FAIRFAX, Va. — On the second anniversary yesterday of the mass killings at Virginia Tech University, the families of two slain students sued the state, the school and its counseling center, several top university officials and a local mental health agency, claiming gross negligence.

Relatives of Julie Pryde and Erin Peterson are seeking damages of $10 million, according to the lawsuits in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

They were the only families who did not agree to an $11 million settlement with the state last June. Student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people before fatally shooting himself on April 16, 2007. The gunman's estate also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed the last day before the statute of limitations had expired.

GOP CHAIR HAILS PALIN AS A PARTY LEADER

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Republican National Chairman Michael Steele said yesterday that Sarah Palin is among a crowd of GOP standard bearers that includes fellow governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

The Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate hasn't ruled out a presidential run, and Steele said it was too early to gauge Palin's standing in 2012.

She and Steele were in Evansville to attend the Vanderburgh County Right to Life fundraising dinner last night. Organizers said the dinner drew 3,000 people.

3 DEAD IN SHOOTING AT CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL

LONG BEACH, Calif. — A hospital worker shot and killed two employees and then killed himself at a medical center yesterday, sending panicked people fleeing, police and witnesses said.

The gunman was identified as Mario Ramirez, 50, of Alhambra, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. The victims were Hugo Bustamante, 46, of Cypress, who died at the scene, and Kelly Hales, 56, of Redondo Beach, who was taken to the hospital's emergency room in critical condition and died several hours later.

Police Chief Anthony Batts said the gunfire erupted just before noon at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. He said the motive remained under investigation.

PAIR IN OBAMA PLOT CLAIM ARREST ILLEGAL

JACKSON, Tenn. — Two men charged with plotting a racial killing spree that was to include President Obama argued in federal court yesterday that they were illegally arrested and searched.

Arguments on their efforts to get government evidence against them dismissed are scheduled to continue today in federal court in west Tennessee.

Authorities describe Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman as white supremacist skinheads who were plotting to kill dozens of black people, including Obama, during last fall's presidential campaign. They are jailed without bond. No trial date has been set.

DUTCH INSURGENT GETS 25 YEARS IN PRISON

WASHINGTON — A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Dutch national to 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill Americans in Iraq.

Wesam al-Delaema, 36, the first person charged in a U.S. court with such crimes in Iraq, agreed to accept a 25-year sentence in exchange for his guilty plea. He will serve his prison time in the Netherlands, where a Dutch judge will review his case and could reduce his sentence.

Delaema pleaded guilty in February to conspiring to kill Americans in Iraq. Delaema, who grew up in Fallujah and became a Dutch citizen in 2001, was videotaped with other insurgents planting roadside bombs designed to kill Americans.

MORE STATES ADD WATER-BOTTLE DEPOSITS

A growing number of states are either adding deposits on plastic water bottles or considering doing so to increase revenue and decrease litter.

New York, Connecticut and Oregon have joined California, Maine and Hawai'i this year in making water bottles part of deposit laws.

New York will add a nickel deposit on bottled water starting June 1. The state has had deposits on carbonated beverages and beer bottles and cans for 26 years. Connecticut's 19-year-old deposit law will add water bottles as of Oct. 1. Oregon added them Jan. 1.