Nation in brief

Agriculture chief has breast cancer

WASHINGTON -- Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced Wednesday that she has breast cancer, then joined President Bush at a White House event where he hailed her as a "heroic figure."

Veneman, 53, told friends and colleagues in a letter that she was diagnosed with an early and treatable form of the disease at the end of August and that her treatment will begin this week. It was, she said, "not easy news to accept," but she was grateful it was not more life-threatening.

"I fully expect to perform the responsibilities of my position during treatment," she said in the letter.

After a lumpectomy operation she will undergo six weeks of radiotherapy during which she will not be able to travel. She said other Agriculture Department officials will substitute for her when necessary.

Outspoken judicial nominee seeks support

WASHINGTON -- An outspoken Utah law professor urged Democrats on Wednesday to overlook his antiabortion advocacy and conservative views and allow him to become a federal appeals judge, saying he would follow the law as written instead of how he wants it to be.

University of Utah professor Michael McConnell wants a seat on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and told the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee that he would suppress his personal feelings if he becomes a member of the regional court that is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I'm telling you under oath that if, with this committee's approval, I become a lower court judge, I will conscientiously enforce the law, including laws and precedents I don't agree with," the 47-year-old professor said.

McConnell will need at least one Democrat to vote for him for his nomination to move beyond the committee, which already has rejected two of President Bush's appeals court candidates: U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi and Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen.

Also . . .

ABUSE SETTLEMENT: Alleged sexual abuse victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan have tentatively agreed to a $10-million settlement from the Boston Archdiocese to drop their lawsuits, their attorney said Wednesday.

The money will be divided among 86 plaintiffs, with the bulk of the settlement -- $9.3-million -- going to those who say they were molested by Geoghan.

Another 20 people who say Geoghan exposed himself to them will split $540,000. Sixteen parents of children who say they were abused by Geoghan will divide $160,000.

DASCHLE ATTACKS: Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., citing job losses, shrunken retirement accounts and rising health insurance premiums, Wednesday accused the Bush administration of compiling an "atrocious" record on the economy as Democrats began a pre-election drive to shift the voters' focus from war with Iraq to domestic issues.

Republicans responded swiftly to Daschle's speech, which Office of Management and Budget director Mitchell Daniels Jr. likened to a "tantrum." He called Daschle's speech "a very dispiriting and disappointing performance" and added, "He knows that the recession was underway before George Bush took office."

SHUTTLE LIFTOFF: NASA announced today it will lift a more than three-month suspension of space shuttle flights on Oct. 2 with the launching of Atlantis on an assembly mission to the international space station. The 11-day flight will feature three long spacewalks as the shuttle's six astronauts deliver a new 45-foot-long segment for the station's growing solar power and cooling system.

TEXAS EXECUTION: A former Texas A&M University student was executed by injection Wednesday for killing a fellow student during a burglary at her home in 1994. Ron Shamburger, 30, apologized and asked for forgiveness from Lori Baker's family.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE: A brush fire erupted Wednesday and quickly spread to about 500 acres east of Sacramento, burning three houses, officials said. Several residents left their homes, and one school was evacuated, according to the Rocklin Fire Department.

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