was exhibited.
The controversial footage portrayed the naked artist bathing with milk and honey in the forest. It was part of the Best of Pittsburgh 2007 exhibit. P-P-G found the display inappropriate.
Elizabeth Reiss, executive director of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, says nudity doesn't belong in street booths, where artwork should have a more family friendly value. Loyola-Garcia says removing her art is ridiculous.