EPA Says ‘All Clear’ After Phoenix High School Mercury Spill

The Environmental Protection Agency has completed its emergency response following a mercury spill at Agua Fria High School in Phoenix.

An EPA news release Friday said mercury contamination has been cleaned up at the school and at homes that were affected.

The EPA’s Emergency Response program was mobilized on February 13 after being notified of the spill.

Over the past 11 days, the belongings of approximately 450 students and staff were screened for mercury. Mercury screenings were also conducted at 66 homes of students and staff whose belongings were found to be contaminated with mercury.

Six of the inspected homes had moderate levels of mercury contamination and three of the homes required more extensive decontamination with two families temporarily relocating. The families displaced by the decontamination returned to their homes February 24.

The EPA said, at the school, mercury contamination in all classrooms, locker rooms, outside areas and buses impacted by the spill has been cleaned up. However, restoration of these areas is not complete.

The Avondale Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation in the February 12th spill. Federal law allows the EPA three years to investigate the cause of the spill and recover costs.

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Man Arrested for Allegedly Targeting President, Others With HIV-Infected Blood

A man from President Obama’s hometown of Chicago has been arrested for allegedly sending Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood, in the hopes of killing or harming them.

It’s only the second time ever that HIV-infected blood has been sent with malicious intent through the U.S. mail system, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

In the weeks leading up to Obama’s inauguration, Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee in his late 20’s, sent an envelope addressed to “Barack Obama” to offices of the Illinois government in Springfield, Ill., according to court documents. The envelope contained a series of unusual items, including a letter with reddish stains and an admission ticket for Obama’s election-night celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park. Court documents said Hussein, who takes drugs to treat a mental illness, later told FBI agents he is “very sick with HIV” and cut his fingers with a razor so he could bleed on the letter.

Hazmat teams were called in after the envelope was opened, and offices of the Illinois Department on Aging and the Department of Revenue were locked down for nearly two hours, locking 300 staffers in their offices, court documents said.

Hussein, with his brother acting as an interpreter, told FBI agents he was actually “an admirer” of Obama and was “seeking help from the government,” according to court documents. He also told them he was hoping to obtain tickets to the inaugural ceremonies in Washington, the documents said.

Days after sending the letter to Obama, Hussein allegedly placed two more letters in the mail, one addressed to “Emanuel,” an apparent reference to Obama’s current chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The two letters contained what appeared to be dried blood, the court documents said.

via Chicago Man Arrested for Allegedly Targeting Obama With HIV-Infected Blood – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com.

U.S. to Transfer Al Qaeda Combatant Into Civilian Court System

An accused Al Qaeda sleeper agent held for 5 1/2 years at a Navy brig in South Carolina will soon be sent to Illinois for trial in civilian court, a move the government has fought for years saying terror suspects caught in the U.S. could be held indefinitely without charges.

Two people familiar with the case of Qatar native Ali al-Marri said Thursday the government plans to transfer him to the civilian court system. One of them said he would be charged with providing support to terrorists. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because it’s a pending criminal case.

The transfer could avert a Supreme Court hearing in April and a subsequent ruling that would govern other cases against accused terrorists. Al-Marri’s transfer is the first signal of how the Obama administration is likely to handle accused terrorists, a significant shift from the strategy of the Bush administration.

Since shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, government lawyers argued that the president has the wartime authority to send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen — or legal resident like al-Marri — and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

Putting al-Marri into the federal court system follows a similar move made by the Bush administration with another enemy combatant, Jose Padilla. Padilla, once held at the same brig as al-Marri, was eventually convicted of terror-related charges in federal court in Florida.

The decision on al-Marri was reported separately Thursday by the Web sites of The Washington Post and The New Yorker magazine.

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Terrorist in New York City Bombing Plot Released

A Black September terrorist who served only about half his 30-year sentence for planting three car bombs in New York City in 1973 was deported Thursday, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

It was unclear which country had agreed to accept the 63-year-old Khalid Al-Jawary. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the deportation, didn’t immediately know where Al-Jawary was going.

Al-Jawary was convicted in federal court of placing the bombs in 1973 that could have killed and injured hundreds if they had detonated. They were timed to coincide with the arrival of then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Al-Jawary was captured in 1991 and sentenced in 1993 to 30 years but received credit for good behavior and time served.

He was released last week from the Supermax maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo., and was held by immigration officials in Denver until his deportation.

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Alleged FBI Informant Claims Man Threatened To Blow Up S. California Shopping Centers

Craig Montielh, a 46-year-old father of three, said Thursday that he worked as an FBI informant uncovering suspected terrorist plots.

The Irvine man came forward saying he fears for his life because people may think he is a terrorist. He says his four-year investigation led to one arrest and seven others are pending, under sealed indictments.

“If they wanted to kill me, it’s not hard to do,” Monteilh said.

Last week, Ahmed Niazi was arrested on charges of passport and immigration fraud.

“Ahmad Niazi is a gentleman, a scholar, a devoted father. But make no mistake, he is also a terrorist,” Montielh said.

Montielh also claims Niazi threatened to blow up shopping centers like South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island, to “fight the infidel,” meaning the United States.

“If malls are attacked and bombs are exploding, people won’t go spend their money,” Monteilh said. “People will remain in fear and stay home.”

Monteilh said he alerted the FBI to Niazi, 34, after meeting him at the Islamic Center of Irvine in November 2006 and spending eight months with him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is outraged about the case against Niazi, saying the FBI is profiling mosques by placing undercover agents in their midst.

The FBI says it will not comment about the case involving Montiehl.

Niazi is scheduled to be arraigned March 2 on a five-count federal indictment that accuses him of lying on his naturalization application, procuring naturalization unlawfully, using a passport procured by fraud and making a false statement.

Source

CIA Chief Panetta Provides Economic Intel Brief

Highlighting the potential impact the worldwide economic downturn may have on global security and foreign policy, new CIA Director Leon Panetta said today that the agency is now producing a new daily intelligence document for President Obama and other top officials that focuses on economic issues.

Panetta says the new intelligence product, known as the Economic Intelligence Brief, is intended to make sure that policymakers “aren’t surprised by the implications of the worldwide economic crisis.”

The first brief was presented to the White House this morning, after a request from the Obama administration, Panetta said.

He said the briefs would “cover overseas developments –- economic, political, leadership developments,” as well as “the implications of those developments in terms of the U.S. economy.”

The new intelligence brief is another sign of the Obama administration’s focus on economic issues.

Since his first day in office, Obama has received daily briefings from his economic advisers that take place before the long-standard security briefing focused on the intelligence community’s daily assessment, known as the Presidential Daily Brief.

via Source

FBI Raids University of Floridas Nuclear Power Institute

The nuclear space power institute at the University of Florida has been raided by the FBI.

Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rhew in Tallahassee said search warrants were served at the university’s Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute.

Rhew would not comment on the target of the investigation, but University of Florida spokesman Steve Orlando said the FBI was in the office of professor Samim Anghaie, the Iranian-born director of the institute.

Rhew would not comment on the investigation but did say no arrest warrants have been issued.

Court documents filed by the United States Attorney in Tallahassee describe a criminal and civil investigation into “fraudulent” invoices that resulted in funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Professor Samim Anghaie, 59, his wife, Sousan, 54, and their two adult sons.

Federal officials would not talk about the details of their investigation, which UF reacted to by placing Anghaie on leave with pay. He could not be reached for comment.

via Source

Note:  There is no indication that this story has any ties to terrorism or terror activities.  We  post it as a story of interest to our readers.

Pilots Landing at Seattle-Tacoma Airport Report Lasers

Pilots on 12 jetliners landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday reported that someone was shining a green laser light into their cockpits, bringing renewed attention to a problem that has plagued pilots since the introduction of cheap laser pointers several years ago.

All the planes were targeted during a 20-minute period Sunday night, and all landed safely. But the incident led to pilots simultaneously trying to avoid being temporarily blinded by the light while trying to help authorities pinpoint its source, believed to be about a mile north of the airport.

Air traffic controllers continuously cautioned pilots about the light during the episode, which lasted from 7:10 to 7:30 p.m. PT.

“All right, I’ll keep an eye out for that,” one pilot responded before correcting himself. “Er, I’ll keep an eye away from that,” he said in radio traffic captured by LiveATC.net.

Another pilot reported the source to be a block and a half west of an interstate. Airport authorities said they conducted two searches of the area but did not find the culprit.

Laser attacks on aircraft have increased in recent years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. There have been 148 incidents this year, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

Source

Mexican Drug Violence Has Crossed U.S. Border, State Officials Say

The violence associated with Mexican drug cartels is now spilling over onto the America side of the border in Arizona and Texas, state officials have admitted.

The New York Times reports that Arizona has seen a dramatic spike in drug-related abductions, home invasions, and even men dressed in SWAT gear wielding military-grade weaponry. Read more

Official Says Bombers Targeted Children On School Trip In Cairo

Bombers targeted a French school trip to Cairo when they attacked a popular tourist site in which a 17-year-old French girl died, officials said.

Egyptian police arrested three people after Sunday’s bomb attack at the Khan al-Khalili market near the Hussein mosque, The Times of London reported Monday. The 20-plus wounded included 17 other French teens, a German, and several Saudis and Egyptians.

“Three people there were arrested on the site as suspects after the attack,” a police official said. “Others are being questioned as witnesses.”

An unexploded bomb was found nearby the blast site. Police detonated the second device safely

The teenagers were part of a group of 54 teenage students from Paris on a last-minute visit to the bazaar before heading home. The group returned from Cairo to Paris Monday, the British newspaper said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon denounced the incident.

“The government condemns with the greatest firmness this criminal act of blind and absurd violence,” Fillon said. “More than ever, France stands beside the Egyptian Republic as it faces this test and fights against terrorism.”

Police blocked off the area, full of cafes and souvenir stands, and used bomb-detecting dogs to find the second device.

Witnesses told The Times one of the bombs appeared to have been thrown from a passing motorbike, while others said that the devices were tossed from a nearby rooftop.

via Source

FBI Director Warns of Terror Attacks on U.S. Cities

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III today warned that extremists “with large agendas and little money can use rudimentary weapons” to sow terror, raising the specter that recent attacks in Mumbai that killed 170 people last year could embolden terrorists seeking to attack U.S. cities.

At a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Mueller said that the bureau is expanding its focus beyond al-Qaeda and into splinter groups, radicals who try to enter the country through the visa waiver program and “home-grown terrorists.”

“The universe of crime and terrorism stretches out infinitely before us, and we too are working to find what we believe to be out there but cannot always see,” Mueller said.

One particular concern, the FBI director said, springs from the country’s background as a “nation of immigrants.” Federal officials worry about pockets of possible radicals among melting-pot communities in the United States such as Seattle, San Diego, Miami or New York.

A Joint Terrorism Task Force led by the FBI, for instance, continues to investigate a group in Minneapolis after one young man last fall flew to Somalia and became what authorities believe to be the first U.S. citizen to carry out a suicide bombing. As many as a half-dozen other youths from that community in Minnesota have vanished, alarming their parents and raising concerns among law enforcement officials that a dangerous recruiting network has operated under the radar.

“The prospect of young men, indoctrinated and radicalized in their own communities . . . is a perversion of the immigrant story,” Mueller said.
via Source washingtonpost.com.

North Korea May Be Ready To Test-fire Missile

North Korea could be ready to test-fire a missile within days as satellite imagery has shown increased activity at a missile site over the past 48 hours, a defense weekly said.

A significant increase in launch preparations has occurred at the Musudan-ni missile site on the communist country’s northeastern coast, said Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., a senior analyst at Jane’s Information Group who specializes in North Korean defense and intelligence matters.

“The latest satellite images … indicate that North Korea is preparing to launch either a prototype Taepodong 2 intermediate range ballistic missile or a Paektusan 2 space launch vehicle within a matter of days,” Jane’s Defence Weekly said in a report issued Friday in London.

The report comes amid growing international pressure on the North to drop its apparent plans to fire a long-range missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have repeatedly warned Pyongyang against firing a missile, saying the move would trigger international sanctions.

Bermudez said satellite images show the activation of launch equipment and radars, and the arrival of numerous trucks and support vehicles. Support facilities for the engine test stand were undergoing expansion, the report said.

North Korea launched a failed long-range Taepodong 2 missile in 2006. That test alarmed the world and gave new energy to the stop-and-start diplomacy over North Korea’s nuclear program. The North is believed to possess up to a dozen nuclear warheads.

Pyongyang also conducted a surprise launch of a Taepodong 1 missile over Japan in 1998.

via Report: NKorea may be ready to test-fire missile.

Glenn Beck: Worst Case Scenarios For America In 2014

Glenn Beck discusses worst case scenarios in America 2014. Several experts are interviewed including Brad Thor and others.

Animal Rights Activists Arrested For Terrorst Acts Against UC Scientists

Federal authorities have arrested four suspected animal rights activists in connection with violent protests in Santa Cruz and Alameda County, police reported Friday.

Three of the four were linked to the Riverside Avenue home police raided after the home invasion attack of a UC Santa Cruz researcher a year ago, according to Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend.

Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside and Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach were arrested by the FBI and the Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force at an airport in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday when they returned to the U.S. from Costa Rica, police reported. They appeared in federal court in Charlotte on Friday.

The two other suspects – Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley and Maryam Khejavi, 20, of Pinole – were arrested by the FBI, the San Francisco Joint Terrorism Task Force and UC Berkeley police Friday afternoon. Khejavi was arrested in Oakland and Buddenberg, the only one of the four not tied to the Riverside Avenue house, was arrested at the Alameda County Courthouse, according to authorities.

Santa Cruz Police Chief Howard Skerry said the arrests came “due to the tenacity of investigators,” but declined to speak specifically about the probe, evidence collected or any future arrests. Santa Cruz police were involved in the investigation, but the FBI was the lead law enforcement agency handling the case.

Still, he said he was pleased with the progress made in the past year.

“A lot of cases are very complex,” Skerry said. “We don’t give up on the cases. If it takes years, it takes years.”

Pope, Stumpo, Buddenberg and Khejavi will be charged at least in part under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, police said. The act carries a penalty of up to five years for each violation. It wasn’t immediately clear how many counts the suspected animal activists face. They are expected to appear in U.S. District Court later this month.

via Source

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