In the Nation

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday ordered a former state attorney general to turn over copies of abortion patients' medical records to his former office and suggested that the abortion-rights foe should be disciplined for his conduct.

Phill Kline, a Republican named Johnson County district attorney last year after losing a bid to be reelected state attorney general in 2006, is pursuing a case against Planned Parenthood's clinic in Overland Park.

Before leaving the state job, he transferred copies of clinic patient records to Johnson County. Then, as county prosecutor, he filed criminal charges against the clinic, alleging it performed illegal late-term abortions, which the clinic has denied.

The court's majority said Kline's conduct may merit sanctions.

- AP

WASHINGTON - People can now carry concealed firearms in some national parks and wildlife refuges.

An Interior Department rule issued yesterday allows individuals to carry a loaded weapon in a park or wildlife refuge - if they have a permit for a concealed weapon, and if the state where the park is located allows it.

The rule overturns a Reagan-era regulation. The National Rifle Association hailed the rules change; a group representing park rangers and retirees said it would put visitors and rangers at risk.

- AP

BOSTON - A top Homeland Security official in Boston was arrested yesterday on charges of hiring illegal immigrants to clean her home, even urging one not to go back "'cause once you leave, you will never be back."

Lorraine Henderson, regional director of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, was responsible for stopping illegal immigrants from entering the country through air and sea ports in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

According to an affidavit, for several years Henderson employed a Brazilian housekeeper who was an illegal immigrant, paying her less than a legal cleaning service. She also allegedly hired two other illegals when the woman took time off for a baby, though a fellow agent warned her she was breaking the law.

- AP

Caroline Kennedy,

daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has told New York Gov. David Paterson of her interest in filling the Senate seat that opens up when Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, a person familiar with the conversation said.

Five Blackwater Worldwide

security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead, people close to the case said yesterday.

The ballot recount

in Minnesota's Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken neared conclusion yesterday, with Coleman ahead by 192 votes, but with 6,600 ballot challenges from the two campaigns pending.