Hawaii lava flow stops near stores

HONOLULU – Call it a holiday gift from Pele.

Lava from the mountain believed to be home to the Hawaiian volcano goddess has stalled on its slow creep toward a Big Island shopping center.

Officials had worried that the lava would hit Pahoa Marketplace on or around Christmas.

Civil defense administrator Darryl Oliveira said Tuesday the lava’s leading edge has stopped about 700 yards from the shopping center, which has a supermarket, gas station and other stores.

He said the lava front appears to have hardened and hasn’t advanced since Monday.

A new branch of lava about 300 yards upslope still is active.

FBI asks police to monitor bridge

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The FBI asked law officers assigned to areas around the Mississippi River bridges at Memphis, Tennessee, to help keep an eye on the spans after a vague threat came in warning that one would be blown up.

FBI spokesman Christopher M. Allen said Tuesday from Washington the threat was “unsubstantiated.”

The agency’s Memphis office alerted local police as a matter of routine, but there was no specific threat to address, Memphis Special Agent D.O. Little said Tuesday.

“It was just an anonymous threat with no actual intelligence of an attack,” Little said.

Associated Press