National news capsules

Texas executes man for '97 rape, murder

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 44-year-old Texas man was executed Thursday evening for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl, despite pleas from his attorneys he was too mentally impaired to qualify for capital punishment.

Bobby Wayne Woods received lethal injection about a half-hour after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt his punishment, which was delayed briefly until the high court ruled in his case. His lawyers had argued Woods was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that previous appeals to spare Woods' life were unsuccessful because of shoddy work by his lawyer at the time.

Tests administered to Woods put his IQ anywhere from the 60s to the 80s. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.

Woods was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die for the April 1997 slaying of Sarah Patterson, his ex-girlfriend's daughter.

Pair fleeing police crash into day care

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two robbery suspects fleeing police lost control of their sport utility vehicle and crashed into a day care center Thursday, injuring four children and an employee in a shower of bricks and other debris, police said.

About 18 children were inside the Stepping Stones Child Care when the SUV slammed into the brick building on the city's north side about 12:15 p.m., Lt. Jeff Duhamell said.

Kara Hardister, who runs the church-owned day care, said the crash sent bricks and debris flying into a room for 3-year-olds just before their afternoon nap time.

The car burst into flames shortly after the crash, but officers quickly extinguished the fire.

Georgia GOP leader resigns from office

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's powerful House speaker resigned Thursday after a suicide attempt and allegations by his ex-wife of an affair with a lobbyist.

Glenn Richardson, the state's first GOP speaker since Reconstruction, had won sympathy from even his political enemies when he revealed last month that he attempted suicide by swallowing sleeping pills. But then his ex-wife went on TV and accused him of having "a full-out affair" with a lobbyist while they were still married.

"I fear that the media attention of this week has deflected this message and done harm to many people who suffer from this condition," he said in the statement.

ER robbery victim dead for 50 minutes