CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new Orion spacecraft has hit its intended high point of 3,600 miles above Earth, the farthest a spacecraft built for humans has traveled in four decades.

Now its dramatic trip back to the planet awaits.

The capsule reached peak altitude of 3,604 miles three hours after Friday morning’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral on an unmanned test flight. It’s the farthest a spacecraft designed for humans has flown since Apollo 17 — NASA’s final moon shot — flew 42 years ago.

NASA needed to send Orion that high in order to set the capsule up for a 20,000-mph, 4,000-degree entry over the Pacific. Engineers want to see how the heat shield holds up before putting humans on board.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and the first family have lit the national Christmas tree.

Obama is being joined at the annual event by his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha. Mrs. Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, is also attending.

This year’s ceremony marks the 92nd annual lighting of the Christmas tree just steps from the White House. The National Park Service says the tradition was started by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923.

MAYVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Two young brothers from southeastern Wisconsin are likely hoping they haven’t landed on Santa’s naughty list after police showed up at their doorstep.

The boys, ages 3 and 6, thought the best way to get in touch with the North Pole was by phone. And for youngsters of that age, their Christmas lists could be considered an emergency.

So, the brothers used their Dad’s cellphone to place a 911 call, hoping to be connected with the North Pole and the big guy himself.

That brought police to their Mayville home where officers gave the boys some advice. If you want to talk to Santa, do it in person.

Mayville is 50 miles northwest of Milwaukee.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The University of Texas at Austin is missing about 100 brains.

That’s about half of the specimens the university had in a collection of brains preserved in jars of formaldehyde. One of the missing brains preserved is believed to have belonged to clock tower sniper Charles Whitman.

The co-curator of the collection is psychology Professor Lawrence Cormack. He tells the Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/11R7vym) that undergraduates and others may have been swiping the brains for years “for living rooms or Halloween pranks.”

The Austin State Hospital had transferred the jars of brains to the university about 28 years ago.

Although identifying information was removed from the collection to protect confidentiality, co-curator Tim Schallert says Whitman’s brain likely was part of the collection.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Police say a student caught with a loaded gun at his northern Utah high school planned to shoot a former girlfriend and open fire on the rest of the school.

The Weber County Sheriff’s Office says another student spotted the handgun at about noon Monday at Fremont High School. The 16-year-old was arrested and booked into a juvenile detention center on suspicion of three misdemeanor weapons possession charges.

Lt. Lane Findlay says the teen was angry after hearing rumors were going around about him.

No shots were fired, though the Plain City school was evacuated for about four hours as authorities searched classrooms.

The teen’s name was withheld because he is a juvenile.

Plain City has a population of about 6,000 and is 45 miles north of Salt Lake City.

DETROIT (AP) — At least 36 people have died and 44 have been seriously injured in crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by GM to compensate victims, updated the totals Monday.

Feinberg says he has received 229 death claims and 1,986 injury claims since August.

The fund has made compensation offers to 57 of the 80 eligible claimants so far. Thirty-five have accepted; 20 have been paid.

GM knew about faulty ignition switches in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars for more than a decade but didn’t recall them until February. The switches can slip out of the “on” position, which causes the cars to stall, knocks out power steering and turns off the air bags.

Feinberg will accept claims until Jan. 31.

NEW YORK (AP) — A surge in baby boomers is driving up the number of elderly people abusing drugs or alcohol, and a New York City nursing home is trying a new approach to addressing the problem.

Patients 60 and older who come in for medical rehab after heart surgery or a knee transplant are screened for addiction and offered a chance at recovery.

The program takes into consideration that the elderly often need powerful pain medications, which are easy to overuse. They also typically endure potential addiction triggers such as retirement or the death of a spouse. And dementia can mask or worsen the effects of drugs and alcohol.

The Bronx nursing home expects to eventually treat 480 patients a year.

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — Scientists have discovered a new frog species in southern New Jersey that makes some un-froglike sounds.

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog groans and makes coughing noises rather than croaking sounds. The unfamiliar call attracted the notice of wildlife experts several years ago in Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County.

They photographed the frog and concluded it wasn’t the northern leopard frog or southern leopard frog.

A Rutgers University-led team recently identified the species in an online scientific journal. Experts say it shows that the state’s marshes and swamps are valuable to wildlife, even in urban or suburban areas.

The frog has been found along the Delaware River and bay, the Atlantic Ocean coastline, in the Meadowlands and New York’s Staten Island.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a woman being cited for public drunkenness in Pennsylvania accidentally dropped a baggie of crack cocaine on the police station floor.

Uniontown police say 23-year-old Savannah Turachak, of Lemont Furnace, was patted down for weapons but not otherwise searched when she was brought to the station Nov. 19. That’s because police were just citing and releasing her.

But police say Turachak returned moments later to report being harassed by someone and, in the process, fluffed her shirt to straighten it out — and the drugs fell out.

Surveillance video shows she tried to pick up the bag but instead left it when three other people walked in. Police found it a short time later and charged her.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Turachak.