Valparaiso University Evacuated Due to Threat

Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana, has been evacuated due to a threat.

BE ON ALERT!  An unspecific threat to campus was made through a graffiti message alluding to dangerous and criminal activity alleged to be carried out during the chapel break period on Friday.   The broad threat provided no details with respect to location or type.  Please be on alert and report any suspicious activity to VUPD immediately by calling 911 or 464-5430.
Please be advised that additional security presence will be on site and visible at this time.  If necessary, please comply with security personnel direction and requirements.
Status updates will be posted to this site.

Nothing was found on the campus after it was searched by security, local police, and the FBI.

Classes and scheduled events have resumed.

The University of Texas at Austin, North Dakota State University, and L J Alleman Middle School were all evacuated due to threats on Friday.

FBI Catches Bucket List Bandit

Authorities arrested a bank robber known as the "Bucket List Bandit" in Roland, Oklahoma, on Friday.

He is accused of robbing banks in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah.

All of the robberies happened over the summer.

Michael Eugene Brewster, fifty-four, was given up by an informant.

The FBI began calling him the "Bucket List Bandit" after he told a teller that he was robbing banks because he only had four months left to live.

Chinese and Japanese Ships Facing Off

Chinese surveillance ships and Japanese coast guard vessels continue to face off near disputed islands.

Both sides have sent threats and warnings against the other flotilla.

China says that their ships are there to defend Chinese territory from Japanese aggression.

Japan recently purchased some of the islands from their private owners, in an attempt to end the dispute, but China is calling the move illegal.

Anti Japanese protests have been taking place in China since the plan to make the purchase was announced, on Tuesday.

North Dakota State University Evacuated

North Dakota State University is evacuating the campus after receiving a bomb threat.

Security Alert

This is an emergency message from North Dakota State University. 

NDSU is requiring all employees and students to leave campus by 10:15 a.m. This includes residence hall students, who, if necessary, should walk to locations off campus. This also includes the downtown buildings and agricultural facilities.

NDSU received a bomb threat, prompting this evacuation.  Updates will follow.

Do not call local emergency numbers for further information in order to permit emergency lines to remain open for emergency calls.  Updates to this announcement will be made when information becomes available.  This message is authorized and transmitted by the University Police Communications Call Center.

No explosives were found on the campus, staff and students were allowed back in at 1pm, and classes resumed at 2pm.

University of Texas at Austin, Valparaiso University, and L J Alleman Middle School were all evacuated due to threats on Friday.

University of Texas at Austin Being Evacuated

The University of Texas at Austin has announced an emergency evacuation.

Evacuation due to threats on campus. Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible. More information to come.

A man claiming to be part of Al Qaeda called in a threat, saying that he has placed multiple bombs on campus, he said that they were set to go off at 11am CDT.

Police found no explosives on the campus.

The university plans to allow people back into buildings starting at noon CDT, all classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, but non class events after 5pm will still happen.

North Dakota State University, Valparaiso University, and L J Alleman Middle School were all evacuated due to threats on Friday.

Kansas Considering Removing Obama From Ballot

Kansas is considering removing President Obama from the presidential ballot.

The State Objections Board is considering whether he should be allowed on the ballot due to concerns that he is not a legitimate candidate.

Obama's birth certificate is being contested by the board, which is asking for the "factual record" to be submitted to them.

They decided Thursday that it did not have enough information, moving a decision to Monday.

Islamist Protest Violence Spreads

Germany's embassy in Khartoum, Sudan was attacked and vandalized by an Islamist mob after they broke their way in. Fires were started outside the building and some of the flames have spread to the embassy itself.

Attempts to attack the US embassy were initially blocked by the Sudanese police, including two hundred SWAT officers. For awhile protesters managed to infiltrated the compound, and smoke was seen coming from the area. About an hour later the embassy announced that they were once again secure.

Britain's embassy was also attacked, but the rioters did not make their way in. Estimates had the combined mobs numbering over ten thousand. No embassy workers were hurt in any of the violence in Sudan, but three protesters are reported dead.

Reports have just come through that the wall of the US embassy in Tunis, Tunisia has been breached. Trees and a car in the compound were set on fire, and the windows of the buildings have been broken. A thick cloud of smoke is now coming from the embassy. Police are using tear gas and have fired live rounds in an attempt to regain control. At least three rioters have been killed and twenty-eight injured. An American school, near the embassy, was also set on fire.

Fifteen protesters in Cairo were injured after a clash with riot police. Two hundred and twenty-four have now been injured since the violence began on Tuesday. Rioters have periodically attacked police lines, but been repelled with batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and a water cannon.

In order to keep protesters from reaching the US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen police opened fire. At least two were killed.

In Tripoli, Lebanon a mob of hundreds burned a Hardees and KFC. At least two were killed and twenty-five injured during the violence there.

Police in Jerusalem were forced to fight off rioters who were headed for the US consulate there.

Chennai, India saw over one hundred protesters arrested after they burned President Obama in effigy and threw rocks, breaking windows, at the US consulate there. The top cleric in the Kashmir province demanded that all Americans leave.

Shots were fired in Jos, Nigeria as national troops attempted to clear protesters from around the US consulate.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Europe protests were held in front of US, Israeli, and European embassies. US and Israeli flags being burned has been a common sight in the protests, as well as the presence of Al Qaeda flags. Chants of "Death to America", "Obama is a terrorist", "Death to Israel", and "We are all Osama" are unending.

Friday's violence comes just four days after protests began over an anti Muslim movie. On Tuesday, a deadly attack was made against the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the embassy in Cairo was assaulted. Attacks continued Thursday when the US embassies in Cairo and Sanaa were mobbed.

The US has announced special teams of anti terror Marines have been sent to Libya and Yemen. Two destroyers were sent to the coast of Libya. And US drones began over flying more areas.

The following map shows the locations of major protests, around the world.


View Muslim Protests in a larger map

Acatenango Erupts Forcing 33,000 to Evacuate

Acatenango erupted with three huge explosions, on Thursday, forcing the evacuations of thirty-three thousand people.

The volcano is one of Guatemala's top tourist attractions, and normally just gives off a lil bit of smoke.

Thursday's eruptions though were filled with thick clouds of ash and rivers of lava.

No towns or villages are expected to actually be threatened by the eruption, but government officials worried about people surviving the poisonous gasses that the volcano was also giving off.

Flights in the area are being redirected away from the ash and gasses as a precaution, especially to the south and south east.

Remembering: The US Storming Chapultepec

In April 1846 Mexico and the US went to war over Texas becoming a state in the Union. Whilst battles and skirmishes happened along the disputed Texan border, General Zachary Taylor conquered parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

In March of 1847, General Winfield Scott landed around twelve thousand men on the coast near Vera Cruz and began a march on the Mexican capital. As he went he continuously offered peace, but was constantly rejected.

September 13, 1847 Scott sent US troops to storm the Mexican fortress of Chapultepec, outside of Mexico City, ending the last resistance. On the next day the US forces marched into the city and place the US flag over the Mexican National Palace, also known as the Halls of Montezuma. It was the first time that the US flag would fly over a foreign capital.

Mexico's Supreme Court responded by offering Scott dictatorship of Mexico, but he rejected the offer, and instead offered them a simple peace treaty. Instead of taking all of Mexico for the US, the peace treaty designated a border between the two countries. That same border exists til this day.

The events of September 14 would lead to the Halls of Montezuma becoming part of the Marine Hymn. Historical records there differ on how many Marines were present. Some say as many as one hundred and twenty, others as few as just one single observer.

Man Tries to Buy Beers With Bartender's Card

On Monday night, a man walked into the Clevelander in Miami Beach, Florida and ordered some beers.

The bartender was surprised to see that the man tried to pay with a credit card which he recognized as his own card.

Security at the bar called the police who arrested the man for theft and credit card fraud.

The man told police that he had found it on the ground outside the bar.