NATION IN BRIEF : MASSACHUSETTS : Homeless Protesters Arrested at Capitol

Twenty of their number were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct an hour after about 100 homeless protesters took over an ornate room of the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston. They had said they would not be moved until $700,000 in budget cuts were restored to the winter shelter program. An organizer said bail was set at $25, and a $500 bail fund had been established to benefit those arrested. Despite the cuts as a result of the state’s worsening fiscal status, a spokesman for the office of Human Services said: “Nobody’s going to be out on the streets due to a lack of beds.”