ALSIP, Ill. — Three gravediggers and a cemetery manager unearthed hundreds of corpses from a historic black cemetery south of Chicago, dumping some in a weeded area and double-stacking others in existing graves, in an elaborate scheme to resell the plots, authorities said yesterday. All four were charged with felonies.

Frantic relatives of the deceased descended on Burr Oak Cemetery — the final resting place of lynching victim Emmett Till — in hopes someone could tell them their loved ones' remains were not among the pile of bones that littered a remote area of the property in Alsip, 12 miles south of Chicago.

BURRIS WON’T PURSUE SENATE SEAT IN 2010

WASHINGTON — Sen. Roland Burris, whose deep ties to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich seemed to doom his Senate tenure from the start, will not run for a full Senate term in 2010.

Burris has begun informing fellow Democrats about his decision and is expected to make an announcement today, a Democratic official and a friend of Burris' told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Burris has yet to discuss his decision publicly.

Burris was appointed by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who weeks before had been arrested in part on allegations he tried to sell the former Senate seat of President Obama. Burris' appointment was criticized from the moment it was announced and prompted immediate calls for him to resign.

PELOSI SHOOTS DOWN JACKSON RESOLUTION

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shut the door yesterday to a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because debate on the symbolic measure could raise "contrary views" about the pop star's life.

A resolution sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, cites some of the singer's charitable acts and proclaims him an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian.

Even before Pelosi's comments, some Democrats said privately they did not support the resolution and a divisive debate would hurt House efforts to muster the votes for priorities such as health care and climate change.

AIR FORCE CADETS TESTED FOR SWINE FLU

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy says 84 cadets with flu-like symptoms have been isolated and are being tested for swine flu.

Academy spokeswoman Capt. Corinna Jones told The Gazette in Colorado Springs yesterday that most of the cadets are "doolies," members of the incoming freshman class who began training June 25. She said the cadets under isolation in a dormitory began coughing and showing other upper respiratory symptoms over the past two days.

The academy has contacted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Air Force Surgeon General's office.

KILLER OF 2 OKLAHOMA CAMPERS EXECUTED

McALESTER, Okla. — A man convicted of the 1995 shooting deaths of two campers has been put to death in Oklahoma.

Michael P. DeLozier, 32, was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. yesterday. He was the third inmate put to death in Oklahoma this year.

According to court documents, DeLozier and two other men ambushed 60-year-old Orville Lewis Bullard and 54-year-old Paul Steven Morgan at their campsite in southern Oklahoma, shot them and stole their truck and camping equipment. Prosecutors also say DeLozier set fire to the camp, burning the bodies beyond recognition.

HALF-TON OF COCAINE FOUND WITH COFFEE

NEW ORLEANS — Customs agents discovered an extra ingredient in a shipment of Colombian coffee: nearly a half-ton of cocaine.

U.S. Customs officer Troy Simon said yesterday it was his agency's biggest cocaine find at the Port of New Orleans since more than two tons turned up in a shipment about 10 years ago. He said officers opened the shipping container Monday after a gamma-ray scan showed squarish shapes on top of the rounded burlap bags of coffee beans. They turned out to be 15 duffel bags. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said they held 400 packages of cocaine weighing a total of 994 pounds.