National and State News-Wednesday, June 20th

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - The shuttle Atlantis crew is waiting for results of a final inspection of the orbiter's heat shield before their scheduled return to Earth tomorrow. A camera on a robotic arm checked it out after the shuttle separated from the orbiting space station yesterday.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush today plans to veto a bill that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research. A spokesman says Bush will also be ordering the Department of Health and Human Services Department to promote
research into other types of cells that might help fight disease.

WOOSTER, Ohio (AP) - The Wayne County, Ohio, sheriff does not think there's a connection between a baby left on a doorstep yesterday and a pregnant women who vanished last week. The baby is full term. Jesse Davis is due to deliver July Third. She hasn't been seen since last Wednesday.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The Charleston, South Carolina, fire chief says sprinklers would not have put out the fire that killed nine firefighters in a furniture store Monday. But Rusty Thomas
says they would have slowed the flames. The building was not required to have sprinklers.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A Purdue University computer simulation of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks supports findings by a federal agency. The simulation shows the impact of the hijacked airplanes stripped away critical fireproofing material and the weakened towers collapsed under their own weight.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A seven-alarm fire is raging out of control in an abandoned factory and warehouse in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, and it now has spread to several nearby row houses. At least two firefighters are reported injured, and one 38-year-old man reportedly was rescued from the building by firefighters and was taken to Temple University Hospital for
treatment of burns. The fire broke out just after 4 a-m and about 100 residents have been evacuated from their homes. Some are telling television reporters that they have seen their homes destroyed. Several cars in the street are also reported afire. Officials say firefighters were pulled back briefly because the roof of the five-story brick building was collapsing into the
structure. Dozens of firefighters and fire trucks are on the scene as the flames light up the predawn darkness. Peco Energy says about 200 customers are without electrical service. SEPTA is detouring bus routes 60 and three, and trains on the the elevated line are bypassing the Allegheny Avenue station.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The state Senate is planning to vote today on a 27 (b) billion dollar spending plan, a two-point-seven percent increase over a year ago. The bill would then go to the House. Leaders in the two chambers and the governor's top advisers would then negotiate a final bill. But things aren't expected to go smoothly. Democrats are suggesting that they will hold up approval of a state budget until money for transportation projects is approved.
Republicans say the matter is too complicated to resolve before July First, which is the end of the fiscal year. Should the budget be held up for weeks past July First, the state will shut down some nonessential operations. State parks, driver's license centers and casinos would close.

NEW YORK (AP) - A Philadelphia woman is in a legal battle with her ex-husband over a multi-(m)-million dollar death benefit for their 30-year-old son. Kenneth Caldwell was killed in the Nine-Eleven attacks. His mother and father are to be in court today in New York over the
two-point-nine (m) million dollar government benefit. Kenneth Caldwell was single and had no will, so his mother, Elsie Goss-Caldwell, became the administrator of his estate. She says her ex-husband, Leon Caldwell, abandoned the family when Kenneth was two years old. She says her ex is being disrespectful by trying to profit from the death of a son with whom he had almost no contact. Leon Caldwell's attorney didn't immediately return a telephone
message.

AVALON, Pa. (AP) - Three people are at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh after a home they were in exploded, caught fire and collapsed. Authorities aren't saying what caused the blast yesterday afternoon, and firefighters are still digging through the rubble. They believe the three people taken from the scene were the only ones inside the home at the time, but they're continuing their search to be sure. Neighbors say they felt the blast up to two blocks away.
The Allegheny County fire marshal is on the scene trying to figure out what caused the blast.
A Mercy Hospital spokeswoman confirmed the victims are being treated there for burns and other injuries, but could not immediately provide other information.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Richard Gere will receive the 2007 Marian Anderson Award. It's for his advocacy on behalf of independence for Tibet and better care for H-I-V and AIDS patients.
Philadelphia Mayor John Street announced the award Tuesday. The Marian Anderson Award is given out by the city each year to an artist or performer for humanitarian efforts. The award is named in honor of the Philadelphia native who became the first black singer to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera. She served as a special envoy to the Far East and was named a delegate to the United Nations by President Dwight Eisenhower. Gere is also a native of Philadelphia. He will receive the award at a November 12th gala featuring a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - An Erie man will spend 22-and-a-half to 45 years in state prison for repeatedly raping a teenage boy over a two-year period. Fifty-year-old Victor Young was sentenced yesterday. An Erie County jury convicted him in March on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors. Police say Young repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted the boy starting in October 2003, when the boy was just 14. Police say Young threatened to hurt the boy or his family if he reported the sexual abuse, which took place at various Erie homes.

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - The family of a 24-year-old Altoona man says he was killed in Iraq.
The Pentagon confirmed that a soldier was killed yesterday by small-arms fire in Baghdad. But the military didn't immediately say whether the soldier was Private First Class Larry Parks.
Parks had been a volunteer firefighter at the Newburg Fire Hall for eight years, enlisting when he was 16. Bob Dennis, president of the Newburg Fire Association, says Parks watched over younger firefighters, and they in turn idolized him. Dennis says Parks had such a reputation for adventure that he received the nickname "Tasmanian Devil," after the cartoon character that moves at breakneck speeds.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Underground Railroad is seeing the light of day in Philadelphia, where leaders have unveiled a tourism campaign called the Quest for Freedom. Visitors to sites around the state can take tours and see exhibits and historical re-enactments about the Underground Railroad, a system once used to guide slaves to freedom. Philadelphia Mayor John Street joined with other leaders as they announced the initiative next to a copy of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The African-American Museum in Philadelphia, the National Civil War Museum and the Gettysburg National Military Park are all taking part in the program. The Quest for Freedom begins just a month after the uncovering
of an underground passage used by George Washington's nine slaves in Philadelphia. Regional tourism offices are offering travel packages and programs until Labor Day.

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - The 13-acre estate owned by the late (b) billionaire publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg has been sold for 14 (m) million dollars. The buyer is a trust associated with Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. The property known as Inwood features a two-story house with 18 rooms, elaborate gardens and a three-hole golf course.
The mansion in Lower Merion Township is where Annenberg died in 2002 at age 94.
Annenberg once published The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. He founded the magazine T-V Guide.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Vanguard Group has posted a 13 percent increase in its 2006 profit-sharing plan for executives and employees. Valley Forge-based Vanguard is the nation's second largest mutual fund company. It says the dividend for its partnership plan came to 91-dollars and 95-cents per unit. That's compared with 81-40 in 2005. Employees have a varying number of units depending on position. While Vanguard's 12-thousand employees get dividends, there are caps to how much they can receive. Vanguard declined to disclose
those limits.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It appears that there's another foul-up with dollar coins at the U-S Mint in Philadelphia. The error repeats a mistake, first widely reported in March, that an unknown number of George Washington dollar coins were made without their edge inscriptions. They became known as "godless dollars" becaue the missing lettering includes the motto "In God We Trust." The Mint pledged to more closely monitor the striking process. Now dollar coins featuring the second president, John Adams, are missing edge inscriptions. That's according to the Professional Coin Grading Service, a rare coin authentication company.
The Mint says it's looking into the reports. The Adams dollars are the second in a series of presidential dollar coins.