Nation in brief

Suspect named in Ohio shootings

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Authorities released the name of a suspect Monday in two dozen highway sniper shootings that have left one woman dead and unnerved motorists for months.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said Charles A. McCoy Jr., 28, of Columbus, should be considered armed and dangerous.

Chief Deputy Steve Martin would not say what evidence led investigators to McCoy, and authorities do not yet have a warrant for his arrest. He didn't say when investigators would seek one.

"The key issue for us right now is to locate this guy," Martin said. "We believe he bought another gun."

The shootings at vehicles and buildings around Interstate 270, which circles the city, and other highways started in May, although most have occurred since October. The most recent was on Valentine's Day. One woman was killed in a November shooting.

Bullets have struck homes, a school, school buses, vans, cars, delivery trucks and tractor-trailers. The only person hit, Gail Knisley, 62, was fatally wounded Nov. 25 while riding in a car on I-270.

The suspect is a 5-foot-8, 185-pound white male with brown hair and green eyes, the sheriff's office said. The car is a dark green 1999 Geo Metro with a black hood.

Authorities were seeking the public's help Monday in locating McCoy.

SEATTLE - A county board in Portland, Ore., decided Monday to continue issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite an opinion by the state attorney general that such unions are illegal.

The decision makes Multnomah County the only jurisdiction in the nation still issuing licenses to gay partners. The California Supreme Court on Thursday ordered San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In New York, meanwhile, an upstate district attorney filed what are believed to be the first-ever criminal charges against two clergy members for marrying 13 couples in same-sex ceremonies. Unitarian Universalist ministers Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey, who had performed the ceremonies in the city of New Paltz, face up to two years in jail.

FRESNO, Calif. - All nine family members discovered slain in a Fresno home over the weekend had been shot to death, the coroner's office said Monday.

Investigators were still working to determine the relationships among the victims, who were found tangled in a pile of clothes when police went to the home about a child custody dispute Friday.

Marcus Wesson, thought to be the father and grandfather of the victims, walked out of the home covered in blood and was booked on suspicion of nine counts of murder.

Police said Wesson, 57, may have been involved in polygamy and is thought to have fathered children with at least four women, including two of his own daughters.

Wesson's arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday; bail was set at $9-million.

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. - A Florida soldier who refused to return to duty in Iraq turned himself in to military authorities on Monday, saying he would seek conscientious objector status.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, 28, surrendered at the base's gate to two military police officers, who drove him away.

A crowd of peace activists cheered Mejia and shouted encouragement: "We love you!" "Go with God!"

Mejia was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave.

JOPLIN, Mo. - A factory worker who claimed his lungs were ruined as a result of inhaling mist from flavoring oils used in microwave popcorn was awarded $20-million by a jury Monday.

Eric Peoples, 32, was the first of 30 former workers at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. plant in Jasper to have his suit heard against the two makers of the butter flavoring. Peoples cried and hugged his wife, Cassandra, as the jury ruled against International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and its subsidiary Bush Boake Allen Inc., the manufacturers of the flavoring.

WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department will expand its testing for mad cow disease after the single U.S. case in December to more than 221,000 animals, 10 times the number tested last year, officials said Monday.

The tests will include 201,000 animals considered to be at high risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, because they show symptoms of nervous system disorders such as twitching.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon needs to make a case to keep the F/A-22 fighter program in the face of vastly increased costs and technical problems, congressional investigators say.

The General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, said in a report that the military can now afford only 218 of the planes, instead of 750, within a $36.8-billion spending cap. The first combat-ready planes are supposed to hit the skies next year, and the military is supposed to decide by December whether to continue with full production of the plane.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military said Monday it released 23 Afghan and three Pakistani citizens from the U.S. Navy prison for terrorist suspects in Cuba, leaving about 610 still in detention. They were flown back to Afghanistan and Pakistan aboard U.S. aircraft, officials said.

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