Family found shot to death in Indiana

LOWELL, Ind. -- Five relatives, including a baby girl, were found shot to death in two houses Friday in what authorities were investigating as a murder-suicide.

A husband and wife and their 30-year-old son were discovered dead at one home, Sheriff John Buncich said. At the second home, the son's wife and baby daughter were found slain. The victims' identities were not released.

A shotgun found at the first home was probably used in the shootings, Buncich said.

Investigators were trying to determine the motive for the slayings.

Students object to limiting hairstyles in ad

BALTIMORE -- A public relations firm hired to promote historically black Morgan State University is under fire for telling students not to show up for a TV commercial with dreadlocks, head wraps, corn rows or braids.

Sahara Communications outlined the conditions in a letter that arrived Monday at the university's theater department. The request outraged many students, who saw it as a blatant attempt to portray a false image of a school where 90 percent of the 5,700 students are black.

While the filming continued, school administrators met with about 20 students and assured them that all could participate, college spokesman Clinton R. Coleman said.

Reno, Freeh won't have to speak to Lee lawyers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Former Attorney General Janet Reno and former FBI Director Louis Freeh won't have to explain the government's investigation into suspected espionage involving Wen Ho Lee after a judge ruled Friday such depositions could compromise nuclear security.

Attorneys for the Energy Department's former chief investigator, Notra Trulock, wanted to take depositions from Reno, Freeh and two FBI agents in hopes they would help show Trulock did not focus the investigation on the Taiwanese-born Lee because of his race.

Trulock is suing Lee and two government investigators, claiming accusations they made of racial profiling defamed Trulock.

Threat against a school deemed not credible

AUSTIN, Texas -- A vague terrorist threat against an unnamed Texas school has been deemed not credible by the FBI, the state Department of Public Safety said Friday.

The threat warning was withdrawn Friday morning and Texas law enforcement officials stressed that Texas schools are safe, Mange said.

State officials and the FBI on Wednesday alerted schools throughout Texas to a threat that suggested two people might retaliate against an unknown Texas school for the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan.

Lynne Cheney donates advance to Red Cross

WASHINGTON -- Lynne Cheney donated the $50,000 advance on her new children's book to the American Red Cross on Friday.

It was a show of support by the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney for the organization that was criticized for its plan to set aside some of the money donated after the Sept. 11 attacks for other relief efforts. The Red Cross later reversed that decision.

"America: A Patriotic Primer," Mrs. Cheney's seventh book, is an A-Z recounting of American ideals. It will be available in the spring.

States can seek area codes for cell phones

WASHINGTON -- States may seek new area codes exclusively for cell phones and pagers now that the government has lifted a ban on the practice.

Area codes have multiplied to cope with the explosion in technology -- the separate lines for computers, cell phones, faxes and pagers. Regions have responded to the demand by splitting up area codes among geographic areas or laying another area code over an existing one.

The Federal Communications Commission banned such "overlays" in 1996 but voted 4-0 on Wednesday to lift the ban.

-- From wire reports