Albuquerque news

• Office of the State Auditor to investigate town of Estancia

  26-01-2016 23:53
  
  SANTA FE, N.M. — The Office of the State Auditor plans to conduct a special audit investigation of the town of Estancia. The probe concerns a $33,000 financial discrepancy in the town’s fiscal 2015 annual financial audit. According to the state auditor, the town notified the office about concerns with cash balances in various accounts. […]
  
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• AG investigating MLK Jr. State Commission

  26-01-2016 23:48
  
  The Attorney General's office is conducting an investigation into the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission.
  
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• After setting iPhone record, Apple forecasts rare sales drop

  26-01-2016 23:45
  
  SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is bracing for its first sales decline in 13 years, despite selling a record 74.8 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015. The giant tech company says revenue could fall at least 8.6 percent during the January-March quarter, compared with a year earlier. Analysts say the latest iPhone models […]
  
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• 2 BASE jumpers presumed dead after jumping from bridge

  26-01-2016 23:44
  
  BIG SUR, Calif. — A thrill-seeker who parachuted off a bridge overlooking the Pacific likely drowned, as did the man who jumped in to try to save her, authorities said. The Monterey County Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1NxJPin ) Tuesday that authorities first realized the two BASE jumpers were missing on Saturday, although the jump is thought […]
  
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• Research begins into possibility of a vaccine for Zika virus

  26-01-2016 23:39 via krqe.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is beginning research into a possible vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus that is suspected of causing an unusual birth defect as it spreads in Latin America.
  Don’t expect protection anytime soon — vaccine development typically takes years.
  “This is not going to be overnight,” Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview Tuesday.
  But there are vaccines in various stages of development for ot
  
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• ABQ Chamber adds crime-fighting to legislative wish list

  26-01-2016 23:39
  
  Economic development and education measures have long topped the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce's legislative lobbying efforts, but fighting crime has emerged as an equal point of emphasis for the local business advocacy group.
  
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• Jury convicts ex-Chicago official in red-light camera case

  26-01-2016 23:38
  
  CHICAGO — A federal jury convicted a former Chicago transportation official on Tuesday for taking bribes to steer $100 million in red-light camera contracts to a Phoenix company. Jurors returned with guilty verdicts on all 20 counts against John Bills, the former second-in-command at Chicago’s Department of Transportation. Bills was accused of accepting envelopes stuffed […]
  
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• Colorado’s trial-like campaign finance system under fire

  26-01-2016 23:37
  
  DENVER — Colorado’s system of enforcing campaign finance rules is under fire from all sides. In many states, a campaign practices panel decides whether to prosecute spending violations. But Colorado’s constitution requires every complaint to be referred to an administrative law judge who can convene a trial-like process. Some critics say it allows anybody with […]
  
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• Stock rise, driven by a turn higher in crude oil prices

  26-01-2016 23:34 via krqe.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks jumped Tuesday as the price of oil made another abrupt reversal, this time rising almost 4 percent after falling sharply the day before.
  Energy stocks climbed along with the price of oil, and Chevron and Exxon Mobil made major gains. Strong fourth-quarter results from beleaguered wireless provider Sprint gave telecom stocks a boost. Quarterly earnings also sent several stocks higher, including Post-it Notes maker 3M, Procter & Gamble, which makes Crest tooth
  
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• Body found on University of Arizona campus

  26-01-2016 22:56
  
  TUCSON — Authorities in Tucson are investigating the discovery of a body on the University of Arizona campus. University police say they received calls about 7 a.m. Tuesday about a body at the bottom of a stairwell outside the Koffler Building. The structure near Fourth Street and Highland Avenue is a classroom facility. A lab […]
  
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• State auditor investigating Estancia over $33K financial discrepancy

  26-01-2016 22:45
  
  The Office of the State Auditor plans to conduct a special audit investigation of the town of Estancia in relation to a $33,000 financial discrepancy in the town's fiscal 2015 annual financial audit.
  
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• New Mexico unemployment rate dips to 6.7 percent in December

  26-01-2016 22:44 via krqe.com
  
  ALBUQUERQUE (AP) – New Mexico’s unemployment rate is down.
  The Department of Workforce Solutions reported Tuesday that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December was 6.7 percent, down from 6.8 percent in November.
  The department says December closed out a year in which total nonfarm employment started slowing due to lower global oil prices that contracted employment tied to the energy industry.
  The state’s economy in December lost 1,800 jobs since
  
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• Santolina plans moving forward

  26-01-2016 22:33
  
  Plans for a controversial new community along I-40 west of Albuquerque are moving forward.
  
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• Siblings testify in child labor case with ties to polygamy

  26-01-2016 22:32
  
  SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge heard Tuesday from five children and teenagers who say they were pulled out of class to work long hours picking pecans at a Utah ranch while they were growing up in a polygamous group. The testimony in Salt Lake City came after labor lawyers asked a judge to […]
  
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• AZ Senate committee to debate photo-radar ban on state highways

  26-01-2016 22:32
  
  PHOENIX — A Senate committee is set to debate a ban on photo radar along state highways that would only affect two cities. The Legislature has failed in recent years to ban photo radar statewide, so Sen. Debbie Lesko of Peoria introduced a measure to ban the cameras along state highways. Her measure would only […]
  
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• Updated: Sheriff Joe Arpaio endorses Donald Trump for president

  26-01-2016 22:31
  
  PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has formally endorsed Republican businessman Donald Trump for president. Trump’s campaign announced the endorsement from the self-proclaimed “America’s toughest sheriff.” Arpaio appeared at two Trump rallies in metropolitan Phoenix last year, so the endorsement wasn’t a surprise. He was set to campaign for Trump in Iowa Tuesday. Trump […]
  
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• Man to be executed for Texas game warden’s death in shootout

  26-01-2016 22:31
  
  HOUSTON — A man who led authorities on a chase followed by a shootout that left a Texas game warden dead is scheduled to be executed this week in the busy death penalty state. James Freeman was suspected of illegally hunting at night from his truck in Southeast Texas’ Wharton County when a game warden […]
  
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• Perry joins Cruz on the trail to rally Iowa conservatives

  26-01-2016 22:29
  
  OSCEOLA, Iowa — Ted Cruz worked to consolidate support from Iowa conservatives Tuesday with the help of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, while rival Donald Trump claimed Cruz was “nervous” with less than a week until voting kicks off in Iowa. A day after nabbing the endorsement from his former primary rival, Cruz planned seven […]
  
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• New Mexico cult leader could be getting out of prison early

  26-01-2016 22:21
  
  TAOS — After hearing in court here today, it appears that religious sect leader Wayne Bent, 74, will soon be out of prison after seven years behind bars for his 2008 conviction on charges of second-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Lawyers for […]
  
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• Sandoval commissioner’s case headed to grand jury

  26-01-2016 22:11
  
  The case against a Sandoval County commissioner on multiple charges tied to a domestic dispute with...
  
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• Santa Fe unemployment registers near national average

  26-01-2016 21:08
  
  While the New Mexico unemployment rate is the worst in the nation under the latest labor statistics, Santa Fe hovers near the national average. The Santa Fe metropolitan area registered 5.1 percent unemployment for the month of December, down from 5.4 percent in November, but up from the 4.5 percent reported in December 2014. Numbers […]
  
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• Santa Fe faces pop up on gallery walls

  26-01-2016 20:46
  
  A lot of Santa Feans’ faces are showing up on walls these days — and we’re not talking about the FBI’s “wanted” posters at the Post Office. Two galleries currently are hosting collections by artists who expand them by painting portraits of locals in the towns where their exhibitions are displayed. As a matter of […]
  
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• Abe Vigoda, sunken-eyed character actor, dead at 94

  26-01-2016 20:38 via krqe.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunken-eyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series “Barney Miller” and the doomed Mafia soldier in “The Godfather,” died Tuesday at age 94.
  Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs’ home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age. “This man
  
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• Commission under state investigation has had major money problems

  26-01-2016 20:20 via krqe.com
  
  ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The Attorney General’s Office raided the headquarters of the New Mexico Martin Luther King Junior Commission in Albuquerque Tuesday as part of a criminal investigation News 13 has learned centers around mismanagement of money.
  News 13 photojournalists spotted AG’s office agents heading in and out of the commission’s headquarters at EXPO New Mexico, carrying out documents and several computers. An AG’s office spokesperson confirmed there is
  
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• AG’s Office investigating Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission

  26-01-2016 20:20 via krqe.com
  
  ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission.
  Law enforcement agents were on scene at the African American Performing Arts Center at the fair grounds.
  The Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission does receive tax payer money.
  The AG’s Office released the following statement Tuesday.
  “I can confirm the Office of the Attorney General is conducting an investigation surrounding the Martin Luther King
  
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• Watchdog: Too few air traffic controllers where most needed

  26-01-2016 20:08 via krqe.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog says there are too few fully qualified controllers at more than a dozen air traffic facilities stretching from Atlanta to Anchorage.
  A report released Tuesday by the Transportation Department’s inspector general says the 13 airport towers, approach control facilities and en route centers have fewer fully trained controllers than the minimum number established by the Federal Aviation Administration.
  The FAA considers the facilities fully staffed
  
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• Sect leader Wayne Bent slated for release from prison

  26-01-2016 20:07
  
  TAOS — After hearing in court here today, it appears that religious sect leader Wayne Bent, 74, will soon be out of prison after seven years behind bars for his 2008 conviction on charges of second-degree criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Lawyers for […]
  
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• Sunland Park racing suspended because of equine virus

  26-01-2016 20:01 via krqe.com
  
  EL PASO, Texas (AP) – A horse racing track near the border of New Mexico and Texas has been shut down for at least two weeks to prevent the spread of a disease.
  The El Paso Times reports that live racing at the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in Sunland Park, New Mexico, was suspended Friday after five horses were found to have the equine herpesvirus.
  Trainer Justin Evans says it’s been a difficult situation because there’s no money coming in from purses, but the most impor
  
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• Trial for attorney accused of shooting homeless man begins

  26-01-2016 19:59 via krqe.com
  
  ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of an attorney who shot a homeless man.
  David “Chip” Venie’s wife recorded the shooting at his Albuquerque office in 2012. Venie claims it was self-defense.
  Last year, a judge declared a mistrial for Venie’s first trial. Venie is charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
  The homeless man survived.
  
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• Chase planning rollout of card-free ATMs

  26-01-2016 19:52
  
  NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase will install new ATMs later this year that will allow customers to withdraw cash or initiate other transactions using their cellphone. The move will include new cash machines that don’t require a card and upgrades to existing machines that will allow customers to withdraw more money and in different denominations, […]
  
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• APD closes Zuni to investigate serious accident

  26-01-2016 19:41
  
  Albuquerque police are investigating a serious motorcycle crash Tuesday near Zuni Road and Jackson Street.
  
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• Public prayer reviewed; 1st case since Supreme Court ruling

  26-01-2016 19:17
  
  RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal appeals court will consider whether county commissioners in North Carolina violated the Constitution by delivering Christian prayers at their meetings and inviting audience members to join. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled on Wednesday to hear Rowan County’s effort to overturn a federal judge’s […]
  
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• The Latest: Colombia raises number of suspected Zika cases

  26-01-2016 19:15
  
  RIO DE JANEIRO — The latest on the fight against the Zika virus that health officials suspect is linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil. (All times local): 4:00 p.m. Colombian officials are raising the number of suspected cases of the Zika virus in their country. They say 16,490 people now apparently have […]
  
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• Gov. Martinez eyes bill aimed at ending Uber, Lyft stalemate

  26-01-2016 19:11 via krqe.com
  
  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is asking lawmakers to consider a bill aimed at regulating ride-booking companies like Uber and Lyft.
  The Republican governor put legislation on her official call Tuesday and asked lawmakers to pass a bill to show that such companies are welcome in New Mexico.
  The legal status of the companies has been in limbo in the state since they began offering services in 2014. The companies say the state’s Motor Carrier Act doesn’t ap
  
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• Task force recommends how to cut US prisoner count by 60,000

  26-01-2016 18:52
  
  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department should limit the types of cases it brings and more nonviolent criminals should be steered toward probation and away from prison, according to task force recommendations designed to cut the federal inmate count and save more than $5 billion. The recommendations provide concrete steps prosecutors, judges, prison officials and policy […]
  
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• New Flint water probe draws critics; NAACP to outline plan

  26-01-2016 18:52
  
  LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan attorney general’s investigation into the process that left Flint’s drinking water tainted with lead is drawing bipartisan criticism, with a Republican leader saying it duplicates the work of a state task force and Democrats questioning whether the special counsel will be impartial. Attorney General Bill Schuette said Monday that Todd […]
  
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• Updated: The Latest: Navy finds no sign of shooting at med center

  26-01-2016 18:47
  
  SAN DIEGO — The latest on possible gunfire Tuesday at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (all times local): 10:35 a.m. The Navy says an initial inspection at Naval Medical Center San Diego found no sign of a gunman or a shooting. Navy spokesman N. Scott Sutherland said Tuesday that military police had checked Building […]
  
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• State fighting to block judge’s release of cult leader Wayne Bent

  26-01-2016 18:28 via krqe.com
  
  TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) – The hearing set to clarify the judge’s amended motion to release Wayne Bent from prison is set Tuesday. It comes after a judge ruled that the cult leader should be released from prison early after he was convicted of sex crimes in 2008.
  A jury sentenced 74-year-old Bent to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of lying naked in bed with two teenage girls at his northern New Mexico compound. He was found guilty of one count of criminal se
  
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• Dept. of Corrections: Clarification needed for cult leader’s release

  26-01-2016 18:28 via krqe.com
  
  TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) – The weather caused problems for a hearing in Taos Tuesday for cult leader Wayne Bent.
  A judge recently decided Bent, who’s in prison for inappropriately touching a teen girl in 2008 should be released early.
  The judge had to call into her courtroom Tuesday because she’s snowed in.
  This hearing was to clarify the release plan for Bent who is seven years into a 10-year sentence.
  Last month a judge ruled he be released by the end of December. But that’s c
  
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• Health care fines press millenials as sign-up deadline nears

  26-01-2016 18:25
  
  WASHINGTON — Millions of young adults healthy enough to think they don’t need insurance face painful choices this year as the sign-up deadline approaches for President Barack Obama’s health care law. Fines for being uninsured rise sharply in 2016 — averaging nearly $1,000 per household, according to an independent estimate. It’s forcing those in their […]
  
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• Updated: Gov. Martinez eyes bill aimed at ending Uber, Lyft stalemate

  26-01-2016 18:15
  
  SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez asked lawmakers on Tuesday to consider a bill aimed at welcoming and regulating ride-booking companies like Uber and Lyft. The Republican governor put the legislation on her official agenda and urged lawmakers to pass it to show the state is open to innovation. “New Mexico should […]
  
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• Police arrest 4 protesting incoming UNC president Spellings

  26-01-2016 18:13
  
  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Four people are facing charges after protesting the hiring of former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to head the 17-campus University of North Carolina system. UNC-Chapel Hill Police Chief Jeff McCracken says four people were arrested Tuesday on charges of disrupting an official meeting and resisting an officer. Shouting demonstrators forced […]
  
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• Afghan official: Policeman kills 10 other police in south

  26-01-2016 18:13
  
  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An Afghan policeman turned his weapon on fellow officers as they were sleeping in their quarters near a checkpoint in the country’s south, killing 10, a provincial spokesman said Tuesday. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the killings, the latest in so-called “insider attacks” involving a fellow soldier or a policeman who […]
  
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• Police search California communities where inmates have ties

  26-01-2016 18:09
  
  SANTA ANA, Calif. — Unlike similar escapes where dangerous inmates fled into rural areas, the three men who broke out of a Southern California lockup escaped into densely populated suburban communities where they have close ties. Hundreds of officers are focusing on neighborhoods where the trio charged with violent crimes could be hiding among friends, […]
  
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• Glenn Miller to be inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame

  26-01-2016 18:09
  
  BOULDER, Colo. — Glenn Miller, the American big band leader and musician best known for his songs “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “Moonlight Serenade,” will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. The Daily Camera reports (http://bit.ly/1RKSHsO ) that an induction ceremony is planned for April 16 at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Glenn […]
  
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• Anti-abortion activists accused of using fake licenses

  26-01-2016 18:08
  
  AUSTIN, Texas — Two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos about Planned Parenthood are accused of using fake driver’s licenses to infiltrate the group, indictments made public Tuesday show. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt allegedly used California driver’s licenses they knew were false “with the intent to defraud and harm another,” the documents indicate. The […]
  
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• Task force urges doctors to screen all adults for depression

  26-01-2016 18:06 via krqe.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — All adults, including pregnant women and new mothers, should be screened for depression as a routine part of health care, a U.S. government advisory group recommended Tuesday.
  Depression is a common public health problem, and screening simply involves health workers asking about certain symptoms even if patients don’t mention them.
  The second part of the recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is more difficult — ensuring systems are in pla
  
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• Updated: Navy says gunshot report at med center came from 1 person

  26-01-2016 17:57
  
  SAN DIEGO — The Navy said Tuesday that a report of three gunshots heard in the basement of a building at Naval Medical Center San Diego came from a single witness. The Navy hospital previously said on its Facebook page that an active shooter was reported and people were told to run, hide or fight. […]
  
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• Marvin Minsky, pioneer of artificial intelligence, dies

  26-01-2016 17:56
  
  CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who saw parallels in the functioning of the human brain and computers has died. Marvin Minsky was 88. The university says Minsky died Sunday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston of a cerebral hemorrhage. Minsky viewed the […]
  
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• Navy says gunshot report at med center came from 1 person

  26-01-2016 17:54 via krqe.com
  
  SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Navy said Tuesday that a report of three gunshots heard in the basement of a building at Naval Medical Center San Diego came from a single witness.
  Mobile users watch live here »
  The Navy hospital previously said on its Facebook page that an active shooter was reported and people were told to run, hide or fight. However, center spokesman Mike Alvarez wouldn’t confirm there was an active shooter.
  First responders and dog units were clearing the building
  
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