Florida man captured after slaying deputy

PAISLEY, Fla. -- A felon accused of gunning down one sheriff's deputy and wounding two others was captured Wednesday in the Ocala National Forest after a daylong search by hundreds of law enforcement officers. Jason Lee Wheeler, 29, was wounded in a gun fight with the officers who captured him in piney woods six miles from his home in rural Lake County, about 30 miles north of Orlando, officers said. "We were able to flush him out of the woods," said Sheriff Chris Daniels. Wheeler allegedly ambushed the three Lake County deputies outside his home at about 9 a.m. as they responded to a domestic battery call from his girlfriend.

Woman sought in scalping of teenager with mohawk

BOISE, Idaho -- A member of a punk clique scalped another member apparently as punishment for her disrespectful behavior toward women, police said. The victim, a 16-year-old girl whose hair was cut in a mohawk, survived. Authorities are searching for Marianne Dahle, 26, who allegedly tied the teen up and used a 4-inch knife to cut away the crown and back portion of her scalp. The victim spent two weeks in the hospital and is now recovering at home. Authorities did not release the girl's name.

U.S. blocks meat imports of Canada's older cows

WASHINGTON -- The Agriculture Department will not allow meat from older cattle when it expands U.S. imports of Canadian beef on March 7, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday. The United States had been planning on that date to reopen the border for import of meat from animals of any age and import of live cattle younger than 30 months. Now, Johanns has instead extended the existing ban on importing older beef. The ban on bringing in older cattle also remains in force.

Rudolph challenges black witness in clinic bombing

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eric Rudolph's attorneys are questioning a black man's claim that he saw Rudolph near the scene of a deadly abortion clinic blast, citing research into the shakiness of "cross-racial identifications." In court papers filed Wednesday, Rudolph's attorneys asked a judge to allow testimony from City University of New York psychology professor Steven Penrod, who has testified in other cases about the difficulty witnesses have in accurately identifying people of other races. Rudolph is white. Rudolph is scheduled to go on trial late next month in the 1998 clinic bombing that killed a police officer and wounded a nurse.

Texas child abuse fatalities up 11 percent

SAN ANTONIO -- More than 200 Texas children died from abuse or neglect in the past fiscal year, up 11 percent from the previous year and double the number from a decade earlier, according to the state Department of Family and Protective Services. The 2004 fatality rate -- 3.3 for every 100,000 Texas children -- is roughly 65 percent higher than the latest national average of 1.98 per 100,000 children from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. "We don't have enough staff, we don't have enough investigations, we don't have enough foster homes, we don't have enough training and we don't have enough prevention," said Susan Craven, who heads the Austin-based advocacy group Texans Care for Children.

Space entrepreneurs question federal oversight

WASHINGTON -- Space entrepreneurs say they believe they are on the brink of developing a vibrant tourism industry, but worry that government regulation may stifle it before it can take off. To prevent that, they have formed a group, the Industry Consensus Standards Organization, to set standards for space fliers. While acknowledging the entrepreneurial space flight will be deadly, group member Michael Kelly told a congressional subcommittee the industry needs the chance to learn from its mistakes.