Nation in brief: Pipe bomb explodes inside courthouse

A suspected pipe bomb exploded at a federal courthouse in downtown San Diego early Sunday, damaging the front entrance and blowing out a window, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

Few people were around the building, which is a block from nightclubs in the Gaslamp Quarter, when the powerful blast also damaged the lobby area of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse about 1:40 a.m., said FBI spokeswoman April Langwell.

The bomb was reported by two guards in the building, who were uninjured. About 40 agents combed the courtyard after the area was swept for explosives. No arrests have been made.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Evacuees return home after wildfire

Hundreds of evacuees were allowed to return home Sunday to two towns threatened by a wildfire that destroyed 59 houses, as crews continued working to complete containment lines.

The blaze had covered 13,680 acres as of Sunday east of the Manzano Mountains. It was 45 percent contained but was still within a few miles of Torreon and Tajique, southeast of Albuquerque.

The blaze was 95 percent contained early in the week, but wind gusting to 60 mph on Wednesday blew flaming debris about three-quarters of a mile outside the containment lines, forcing 400 people to flee, destroying homes and tripling the wildfire’s acreage.

SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill.

Man plans to rest in Pabst coffin

Bill Bramanti will love Pabst Blue Ribbon eternally, and he’s got the custom-made beer-can casket to prove it.

“I actually fit, because I got in here,” said Bramanti of South Chicago Heights.

The 67-year-old Glenwood village administrator doesn’t plan on needing it anytime soon, though.

He threw a party Saturday for friends and filled his silver coffin – designed in Pabst’s colors of red, white and blue – with ice and his favorite brew.