NATION IN BRIEF

Sheehan Leaves Crawford For 25-State Antiwar Tour

CRAWFORD, Tex. -- Cindy Sheehan packed up her campsite outside President Bush's ranch Wednesday and took her war protest on the road, ending a nearly month-long vigil that drew thousands and ignited an antiwar movement.

The grieving mother of Casey Sheehan, a 24-year-old soldier who died in Iraq, boarded one of three buses heading on a tour to spread her message.

The first stop was Austin. "This is where I'm going to spend every August from now on," Sheehan said.

The group plans to stop in 25 states during the next three weeks, then take Sheehan's Bring Them Home Now Tour to Washington for a Sept. 24 antiwar march.

ACLU Seeks End to Gag Order In Case on Library Records

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal judge to lift a gag order on a client from whom the FBI is demanding records about library patrons under the USA Patriot Act.

Federal prosecutors say allowing that could jeopardize an investigation into terrorism or spying. The ACLU says the gag order is preventing the client from participating in a debate on the Patriot Act, which Congress is considering reauthorizing.

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· BOSTON -- The Boston Herald published images from a videotape purportedly showing the inmate accused of killing defrocked priest John Geoghan pantomiming the slaying. State corrections officials said the grainy tape, said to show inmate Joseph Druce reenacting the murder of the ex-priest, was an unauthorized, pirated recording made by a prison employee. Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte demanded that prison officials give it to prosecutors.

· CHICAGO -- Robert Creamer, the husband of Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky (D), pleaded guilty to tax violations and bank fraud for writing rubber checks and failing to collect withholding tax from an employee. Creamer, 58, faces four years in prison on the two felony counts when he is sentenced Dec. 21.