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By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - Far-flung family members, co-workers and friends frantically used social media, cellphones and even a "people finder" website Monday to try to learn the fate of participants and spectators at the Boston Marathon, where two people were killed and dozens injured after a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of one of the world's great races.

The search was made more difficult because heavy cellphone use caused slow and delayed service. In an age connected by everything digital, the hours after the blasts produced a tense silence.

At the race, 51-year-old Julie Jeske of Bismarck, N.D., had finished about 15 minutes before the explosions and was getting food about two blocks away when she heard two loud booms. She immediately tried to call her parents, but could not place the call. A friend was able to post on Facebook that they were OK, but reaching her parents was another worry.

"I wasn't able to call and I felt so bad," Jeske said. "When I was finally able to reach them, my mom said she was just absolutely beside herself with fear."

Tim Apuzzo of Seattle said he spent an agonizing 10 minutes frantically trying to call his girlfriend, Quinn Schweizer, who was watching the marathon with her friends at the finish line. But when he kept getting a recording saying there was no service, he started to worry "because you know you have a group of people in this generation all wired in ... and quick to respond."

Finally, she was able to call him to say she was safe and that her group had left the finish line just minutes before the blast to walk to a cafe for lunch.

Google stepped in to help family and friends of runners find their loved ones, setting up a site called Google Person Finder that allows users to enter the name of a person they're looking for or enter information about someone who was there. A few hours after the explosion, the site indicated it was tracking 3,600 records.

Mary Beth Aasen of Shorewood, Wis., and her husband were using an app to track their daughter Maggie's progress along the marathon route. They didn't realize anything was wrong until a worried friend texted Aasen and asked if Maggie was OK.

The app indicated that Maggie was still moving, a relief for her parents. Mary Beth Aasen tried in vain to call her daughter for about 30 minutes before Maggie called her.

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Loved ones seek word on Boston runners after blast - NBC40.net

CHICAGO (AP) -- Far-flung family members, co-workers and friends frantically used social media, cellphones and even a "people finder" website Monday to try to learn the fate of participants and spectators at the Boston Marathon, where two people were killed and dozens injured after a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of one of the world's great races.

The search was made more difficult because heavy cellphone use caused slow and delayed service. In an age connected by everything digital, the hours after the blasts produced a tense silence.

At the race, 51-year-old Julie Jeske of Bismarck, N.D., had finished about 15 minutes before the explosions and was getting food about two blocks away when she heard two loud booms. She immediately tried to call her parents, but could not place the call. A friend was able to post on Facebook that they were OK, but reaching her parents was another worry.

"I wasn't able to call and I felt so bad," Jeske said. "When I was finally able to reach them, my mom said she was just absolutely beside herself with fear."

Tim Apuzzo of Seattle said he spent an agonizing 10 minutes frantically trying to call his girlfriend, Quinn Schweizer, who was watching the marathon with her friends at the finish line. But when he kept getting a recording saying there was no service, he started to worry "because you know you have a group of people in this generation all wired in ... and quick to respond."

Finally, she was able to call him to say she was safe and that her group had left the finish line just minutes before the blast to walk to a cafe for lunch.

Google stepped in to help family and friends of runners find their loved ones, setting up a site called Google Person Finder that allows users to enter the name of a person they're looking for or enter information about someone who was there. A few hours after the explosion, the site indicated it was tracking 3,600 records.

Mary Beth Aasen of Shorewood, Wis., and her husband were using an app to track their daughter Maggie's progress along the marathon route. They didn't realize anything was wrong until a worried friend texted Aasen and asked if Maggie was OK.

The app indicated that Maggie was still moving, a relief for her parents. Mary Beth Aasen tried in vain to call her daughter for about 30 minutes before Maggie called her.

"When I talked to her she was pretty upset," Aasen said. "Physically she said she felt great but she was upset because she hadn't been in contact with her friends."

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Loved ones seek word on Boston runners after blast

In the wake of Mondays explosions following the Boston Marathon, politicians were parsing their words carefully on whether to call the event terrorism.

President Barack Obama did not refer to the blasts in Boston as a terrorist attack in his speech to the nation, though a senior White House official and other lawmakers did characterize the incident as such.

We dont yet have all the answers but we do know that multiple people have been wounded, some gravely, in explosions at the Boston marathon, Obama said from the White House briefing room earlier Monday. [] We still do not know who did this or why and people shouldnt jump to conclusions before we have all the facts.

Obama continued: But, make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this. We will find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.

(PHOTOS: Boston Marathon explosion)

But a senior White House official reportedly said that the incident in which at least two people are dead was clearly an act of terror.

Any event with multiple explosive devices as this appears to be is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror, the official said on background.

Other politicians including Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) also described the incident as terror.

As members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, we will be continually updated of the situation, said Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) in a public statement. In the meantime, initial press reports that multiple improvised explosive devices may have been involved at this high profile national event bear the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.

Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray also described the event as terrorist acts in a press conference following Obamas remarks.

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'Terror' word debated in Boston blasts

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The number of abused or neglected children in the panhandle is on the rise, but an area organization is doing all they can to stop it.

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An Amarillo man remains in the hospital following a shooting that took place Monday morning. Police say the man was shot at around one a-am during an altercation.

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The city of Canyon will consider a few important issues today.

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Security experts warn of attack on word press blogging application

SAN ANGELO, Texas The Associated Press recently announced a major change in the way it describes people with an unlawful presence in the United States. The AP Stylebook, which spells out the standards most media outlets use, no longer sanctions the terms illegal and illegal immigrant to refer to undocumented people.

Latino and immigrant advocacy groups applauded this move, which they had promoted for years. Many conservatives accused the organization of bowing to political correctness.

But this isnt a question of mere political correctness. Its about accuracy, fairness and respect. The I-word offends immigrants and American values. Illegal is a loaded term that has polluted the immigration debate for too long.

The AP made the right decision because calling a person illegal disregards one of the cornerstones of our justice system, the presumption of innocence. Consider that when journalists report on a child molester or a serial killer, they are always careful to include the word alleged or suspected.

Thats the correct thing to do by law. And the undocumented are entitled to the same protection. Only a judge can determine whether a person is lawfully in the country not a journalist, or even a Department of Homeland Security official.

Bob Dane of the Federation for American Immigration Reform criticized the APs new position. What theyre really doing is interjecting a form of bias in their reporting, he told Fox News Latino. Yet by dropping illegal, the AP encourages better reporting.

One big problem with the term illegal immigrant is that the vast majority of the undocumented are civil not criminal offenders, as being in the country unlawfully is a misdemeanor.

Homeland Security officials told The New York Times that 40 percent of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States didnt enter the country illegally. They entered legally and then overstayed their visas. Undocumented and unauthorized are more precise terms for these immigrants than illegal.

Although the majority of the undocumented came to this country in search of better opportunities, their ranks also include asylum seekers, refugees and victims of traffickers.

Its needlessly hurtful and punitive to tag them all with a negative label such as illegal simply because they lack papers.

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RAUL REYES: AP acts responsibly in nixing the 'I-word'