Near Bush ranch, woman resumes vigil

CRAWFORD -- A year after her first war protest near President Bush's ranch attracted thousands and reinvigorated the nation's peace movement, Cindy Sheehan resumed her vigil yesterday. More than 50 demonstrators again marched a mile and a half toward the ranch, stopping at a roadblock. (AP)

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, said yesterday it was irresponsible to send more US troops to Baghdad. Speaking on CBS's ``Face the Nation," Hagel said more troops would not reverse the rising tide of sectarian killing there. Hagel said there were no longer any good military options for the United States in Iraq and suggested enlisting former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush to convene a regional peace conference. (Reuters)

More than half of those convicted of violent felonies in large urban areas between 1990 and 2002 had previous convictions, the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reported yesterday. Nearly four in 10, or 38 percent, of those convicted of violent felonies had previous felony convictions. Another 18 percent had prior misdemeanor convictions. In all, 56 percent of violent felons during that period had prior convictions of some sort. (AP)

PENNSYLVANIA

READING -- A plainclothes police officer responding to a report of a fight near City Hall was shot in the chest and died yesterday. Patrol officer Scott A. Wertz and another officer were chasing Cletus C. Rivera when the suspect fired two shots, at least one of which struck Wertz, officials said. Wertz, 40, who was not wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot just after 2 a.m. outside a convenience store. Rivera was captured by the other officer. (AP)

OHIO

CHARDON -- A couple and their two children were killed when their sport utility vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer that had been hit by a car, police said. Paul and Kelly Corrigan, both 32, and their sons, Logan, 8, and Bradon, 5, died Saturday in the crash on state Route 44 east of Cleveland. The drivers of the two other vehicles were treated for minor injuries. (AP)

ILLINOIS

MAYWOOD -- Cardinal Francis George, hospitalized since cancer surgery more than a week earlier, was back in intensive care yesterday because of internal bleeding, the Archdiocese of Chicago said. Evidence of bleeding, discovered Saturday by doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, was a complication after surgery to remove a cancerous bladder. George, 69, should still recover fully, the archdiocese said. (AP)