Briefs: Missing girl found

Authorities say a girl reported missing from her South Side Chicago home since Sunday has been found and is in good condition. Police said 11-year-old Sarah Montgomery was found late Tuesday at the home of one of her mother's friends. The girl had contacted family members earlier this week, but did not give her whereabouts. Sarah's father reported the girl missing on Sunday. Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said the girl ran away. Officers in the Calumet Area special-victims unit conducted an extensive search for the girl. The friend of the girl's mother contacted police Tuesday to inform them of her whereabouts.

Couple plead guilty

A South suburban couple face prison after pleading guilty to drug and dogfighting charges. A Will County judge has sentenced 40-year-old Donald Hudgins to two years in prison and his 41-year-old wife, Catherine, to six months in jail. Both were charged in March of last year with growing and selling marijuana in their Monee home. They also were charged with training fighting dogs. Authorities say 12 caged pit bulls found on the Hudgins' property had to be euthanized since they had been trained to fight.

No protest expulsions

Berwyn schools Superintendent Ben Nowakowski says most students suspended over an anti-war protest at Morton West High School were back in class Wednesday. He said none of the suspended students will be expelled. Fourteen of the 18 students suspended after the Nov. 1 sit-in were due back in school. The remaining four, who Nowakowski said bore the most responsibility for disrupting classes, can return to school Friday. Shortly after the protest, Nowakowski said the suspensions was the school's reaction to the interruption of the school day, not with the students expressing themselves. Many of the students were threatened with expulsion. Rita Maniotis of the PTO said the suspended students' parents will talk to the school board to make sure the penalties don't appear on the students' records.

Mail carrier shot

A postal worker in Chicago was shot in the leg late Tuesday after a resident along his postal route became angry that he was delivering the mail too late. Police said 31-year-old Denny Robinson was delivering mail around 6:30 p.m. in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood when he was shot in the thigh. Robinson was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for the nonlife-threatening injury. Authorities said witnesses reported hearing a person shouting that the postal worker was delivering the mail too late and then heard a shot. Police spokesman Tom Polick said nobody could say where the shot came from. Wanda Shipp of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said Robinson was delivering mail after the normal 5 p.m. quitting time because Monday was a holiday and volume was heavier than normal.