CREWS RESCUE BOY TRAPPED UNDER CONCRETE SLAB IN PA.

Crews rescue boy trappedunder concrete slab in Pa.
VALENCIA, Pa. -- A teenager who was chasing a ball at recess became trapped under a heavy concrete slab for about two hours Tuesday before emergency crews could remove it and rush him to a hospital. Robert Maust, 14, was pale and cold but otherwise in good spirits when crews pulled him from the gully where he had been stuck, said his father, Jason. The teenager was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital, where he was listed in good condition, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday night. "It's like getting the gift of life all over again," Jason Maust said. "He doesn't know how lucky he is." The accident happened at about 12:15 p.m. when Robert ran after a ball that had rolled down a hill from the Holy Sepulcher School, his father said. It was unclear how the concrete slab, which measured about 6 feet by 3 feet, ended up on top of the teenager.
Math problem solved
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- An international team of mathematicians has cracked a 120-year-old puzzle that researchers say is so complicated that its handwritten solution would cover the island of Manhattan. The 18-member group of mathematicians and computer scientists was convened by the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto to map a theoretical object known as the "Lie group E8." Lie (pronounced Lee) groups were invented by 19th-century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie in his study of symmetrical objects, especially spheres, and differential calculus. The E8 group, which dates to 1887, is the most complicated Lie group, with 248 dimensions, and was long considered impossible to solve. "To say what precisely it is is something even many mathematicians can't understand," said Jeffrey Adams, the project's leader and a math professor at the University of Maryland. The problem's proof, announced Monday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took the researchers four years to find.
Cheney goes to hospital
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney went to the hospital Tuesday after experiencing discomfort in his left lower leg, where a blood clot was recently discovered. After consulting with his doctors, Cheney was asked to return to George Washington University Hospital for repeat ultrasound imaging of the deep venous thrombosis, or clot, in that leg, said spokeswoman Megan McGinn "The ultrasound revealed no extension or complication of the clot," she said. "His blood thinning medication was found to be therapeutic. These results are expected and reassuring, and the current course of treatment will continue." Cheney returned to the White House to resume his normal schedule, she said. Just over two weeks ago, doctors discovered a blood clot in the vice president's leg. They said at the time that he likely would have to be treated with blood-thinning medication for several months. Spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said at the time that the 66-year-old had visited his doctor's office March 5 after feeling minor discomfort in his calf. An ultrasound showed the blood clot -- called a deep venous thrombosis -- in his left lower leg.
Questions surrounddiscovery of body
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The discovery of the body of a missing Purdue University student in a dormitory's high-voltage utility room has school officials and his family wondering how a door to such a dangerous area was left unlocked. School officials Tuesday said they would investigate why a door that opens to the outdoors was unlocked and why numerous searches for Wade Steffey, 19, since he went missing Jan. 13 did not include a full inspection of the room. "The search for Wade Steffey is over, but the search for answers continues," Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said. A maintenance worker investigating a "pinging" sound Monday found the body slumped over machinery. Steffey, a freshman from Bloomington, was last seen in the area after he left a fraternity party. The Tippecanoe County coroner identified the body Tuesday.
Worker fired for reportedlyputting porn in broadcast
MESA, Ariz. -- A Phoenix television station says it has fired an employee suspected of adding about 30 seconds of pornography into a broadcast of a news show. The unnamed worker for ION Media Networks' KPPX-TV "was immediately terminated and faces further legal action" after an investigation determined who was responsible for the March 12 incident, spokeswoman Leslie Monreal said in a statement. Palm Beach, Fla.-based ION Media Networks, which offers family-friendly programs, called the incident "an intolerable act of human sabotage" and apologized to viewers. Monreal said the images appeared only in the Phoenix market. The images prompted a flood of calls to local news media outlets and the cable television provider.
Associated Press