Pryce, 56, was her party's fourth-ranking leader before the GOP lost control in the 2006 election. She narrowly survived a challenge last fall from Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy.

Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, is running again in 2008, an election in which Democratic hopes run high because of voter disenchantment with President Bush and the Iraq war.

Democrats says they also will compete strongly for the seats being vacated by former Speaker Dennis Hastert and seven-term Rep. Ray LaHood, both of Illinois.

Top Republican officials in Ohio and Washington said she plans to step down when her term ends next year.

One of the officials said the decision was largely a family matter for Pryce, the single parent of an adopted child.

With Pryce's and Hastert's departures, only one of the top four House Republican leaders from the GOP-controlled 109th Congress appears likely to seek election next year: Roy Blunt of Missouri, the GOP whip. Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stepped down last year.

Even before Pryce's plans became known, Democrats saw her Columbus-based district as among the most competitive held by a Republican. An open seat will be even more difficult for Republicans to defend, but party activists say they will do so, arguing that Democrats already failed once -- in 2006 -- when many factors were in their favor.

Doug Thornell, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: "Mary Jo Kilroy came within 1,055 votes of winning last cycle, and we expect this race to provide us with a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our majority."

Brodsky & Smith, LLC announces that a Court has preliminarily approved a class action settlement in TDH Partners v. The Ryland Group, Inc., et. al. involving all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired common stock of the Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE: RYL) ("RYLAND"), between October 3, 2003 and January 7, 2004, inclusive, ("the Settlement Class"). This case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Pursuant to a Court Order, a hearing will be held in this case (the "Action") on December 11, 2007 at 10:00 A.M. before United States District Judge Jane Boyle, at the United States Courthouse, 1100 Commerce Street, Dallas, Texas 75242, to determine: (1) whether the settlement of claims asserted in this Action in return for payment of One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,200,000.00) in cash plus accrued interest (the "Settlement Fund"), from which all administrative expenses, taxes owed and Court-awarded attorneys' fees and expenses will be paid, should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate to the members of the Settlement Class; (2) whether the proposed plan of allocation for the Settlement Fund after payment of all administrative expenses, taxes owed and Court-awarded attorneys' fees and expenses (the "Plan of Allocation") is fair, reasonable and adequate to the members of the Settlement Class; (3) whether and in what amount to approve an incentive award to the Lead Plaintiff and whether to approve the application of the Class' Lead Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees not in excess of 33% and expenses not in excess of $150,000.00 should be approved; and (4) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice as set forth in the Settlement Agreement dated as of March 15, 2007 and filed with the Court.

Persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of RYLAND during the period from October 3, 2003 through January 7, 2004, inclusive (the "Settlement Class Period"), may be affected by the settlement of this Action, including the release and extinguishment of claims they may possess relating to the purchase or other acquisition of the common stock of RYLAND during the Settlement Class Period. To share in the distribution of the Settlement Fund, eligible shareholders must establish their rights by mailing a Proof of Claim Form on or before November 15, 2007.

Shareholders who desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class must file a request for exclusion by November 15, 2007, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action. All members of the Settlement Class who have not requested exclusion from the Settlement Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action.

Last week, top administrators ordered them to stop wearing union symbols in public to avoid an appearance of bias.

"While we understand the right to participate in negotiations and union activities, we also require conduct that does not compromise the appearance of neutrality and impartiality to the public and other court users," Court Administrator Denise Gordon said.

On Tuesday, union representatives sent a complaint to the state Public Employment Relations Board, which will evaluate it, said SEIU field representative Kris Organ.

At issue are so-called sanctuary cities, places where city employees are not required to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Some, such as San Francisco, have declared themselves sanctuaries or refuges. Others, like New York, have never adopted the "sanctuary" moniker.

New York's policy, issued by Democratic Mayor Ed Koch in 1988, is intended to make illegal immigrants feel that they can report crimes, send their children to school or seek medical treatment without fear of being reported.

An estimated half-million illegal and undocumented immigrants live in New York, and only a fraction are deported each year.

"What's the best thing to do about that?" Giuliani asked in 1996. "Put them in a situation in which they keep children out of school? Put them in a situation in which they don't go to hospitals? Or put them in a situation in which they don't report crimes to the police?"

Giuliani went to court to preserve the policy, suing over a 1996 attempt by Congress to undo the city's protections. He lost, but Mayor Mike Bloomberg later issued a new, broader version of the policy that is still in effect.

In the presidential campaign, Giuliani and Romney are talking tough on immigration, even opposing the bipartisan immigration overhaul backed by President Bush. Yet their records are not necessarily tough. For example:

_Several illegal immigrants worked on Romney's lawn as employees of a lawn care company; Romney said he didn't know the company had hired illegal workers.

_As mayor, Giuliani often spoke positively about illegal immigrants: "If you come here, and you work hard, and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city," he told The New York Times in 1994.

_Both Romney and Giuliani spoke favorably of 2006 legislation providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants; they opposed a similar bill earlier this year.

Immigration inflames conservatives in early voting states such as Iowa and South Carolina, where some argue that illegal immigrants are straining schools and hospitals, lowering wages or taking jobs from law-abiding citizens.

In Aiken, S.C., on Tuesday, Giuliani repeated a pledge to closely track immigrants with tamperproof identity cards, bolster fencing and law enforcement at the border and deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Giuliani planned to highlight his support for a physical and technological fence with new radio ads beginning Wednesday in New Hampshire and Iowa. His technological fence would be a system of motion detectors, night vision monitors and video cameras.

Romney, inspecting border fencing and checkpoints Monday in San Diego, reiterated his plan to hire more Border Patrol agents, sanction employers who hire illegal immigrants and cut federal dollars for sanctuary cities.

Romney blames "don't tell" policies, and Giuliani's support for them, for luring millions of illegal immigrants to the United States.

"New York City was the poster child for sanctuary cities in the country," Romney said last week in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Giuliani's defense is that he cracked down on all crimes, including illegal immigration. "New York City had the least amount of illegality per capita of any major city in the country, and I brought that change about," he said last week in Colorado Springs, Colo.

And his campaign accused Romney of hypocrisy, pointing out that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney did not try to punish sanctuary cities _ Cambridge, Orleans and Somerville _ in his own state.

"He had three sanctuary cities in his own state," longtime Giuliani aide Randy Mastro said. "The New York City program was very different. We had a system that protected public safety by encouraging aliens to come forward to the authorities to report crimes, and then required authorities to cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of aliens who committed crimes."

Romney says he tried to curtail the problem by deputizing state police to enforce federal immigration laws.

"It was exactly in response to the fact that immigration laws were not being enforced," spokesman Kevin Madden said. "It was also in conjunction with his belief that enforcement has to be a joint state and federal effort."

Bloomberg, who may run for president himself, waded into the dispute this week. Asked Monday about the idea of New York as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, he said, "Let 'em come."

"I can't think of any laboratory that shows better why you need a stream of immigrants than New York City," he added. "I don't know what to tell anybody. If they don't believe that immigrants add a heck of a lot more than they cost, they just aren't looking at the numbers."