In the Nation

CHICAGO - Four former cemetery workers pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges accusing them of digging up bodies at a historic Chicago-area graveyard in order to resell the burial plots.

Attorneys for the four - Carolyn Towns, 49; Keith Nicks, 45; Terrence Nicks, 39; and Maurice Dailey, 59 - entered the pleas. Cook County Judge Frank Castiglione scheduled the next hearing for Sept. 25.

Authorities raided Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, the resting place of civil rights-era lynching victim Emmett Till and other prominent African Americans, in July. Authorities estimate that 300 graves were dug up.

The four defendants face felony charges; the most serious one, dismembering a human body, carries up to 30 years in prison. Authorities also say the four made more than $300,000 reselling the plots. - AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Six domestic-violence shelters in California have been forced to close while dozens more are scaling back services after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated all state funding for the program that supports them.

Many centers are laying off staff and closing satellite offices that serve remote areas of the state as they cope with the budget cuts. A national domestic-violence group describes California's as the deepest cuts to such programs nationwide.

The state Department of Public Health's Domestic Violence Program provided funding to 94 agencies statewide, some of which operate multiple shelters. Schwarzenegger eliminated the program's $20.4 million in funding when he used his line-item authority to veto nearly $500 million in the revised budget passed by the Legislature. - AP

CHICAGO - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said yesterday that statements he made on secret FBI wiretap tapes were taken out of context by prosecutors and that he might try to call senators and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel as witnesses at his racketeering and fraud trial to back his version of events.

Blagojevich, in an interview, said he might even try to subpoena President Obama as a witness, but the court is unlikely to compel the president to testify.

The ex-governor, whose trial is due to begin June 3, said he expected to be cleared of charges he tried to sell or trade Obama's former Senate seat for campaign money or a high-paying job for his wife or himself. He described the ordeal he and his family have gone through since his December arrest as "this nightmare." - AP

The shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts pulled away yesterday from the International Space Station and headed home, leaving behind tons of fresh supplies and a new station resident. The shuttle is due back on Earth tomorrow.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge reopened yesterday, just in time for the start of the workweek, after transit officials said crews were able to make a crucial repair a day ahead of schedule. Crews found a crack Saturday while conducting seismic upgrades on the 73-year-old bridge.

Six-term Rep. Michael Capuano (D., Mass.) said he had taken out nomination papers and would announce next week whether he would join the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.