**Update 2--White Powder "Harmless," Threatening Letter Sent By Inmate; 2 McCain Offices Threatened

Saddle up Denver, we're in for a bumpy ride!

Looks like we'll see more paranoia and genuine concern as harmless objects are mistaken for "suspicious packages" and genuine threats (until proven harmful or harmless) are taken seriously (as they should be). There will certainly be plenty of opportunities for true nutjobs to try and seize their 15 minutes of fame with the thousands of media types in town.

**Update 4--Investigation shows white powder was harmless, and the threatening letter was written by an inmate at a local detention facility:

With the Democratic National Convention just days away, a white-powder scare resolved quickly this afternoon, when the return address led federal agents to an inmate in the Arapahoe County Detention Facility.

Within hours of the 3 p.m. scare the Centennial campaign office of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, authorities announced that the powder was phony and that the writer appeared to be Marc Harold Ramsey.

The 39-year-old has been in jail since last September, unable to post the $350,000 bond on charges of felony charges of menacing, harassment and assault on a peace officer, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.

"He is a prolific writer of threatening letters," said U.S. Secret Service Agent Malcolm Wiley.

The inmate's words led five McCain staffers in Centennial to rush themselves to the hospital. Twelve others were evaluated after their office near South Peoria Street and East Arapahoe Road was swarmed and quarantined by local, state and federal authorities.

**Update 3--Don't panic! It was just a cooler:

The Denver Police Department's bomb squad responded to reports of a suspicious package at an intersection near downtown at 2:30 p.m. today, but it turned out to be just an empty ice cooler.

Authorities said the suspicious package was reportedly at East 14th Avenue and Ogden Street in Capitol Hill. Police closed Ogden from East 14th Avenue to East Colfax Avenue. The street was closed while police investigated.

"It was nothing," said Denver Police Detective Sharon Hahn. "Our bomb robot checked it out, and it was nothing, just a suspicious package."

Whew, what a relief!

**Update 2--DPD bomb squad called to 1400 block of Ogden because of a suspicious package

**Update--This is getting crazy:

The U.S. Secret Service says white powder and a threat were received at Sen. John McCain's office in Centennial today.

"We have people responding," said Special Agent Malcolm Wiley. "We have no reports that anyone has been hurt."

Authorities also say a similar letter was sent to a McCain office in Manchester, N.H. where police and fire department personnel responded to the scene.

It wasn't immediately known whether the New Hampshire letter also contained a powder, said Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman with McCain's national campaign office in Arlington, Va.

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Just across on Drudge.

Nothing from the local MSM. There are a handful of McCain campaign offices in the Denver metro area, not sure which one or how many were allegedly targeted..