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More Than 500 Pounds of Explosives Stolen From Train

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1024px-Train_CSX_5457_GE_ES44DCFederal law enforcement investigators are searching in at least three states for more than 500 pounds of explosives stolen from a CSX train, CBS News has learned.

CBS News Justice Department and Homeland Security correspondent Jeff Pegues reported a law enforcement source says the amount stolen has authorities concerned that the explosives could fall into the wrong hands . . .

The CSX train was traveling from Chicago through Ohio en route to Detroit. Somewhere along the way, investigators believe the explosives were stolen. According to a law enforcement source, when the train car of explosives arrived in Detroit, half of the shipment was gone.

A spokesman for the ATF in Detroit called this a very serious case. Technically the explosives are classified as fireworks but because they are commercial grade combined with the quantity makes them extremely dangerous. The ATF says they are a lot more volatile and typically only handled by professionals. (Read more from “More Than 500 Pounds of Explosives Stolen From Train” HERE)

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Explosives-Sniffing Dog Bites Woman at Airport (+video)

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Photo Credit: The National GuardA Rome woman said Friday an explosives-detection dog working the baggage claim area at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport bit her, unprovoked.

Susan Dubitsky said she and her husband were waiting for her sister to arrive around 4:15 p.m. May 2. As an Atlanta police officer and the dog walked past, the dog bit her on the stomach. A little later, when the officer came back to check on her, Dubitsky said, “the dog tried to come at me another time.

“The dog just didn’t like me,” she said. “It was scary. There was no reason to go after me.”

Dubitsky said EMT’s at the airport treated her hand-size bite wound.

While the dog was working with APD, it is owned by the Transportation Security Administration.

Read more from this story HERE.

Over 500 Pounds of Explosives Stolen from Montana Federal Storage Facility

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Photo Credit: APAround the same time the nation was transfixed on the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers last month, thieves on the other side of the country pulled off a little-noticed heist — swiping 559 pounds of explosives from a federal storage facility in Montana.

As of Friday, not one ounce of it has been found.

The incident, federal officials believe, was not terrorism-related. But it’s the latest to raise security concerns in an age when authorities are warning about the desire of violence-bent terrorists to inflict mass casualties with bombs.

Rep. Steve Daines, Montana’s only congressman, told FoxNews.com he’s “deeply concerned” about the theft in his state and will be “closely monitoring” the investigation.

The explosives were stolen from a locked U.S. Forest Service bunker near Billings. Thieves took off with various emulsion-type explosives, cast boosters and detonating cord.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senators Now Attempt to Regulate Gun Powder as an Explosive, Limiting Quantity, Requiring Background Checks

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Photo Credit: APAfter reports that the Boston Marathon terrorists had used black powder for the explosive component of their pressure cooker bombs, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) proposed major changes to federal laws regulating loose gun powder and explosives.

On April 23, Lautenberg introduced S. 792, the Explosive Materials Background Check Act. Originally, the Senator submitted the bill as a shell bill–meaning it was not fully written–but this month he has finally submitted the full text of his bill.

An analysis of the text reveals profound changes to current law. Lautenberg’s changes in the explosives law would seriously hamper history reenactor hobbyists, black powder hunters, sportsmen, target shooters, and anyone that loads their own ammo with modern smokeless gun powder or the older style black powder.

One change would require those that want to buy and store either smokeless powder or black powder to get a new license–at a rate of $50 every three years–to allow them to do so. The bill also says that they will only be allowed to have “limited” supplies but does not seem to say what amount would exceed those limits.

Read more from this story HERE.

14 Bodies Recovered after Texas Blast

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Photo Credit: gnislew

By Faith Karimi and Emanuella Grinberg. Two days after a massive fertilizer plant explosion leveled parts of a central Texas town and killed 14 people, residents moved into recovery mode Friday after investigators announced they had nearly finished search and rescue efforts.

The fiery explosion ripped through the heart of the close-knit town of West.

“It’s going to be a long recovery for this community,” Gov. Rick Perry said.

The death toll included the secretary, who was also a member of the volunteer fire department, said Mayor Tommy Muska.

In total, five West firefighters died battling the blaze, along with one Dallas firefighter and four emergency responders, the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas said Thursday. Read more from this story HERE.

Texas town grieves for dead first-responders

BY Associated Press. Buck Uptmor didn’t have to go to West Fertilizer Co. when the fire started. He wasn’t a firefighter like his brother and cousin, who raced toward the plant. But a ranch of horses next to the flames needed to be moved to safety.

“He went to help a friend,” said Joyce Marek, Uptmor’s aunt. “And then it blew.”

Two days after the fertilizer facility exploded in a blinding fireball, authorities announced Friday that they had recovered 14 bodies, confirming for the first time an exact number of people killed. Grieving relatives filed into a church offering comfort for families, as volunteers nearby handed out food to those still unable to return to homes damaged by the massive blast.

Ten of the dead were first-responders — including five from the West Volunteer Fire Department and four emergency medics, West Mayor Tommy Muska said.

The dead included Uptmor and Joey Pustejovsky, the city secretary who doubled as a member of the West Volunteer Fire Department. A captain of the Dallas Fire Department who was off-duty at the time but responded to the fire to help also died. Read more from this story HERE.

Security Video May Show Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect; Report of Arrest Premature (+video)

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Photo Credit: Washington Post

The daunting task of sifting through thousands of images of the Boston Marathon bombing site in search of a culprit suddenly telescoped to a single video from a Lord & Taylor security camera Wednesday.

The discovery of video of a man who wore a large backpack to the finish line area and then dropped the package there raised hopes for an imminent breakthrough in the case, setting off a media frenzy and insistent statements from authorities that no arrest has been made. A Boston city official said the video is of “special interest” to investigators.

The second full day of the investigation into the attack that killed three people and injured at least 176 brought jitters, rumors and at least the hope that investigators had made important progress, though Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D) said that while the probe is “making some progress . . . it’s going to be slow, it’s going to be methodical.”

Boston’s federal courthouse, where hundreds had gathered in response to false reports of an arrest, was briefly evacuated because of a bomb threat. Officials also evacuated a Boston hospital, Brigham and Women’s, and Oklahoma City’s City Hall because of suspicious vehicles outside. No explosives were found in those cases.

In Boston, many of the injured were released from hospitals. At Brigham and Women’s, which initially treated 35 people, only 11 were still hospitalized Wednesday evening, four of them in critical condition.

Watch video here:

Read more from this story HERE.

Suspicious Package Containing Explosive Material sent to Arizona Sheriff Arpaio

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Photo Credit: AP

Arizona authorities say a package addressed to Sheriff Joe Arpaio would have exploded if opened, leading to serious injuries or death. Maricopa County Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan made the comment Friday at a news conference in Phoenix.

The package intercepted in Flagstaff late Thursday was addressed to Arpaio at his downtown Phoenix office. It had been left in a parcel locker in a rural part of Coconino County.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman Keith Moore said a courier brought it into the main Post Office in Flagstaff, and authorities used a water cannon to neutralize the package.

Arpaio, the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America,” said this isn’t the first time he’s been threatened. Arpaio is known nationally for his strict treatment of jail inmates and cracking down on illegal immigration.

“Of course you worry. I’m a victim, I’m a witness. When you convict people, the victim has to be somewhat concerned. I’m a little concerned about my family,” Arpaio said at the news conference. “I didn’t ask for all these threats.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Occupiers Arrested With Weapons, Bomb Making Materials

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photo credit: getdarwin

NY Post: The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend — a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist — have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.

Morgan Gliedman — who is nine-months pregnant — and her baby daddy, Aaron Greene, 31, also had instructions on making bombs, including a stack of papers with a cover sheet titled, “The Terrorist Encyclopedia,’’ sources told The Post yesterday. People who know Greene say his political views are “extreme,” the sources said. Morgan Gliedman, daughter of Realtor Susyn Schops Gliedman and prominent doctor Paul Gliedman, was busted at this building with her OWS boyfriend. Cops found the stash in the couple’s West Ninth Street home Saturday when they went there to look for Gliedman, 27, who was wanted for alleged credit-card theft.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: “People were saying this was a terrorist attack”; 14 dead, 50 wounded in Colorado

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At a midnight showing this morning of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman shot numerous movie goers and apparently set off explosives.