Tragic: 12 Dead and 50+ wounded at Aurora Colo. Batman Premere (rev.)

At least 12 dead and 50 injured after gunman opens fire during showing of 'The Dark Knight Rises' at Aurora, Colo., theater. Police say they have a suspect in custody, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, who witnesses say was armed with a rifle and handguns, and who wore what appeared to be a bullet-proof vest and gas mask.

Police initially said 14 people had died -- 10 in the theater and four at area hospitals, but revised the death toll to 12 later Friday morning, according to Lanigan.

Several people remained in critical condition at area hospitals, however.

Of the wounded, at least 20 were being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. All of the wounded suffered from gunshot wounds, which ranged from minor to critical, she said.

"They're arriving by police, by ambulance. Some are walking in," she said.

The victims being treated there ranged in age from 3 months to 45, the hospital said.

Denver Health Center had six patients from the shooting, one of them in critical condition, five in fair, said Shelly Davis, house supervisor.

Swedish Health Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams said her hospital was treating three people, two of them in critical and one in fair condition. A fourth patient was on the way, she said.

Parker Adventist Hospital was treating two people for minor injuries, according to a spokeswoman.

Hundreds of police officers descended on the theater, and the FBI has joined the investigation.

"We were calling for help from every police and fire agency," Fania said.
Aurora, a Denver suburb, is about 13 miles from Littleton, Colorado -- site of the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre.



President Barack Obama said Friday he was "shocked and saddened" by a deadly shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater and urged the nation to "come together as one American family" in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Obama said in a statement that he and first lady Michelle Obama were shocked by the "horrific and tragic" shooting. Obama said his administration would do everything they can to support the people of Aurora, Colo.

"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors," Obama said.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a statement that he and his wife, Ann, were "deeply saddened by the news of the senseless violence" that led to the loss of life and injuries. He said they were praying for the families and loved ones of the victims "during this time of deep shock and immense grief. We expect that the person responsible for this terrible crime will be quickly brought to justice."

A gunman opened fire early Friday at a theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." Authorities say at least 12 people were killed and at least 50 others were injured. The FBI said there was no indication that the shooting had any connection to terrorism.

Obama was in Florida at the time of the shooting. The White House says Obama was informed of the shooting by his Homeland Security Adviser, John Brennan, at 5:26 a.m. EDT.

UPDATE: Shooter planned attack


(11:15am) Law enforcement has evacuated 5 buildings around the suspects apartment as a safety precaution. Reports are the suspect has sophisticated boobie traps within this apartment preventing safe access at this time.


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Telemarketers making fraudulent calls on behalf of NH Association of Chiefs of Police

Police Department's throughout New Hampshire are warning residents that telemarketers are making fraudulent calls seeking donations for the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.

According to the association president, Chief Paul Donovan of Salem, uses fundraising as an important vehicle in helping to raise money for the continued benefit of promoting law enforcement education and training, but they don't use telemarketing to do so.

"We do all our own fundraising so that 100 percent of the money raised goes towards the programs we support and our Association," Donovan said. "This is done through direct mail.”

Telemarketers are people who sell things over the telephone and though many sell legitimate products from lawful companies, disreputable telemarketers using false and deceptive sales practices cost consumers billions of dollars a year, the press release said.

Fraudulent telemarketers can typically be identified by having a phone number from out of the area and by their high-pressure sales tactics.

"Legitimate businesses will usually recognize the fact that you’re not interested," the press release said.

Arm yourself with knowledge about the Federal Trade Commission’s “Telemarketing Sales Rules," which give consumers important protections.

Before the sales pitch even begins, the telemarketer must tell you that the call is a "sales" or a "fundraising" call.

The telemarketer must tell you his or her name and the name of the company. 

You can get your name removed from many telemarketing lists through a free service offered by the Federal Trade Commission. Simply register at the Commission’s Web site, www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you wish to add to the Do Not Call Registry. 

All telemarketers, even those not covered by the National Do Not Call Registry, must take you off their list if you specifically request that they do so. Tell the telemarketer to “remove me from your telemarketing list” and ask how long it will take to have your number removed.

If you get another call from a telemarketer, they have broken the law. Contact the police department in your area, or you can send an email to the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police by going to their website at www.nhchiefsofpolice.com.

Lobster at the Lowest Price Since the 70's

The current price of lobsters in the Northeast are the cheapest they've been in 40 years thanks to a mild winter that accelerated lobsters' life cycles, according to a WCVB report.

Lobstermen in Maine are reportedly being offered less than $2 a pound for their daily hauls. WCVB reports the price hasn't been that low since the 1970s.

The contributing factor in the near-historic lows, according to experts who spoke with WCVB, is that a mild winter in the Gulf of Maine lead lobsters to molt earlier than usual. Experts say more lobsters than usual are out to feed, leading to sizable hauls, but not profits, for lobstermen.

Massive landslide in Alaska sweeps over glacier

Posted: Jul 12, 2012 7:42 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 12, 2012 8:52 PM EDT

In this image provided by Drake Olson at flydrake.com, a landslide is seen at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska on July 8, 2012. When a cliff collapsed in Glacier Bay National Park, it sent rock and ice coursing down a valley and over a lovely white glacier in what could be one of the largest landslide recorded in North America. The rumbling was enough so that it showed up as an earthquake in Alaska and Canada.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Even by Alaska standards, the rock slide in Glacier Bay National Park was a huge event.

It was a monumental geophysical event that was almost overlooked until a pilot happened to fly over where the cliff collapsed and snapped some photographs nearly a month later.

When the cliff collapsed in the national park in southeast Alaska on June 11, it sent rock and ice coursing down a valley and over a lovely white glacier in what perhaps was the largest landslide recorded in North America.

The rumbling was enough so that it showed up as a 3.4-magnitude earthquake in Alaska. The seismic event also was recorded in Canada. The massive landslide occurred in a remote valley beneath the 11,750-foot Lituya Mountain in the Fairweather Range about six miles from the border with British Columbia.

"I don't know of any that are bigger," Marten Geertsema, a research geomorphologist for the provincial Forest Service in British Columbia, said Thursday, when comparing the landslide to others in North America.

If someone had been standing in front of the slide, the air blast alone would have flattened that person, said Geertsema, who studies natural hazards resulting from geophysical processes on the earth's surface.

"I think they would be blown over by the air blast," he said.

Despite the extraordinary size of the landslide, which was estimated at a half-mile wide and 5 ½ miles long, it went virtually unnoticed until air taxi pilot Drake Olson flew over it on July 2. The landslide, which rolled over the glacier, is not very noticeable to the thousands of cruise ship passengers that visit Glacier Bay National Park near Juneau each summer. That is because it is about 12 to 15 miles up the glacier from the bay.

While this one was huge by North American standards, bigger ones have occurred, including a September 2002 landslide in Russia that extended for 20 miles, Geertsema said.

Lituya Mountain has been the scene of extraordinary geophysical events before. In 1958, a landslide on the other side of the mountain produced a wave estimated at 1,700 feet.

One fishing vessel was able to ride out the wave.

"They looked below them and they could see the tops of the Sitka spruce trees way below them. The other boat disappeared," Geertsema said.

Another boat with two people aboard disappeared.

One of Olson's photos of the June landslide shows a huge dent in the side of an ice-covered peak. Another shows a river of rock and ice that flowed out of a valley. The landslide triggered numerous avalanches.

Glacier Bay National Park Superintendent Susan Boudreau said visitors to the 3.2-million acre park won't notice anything different in the landscape this summer, but the rock and ice likened to a river of black syrup moving toward the bay is on the move. How fast it is moving is still the question, she said.

"It is going to come down but we don't know the speed of that," Boudreau said.

There are several factors that contribute to the likelihood of mountains collapsing, Geertsema said. Sometimes it is caused by a general weakening of the rock. Other times it could be due to a very large snowpack that melts quickly.

Scientists also are looking at the role of climate change.

"We are seeing an increase in rock slides in mountain areas throughout the world because of permafrost degradation," Geertsema said.

Permafrost is ground that stays perpetually frozen.

Geertsema said Swiss scientists are becoming increasingly convinced that climate change is playing a role in the frequency of rock slides after looking at data from instruments measuring temperature and the widening and narrowing of gaps in the rocks in the Alps.

"It plays an important role," Geertsema said, of climate change. "I think we have been underestimating the role it might play."

Park ecologist Lewis Sharman said the landslide is a reminder of why Glacier Bay National Park is special.

"These types of events to me are welcome reminders that this place is one of the coolest on earth," he said.



Source: http://ow.ly/cekzy