Nation in brief

National Guard short on recruits, arms

WASHINGTON - In the latest signs of strains on the military from the war in Iraq, the Army National Guard has failed for two straight months to meet its recruiting quotas, falling about 30 percent below its overall target since Oct. 1. In response, the Guard announced an array of new incentives, including re-enlistment bonuses of up to $15,000.

In addition, the head of the National Guard Bureau, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, said on Thursday he needed $20-billion to replace arms and equipment destroyed in Iraq or Afghanistan or left there for other Army and Air Guard units to use, so that returning reservists will have enough equipment to deal with emergencies at home.

The sharp decline in recruiting is significant because National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers now make up nearly 40 percent of the 148,000 troops in Iraq, and are a vital source for filling the ranks, particularly those who perform essential support tasks, like truck drivers and military police.

For the past 30 years, Blum said, the Guard counted on soldiers with prior military service for about half of their new recruits each year. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, however, many of these soldiers have been hesitant to join the Guard because of the increasing likelihood that they will be activated and sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for up to 12 months.

In an effort to halt the slide, the Army National Guard this week approved new enlistment incentives that triple the re-enlistment bonuses, up to $15,000 for soldiers who sign up for another six years (tax-free if soldiers re-enlist overseas), Guard officials said. The Guard has already said it intends to increase the number of recruiters to 4,100 from 2,700 over the next three months, the first large increase in Guard recruiters since 1989.

"We're in a more difficult recruiting environment, period," Blum told reporters.

DENVER - A 12-year prison sentence handed down to a forestry worker who ignited the worst fire in Colorado history was thrown out Thursday on the grounds that it was prejudiced and too harsh.

The Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a new sentencing hearing for Terry Lynn Barton, who pleaded guilty to fourth-degree arson in setting the 2002 Hayman fire, which burned 138,000 acres.

The court said state District Judge Edward Colt, who sentenced Barton to twice the normal prison term, was so personally involved in the fire that he was unable to be impartial.

During the sentencing, Colt told Barton how he was forced to evacuate his home because of smoke from the fire and later volunteered at the Salvation Army, giving food to others rendered homeless by the blaze. His clerk was overheard saying Barton should "receive more than death" for setting the fire, the appeals court said.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Days after he announced his resignation as head of NASA, Sean O'Keefe was tapped Thursday as the next chancellor at Louisiana State University's main campus.

A search committee unanimously recommended O'Keefe for the post, and later in the day the LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to offer him the job.

The New Orleans native's connections to the Bush administrations - he has held high positions under both father and son - seem likely to trump any doubts over his lack of a doctorate, and Louisiana officials are evidently banking on those ties to reap quick national recognition for the university, along with federal money.

Search committee member John Davies noted LSU's relatively weak financial position among the nation's universities and said of O'Keefe, "He'll close the gap."

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - A gunman opened fire in the complex housing the world-famous Crystal Cathedral on Thursday, but no one was hit and children in a day care center were safe, police said.

A police SWAT team quickly surrounded the glass-and-steel cathedral, and a police spokesman said the gunman was holed up inside an office.

The man fired several shots with a handgun shortly before 5 p.m., less than two hours before the cathedral's annual "Glory of Christmas" holiday show was to begin, police said.

The cathedral, a sprawling structure not far from Disneyland and baseball's Angels Stadium, is home to the Rev. Robert Schueller's international Crystal Cathedral Ministries and claims a congregation of more than 10,000 members.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court's chief justice on Thursday threw out a challenge to the state's presidential election results.

The 40 voters who brought the case will likely be able to refile the challenge.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer ruled that the request improperly challenged two separate election results. Ohio law only allows one race to be challenged in a single complaint, he said.

The challenge was backed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cliff Arnebeck, a Columbus attorney for the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy, who accused Bush's campaign of "high-tech vote stealing."

Claiming fraud, the voters cited reports of voting-machine errors, double-counting of ballots and a shortage of voting machines.

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