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• The expedition was a joint project between outdoor clothing and equipment company Mammut, and Dedicam, a firm that specializes in using remote-controlled helicopters to shoot video. Their goal: to document world-class mountaineer David Lama and his climbing partner Peter Ortner as they climbed Trango Tower. The sheer granite tower in the Baltoro Glacier is more than 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) above sea level and is one of the most technically difficult climbs in the world.
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Facebook posts by Pa. hostage-taking suspect, responses from family and friends concern police
• PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh police said they had serious concerns when an armed man took a business owner hostage in a downtown high-rise office building -- and not just because he had a knife.
• The suspect, 22-year-old Klein Michael Thaxton, made Facebook posts during the five-hour ordeal Friday, authorities said, and they feared that responses from friends, family and others might goad him into violence.
• In the end, police say, Thaxton surrendered peacefully and released businessman Charles Breitsman.
• Now police believe that Thaxton might have chosen Breitsman because he spotted a smartphone and computer in his office and saw a high-profile opportunity to express himself on the social networking site, Chief Nathan Harper said.
• Thaxton was arraigned early Saturday on felony charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and making terroristic threats. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.
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After final cruise around California, space shuttle Endeavor prepares to put it in park
• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Space shuttle Endeavour rocketed beyond Earth orbit 25 times. Its 26th mission: A 12-mile commute through the streets of Los Angeles to its new retirement home in a museum.
• With Endeavour permanently on the ground after a majestic aerial spin Friday around California, crews over the weekend will begin unbolting the shuttle from the 747 jumbo jet and putting it on a special flatbed trailer, a process that will take a few weeks.
• The road trip in early October to the California Science Center has been billed as a parade, but some residents along the route have objected to the cutting down of some 400 trees to make room for the five-story-high shuttle with a 78-foot wingspan.
• A crowd recently packed a public meeting where concerns were raised about the (Continued on page 39)
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