Nation in brief

Fla. plane bumbles into White House airspace

WASHINGTON - Air Force fighter jets scrambled Monday to intercept a private plane that flew too close to the White House, triggering a security scare that led Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush's chief of staff to be moved to a secure location.

The president was away at the time, on a trip to Arkansas and South Carolina, and his wife, Laura, was speaking in Maine.

The plane, registered to Mark Whitnell of Jacksonville, was detected flying over the Potomac River toward Washington when it entered restricted airspace, said Secret Service spokeswoman Jean Mitchell. Fighters were scrambled from nearby Andrews Air Force in Maryland and intercepted the plane, she said.

The Air Force jets peeled off when the plane left restricted airspace, but it was tracked on radar until it landed in Siler City, N.C., for refueling, said Dan Dluzneski, another Secret Service spokesman. The pilot allowed authorities to search the plane.

"As far as the Secret Service is concerned, it's closed," said Dluzneski. He said the pilot had purchased the plane and had it serviced in Pennsylvania over the weekend and was flying it to Florida. "He thought he was abiding by the flight restrictions. Obviously he was not," Dluzneski said.

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday signed a $20.2-billion Interior Department appropriations bill that includes nearly $3-billion to fight wildfires, spending that was spurred by devastating blazes in southern California.

The bill, some $700-million above the president's request, finances federal lands, national parks, Indian and some energy programs in the 2004 federal budget year. It also provides $68-million for Everglades restoration.

WASHINGTON - In a visit heavy with symbolism, the defense minister of Vietnam visited the Pentagon and State Department on Monday for the first time since the war ended in 1975.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld greeted his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Van Tra, on the Pentagon steps, and the two had a working lunch.

They discussed "ways to promote security cooperation between the two countries and to build on successes in demining, disaster relief, search and rescue and medical assistance," according to a Pentagon statement.

GREENVILLE, N.C. - North Carolina's former agriculture chief would get at least five years in prison under a deal struck Monday in federal court.

Meg Scott Phipps' plea agreement came as she was to be arraigned on 30 charges centered on illegal campaign contributions from potential state fair vendors.

The charges carried a potential prison sentence of up to 245 years and a $7.25-million fine.

The five charges to which Phipps pleaded guilty - two counts each of extortion and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy - could carry a sentence of up to 55 years. Prosecutors say they will recommend only five years when Phipps is sentenced March 1.

Phipps, the daughter and granddaughter of North Carolina governors, was convicted on related state charges Oct. 30.

GROVE CITY, Pa. - Two teenagers killed their counselor at a juvenile detention center Monday and escaped in his pickup, but turned themselves in hours later, authorities said.

Wayne Lamont Urey Jr., 43, was strangled in one of the boy's bedrooms shortly after midnight at George Junior Republic, a private residential school and treatment center about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, authorities said.

At about the same time, Anthony Machicote, 17, and Jeremy Melvin, 16, escaped in Urey's truck, police said. They approached a security guard at a Pittsburgh high school Monday afternoon and surrendered.

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