Four Women

Bill Murray underplays like mad in Broken Flowers, as an emotionally constricted bachelor who may or may not have fathered a son by one of four women he slept with 20 years earlier. Extrapolating on the screen persona he presented to such acclaim in 2003's Lost in Translation, Murray once again plays a soul so guarded, so unsure of himself that he dare not do anything, lest he lose his way even further - a character who elicits equal parts laughter and sympathy from his audience. No actor displays that sort of measured confusion better than Murray, and his Don Johnston proves far more attention-grabbing onscreen than he sounds.

BUSINESS DOW -249.97 13,113.38 NASDAQ -48.62 2,565.70 S&P -25.00 1,453.55 SUN INDEX -6.26 339.32 MARYLAND Craigslist sex ads lead to sting Anne Arundel County police, who have been focused on Craigslist ads and prostitution for more than a year, announced yesterday the arrest of four women who allegedly used the free Web site Craigslist to set up paid sexual encounters with men who turned out to be undercover police. pg 1B Women holding keys to power In a city where African-American women represent the largest bloc of primary voters, the prospect of keeping Baltimore's top four elected offices filled by black women never strays far from the campaign conversation.

In his first court appearance, Charles Eugene Burns, the 35-year-old Harford County man charged with killing one of four women whose bodies were found in remote areas, lashed out yesterday at a judge and his attorneys, saying he has been "kept in the dark" about his trial. The outburst came at the end of a hearing during which his attorneys sought to unseal records that are said to detail abuse that Burns suffered as a child. His attorneys could use the records as a possible foundation for his defense, legal experts said.

A defense attorney for Louis Hill III told a Harford County Circuit Court jury yesterday that his client never entered the Farmers Bank and Trust Co. in Randallstown 13 months ago, when four women were shot by masked robbers and left to die as they lay on the floor of the vault.Baltimore County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mr. Hill, a 26-year-old college graduate and businessman, in the deaths of two of the bank employees. Two others survived. The trial was moved to Bel Air at Mr. Hill's request.

An article Monday on four women seeking the Irish presidency misstated the post now held by former Irish President Mary Robinson. She is now the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.The Sun regrets the errors.An article yesterday incorrectly identified Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet, as a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.The Sun regrets the error.DUBLIN, Ireland -- A gray-haired, red-faced, 60-year-old former cop named Derek Nally stands out among the five candidates seeking to become the president of Ireland.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- It is now possible in America to win a discrimination lawsuit against a private business without ever having applied for a job. One may also seek damages against an establishment if he wants a lap dance in a certain room but can't get there because the room is not wheelchair accessible. Read on. Four years ago, a federal judge, responding to a lawsuit on behalf of four women (only one of whom actually filled out a job application), ruled that Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami Beach was guilty of sex discrimination.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - They crept along a stone pavement drenched by broken water mains and littered with spent shell casings and crushed cars, walking away from Christianity's cradle on a street named after Pope Paul VI. Sabri Balboul's family was clearly terrified, making a break for it yesterday after being on the wrong side of town Monday. They were caught there after the Israeli army moved into the city as part of its operation to overwhelm Palestinian militias and put a stop to terrorist attacks.

Former Savage volunteer firefighter James Scott Botschen was charged yesterday with sexual offenses involving two more women in the Curtis Bay section of Baltimore. He is now alleged to have committed sexual crimes against four women in the first four days of September, state police said.Mr. Botschen, 31, was charged yesterday with assault with intent to murder, first degree sexual offense, assault with intent to commit a sexual offense, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime, two counts of use of a deadly weapon and two counts of battery.

Natilie Towles is a baker. Hope Harrell cleans up lead pain residue. Beth Dellow inspects homes for prospective buyers. Lisa Michael rents out "pedicabs" -- carriages pulled by bicycles -- to Inner Harbor sightseers.These four women may not seem to have much in common but they all are following a similar path. Each is running her own business, trying to make her way in what was once seen as a man's world of small business ownership."I wanted to have control over what I did with my life," Ms. Michael said of her decision to start her own business, echoing the sentiments of the other three women.

Penny McCrimmon wants to bring a woman's point of view to what has for years been an all-male assemblage. She is running for the Baltimore County Council. "It's become an old boys' club," said McCrimmon, a Randallstown community activist who says she often hears from women who voted for her when she came up short in her council bid four years ago. "They told me that they wanted women on the council because nobody's representing their voice, nobody's hearing their issues." Across the nation, more women hold public office than did 15 years ago. More women are running for office this year than in any recent election, according to one recent study, and a woman is considered a leading contender for president in 2008.