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COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL RECEIVES THREATENING CALLS: LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Columbine High School, where a school shooting left 13 people dead in 1999, went on high security alert after receiving a series of threatening phone calls, law enforcement said Thursday.

The school received the first phone call at 10 a.m. Thursday and others came "over the next 2-3 minutes," said Jacki Kelley, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

The school was placed on lockout, which prevents people from entering or leaving but allows them to freely circulate inside. The alert also applied to a half-dozen other schools in the area and was issued shortly before noon. The lockout was lifted shortly after 2 p.m.

Kelley said the sheriff's office sent "additional resources" to protect the school and was investigating the threats. The department added in a tweet that the threat "does not appear to be local or credible."

In 1999, two students opened fire at Columbine, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library.

 

TEXAN INDICTED IN ATTACK ON ELDERLY MAN: HOUSTON (AP) — A white Houston-area man accused of sucker punching an elderly black man has been indicted on a federal hate crime charge.

A federal grand jury in Houston indicted 27-year-old Conrad Alvin Barrett on Thursday.

Investigators say Barrett slugged the 79-year-old victim, breaking his jaw in two places, in a Nov. 24 attack in Katy. They say he laughed and shouted "knockout" as the man fell to the ground.

Investigators say Barrett video recorded the attack on his cellphone and shared the recording.

Defense attorney George Parnham  says Barrett has a bipolar disorder and was off his medication when the attack happened.

 

POLICE: BODY OF NEW MEXICO WOMAN LEFT IN TOWED VAN: MORIARTY, N.M. (AP) — The body of a missing woman has been found inside a van, five days after authorities in New Mexico towed it away.

KOAT-TV reports (http://goo.gl/fKtfhi) authorities say Tammie Cessna's body was found last week in an impound lot after state police executed a search warrant.

Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia says Cessna's van was found at a Moriarty motel but officers didn't see the body.

Garcia says he doesn't feel his officers did anything wrong by taping up the van with the body still inside. Authorities say it's unclear if Cessna was dead when the van was towed.

He says the van wasn't opened because officers didn't have a search warrant.

Authorities say 41-year-old Mark Chavez is facing charges in her death.

 

 

FOX'S O'REILLY TO INTERVIEW OBAMA: NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama will be interviewed live at the White House by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly during the Super Bowl pregame show.

Fox said Thursday the interview will air at 4:30 p.m., less than two hours before the game, which is being televised on Feb. 2 by the Fox broadcast network.

Following the live interview, O'Reilly will ask the president a few more questions that will be aired on "The O'Reilly Factor" the next night on Fox News Channel. The entire interview will be posted on the website foxnews.com.

 

 

24 HURT AFTER PASSENGER ATTACKS BUS DRIVER: PHOENIX (AP) — A passenger on a Greyhound bus traveling through Arizona "went berserk" and attacked the driver early Thursday, causing the bus to swerve violently and go off the highway before other passengers subdued him, witnesses and authorities said.

People were thrown from their seats after the California man, who reportedly was hallucinating, screamed "Everybody's going to die," pummeled the driver and grabbed the steering wheel. More than half of the roughly 40 passengers were hurt, including three who were airlifted to a Phoenix hospital.

"Everybody is jumping and flying and screaming," passenger Susana Ordinola, 48, of San Bernardino, Calif., said of the ordeal.

When the Dallas-bound bus finally stopped, the 25-year-old man and a female companion got off and ran into the desert, only to return about a half-hour later. Some passengers cursed and threw rocks at him before paramedics stopped them.

The bus was heading east from Los Angeles on Interstate 10 when then the attack happened shortly before 2 a.m. near the community of Tonopah, about 50 miles west of Phoenix.

The bus crossed the highway median but came to a stop before entering westbound traffic when other passengers restrained the man, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

 

24 GENERAL ADMISSION PRICE SET FOR NY 9/11 MUSEUM: NEW YORK (AP) — Adults who visit the Sept. 11 museum at the World Trade Center will be charged $24 admission.

The foundation board that oversees the lower Manhattan museum voted Thursday on the admission fee.

Families of Sept. 11 victims won't be charged. There will be discounts for children, seniors and schools.

The museum is scheduled to open this spring. It's still free to visit the memorial plaza with its twin reflecting pools.

Some relatives of Sept. 11 victims have criticized the decision to charge for the underground museum, which houses relics of the terror attacks.

Foundation officials say charging admission is necessary to cover the $60 million a year it'll cost to operate the site.

The museum has raised $700 million for construction costs but hasn't gotten government funds for operations.

 

LAWMAKER SEEKS TO RAISE WASHINGTON MINIMUM WAGE: OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state lawmaker has introduced a bill to increase what is already the highest state minimum wage in the nation to $12 an hour over the next three years, but the measure faces an uphill battle in a politically divided Legislature.

Under state House Bill 2672, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jessyn Farrell, of Seattle, the rate would first increase — for workers 18 and older — from the current $9.32 an hour to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2015. It would increase again to $11 a year later and would hit $12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2017. After that, further annual increases would be based on inflation. More than 30 House Democrats have also signed on to the bill.