Top News #5-Wells Fargo Eyes Wachovia; Crisis Hits European Banks

In the wake of so many banks going under and others being bought by other bigger banks. Wachovia bank has been catapulted into one of the top banks in the U.S. banking industry.  They were talking to several banks about selling itself to Wells Fargo. The Wall Street Journal on Monday had this story as their top story. 

The impact of this story is great because the national economic issues are so scary and banks being sold and going under is scary to the American people. The timeliness is appropriate because it happened over the weekend. The prominence of these banks is crucial, as already stated Wachovia was a top bank in the banking industry. The proximity of the story has to do with anyone who is involved with either Wachovia or Wells Fargo. There is conflict because the fact that huge banking corporations are being bought out is scary to people. This is also a current issue. We as the american people are worried about the economic issues in our society and this is definetly one of them.

Top News #5-Wells Fargo Eyes Wachovia; Crisis Hits European Banks

Top News #5-Wells Fargo Eyes Wachovia; Crisis Hits European Banks

Runaway Truck

El Cerrito- The Scene was chaotic at Moeser lane last night, as a big 10-wheel hauler, overturned and smashed against someone's home. It was an asphalt truck which left a power of destruction in its wake: a snapped power pole and five badly damaged vehicles. The accident also knocked out power to El Cerrito, Berkeley and Richmond, and caused a fire on Moeser Lane. 

Detective Sgt. Shawn Maples, was one of the first rescue workers to arrive at the scene. He heard cries coming from the burning truck and house, and he started digging through the debris. He spotted the driver lodged between the wheels of the truck, which had flipped on its side. The drivers legs were mangled and he could not move. Maples, Police Chief Scott Kirkland and Detective Ken Zinc, were able to pull him to safety. Maples said, We dragged him out in a heartbeat while the truck went up in flames. I just wanted to get him out of there."

A neighbor, Ruben Sharma, was about to head back to work around 1:30 when the crash occurred. He said, " First, I thought it was a major earthquake. This is unbelievable." His front yard is littered with bricks, broken glass, car parts, splintered wood and palm fronds.

Another incident that occurred was a Honda sedan that was hit by the truck was so crumpled that the driver was trapped inside. Rescue workers sliced into the car, peeling back the roof to free the trapped driver. The driver broke both of his legs. He is listed in serious but stable condition at john Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

A couple other people were involved but no serious injuries were reported.

Redefining the News: Everyblock

EveryBlock news is very interesting to me. It seems like it is really fun and interactive. You as the reader don't just go to a news site and see all of the headlines. For a visual person this is a really good way to have them remember what they read, because they can associate the pictures of the block with the story that they read. I like this idea because i am a very visual person give me a picture with a story and I will remember that much more than a headline and a long story.

AP Style Exercise I-L

1) There's been no letup all day. After class, I plan to soak in my Jacuzzi and then lie down for a short nap.

2)They called the late Sen. Fred Fried a left-winger because he voted against the Patriot Act.

3)As they unfurled her white sails, the sailboat caught the breeze and began to slice steadily through the waves. Their dream cruise of the Pacific Islands had begun.

4)After two days of hard rain and rising waters, the river flooded its bank,leaving the road partly impassable.

Top News #4-Financial Crisis Upends Campaign

This is the headline of  Wall Street Journal's top story on Thursday. Republican Senator John McCain suspended his campaign to help tackle a $700 billion bailout proposal. The senator wanted to postpone the presidential debate on Friday night. At first Obama said he would not because a president could not just focus on one thing at a time. If they were running for the presidency they had to be able to deal with the bailout proposal and also deal with their debate. This is important because this article deals with many issues and yet every issue would impact our entire nation. Even if someone does not care about the presidential debates or the fact that our country is in financial trouble each issue will affect every single american in one way or another. The timeliness is important because these are the top issues of the entire nation so the fact that it is happening right now means that we need to pay attention to this article. These are the two most prominent people in the nation right now. They are common names in the american home. Although neither of these men are in close proximity to me it is still important because everything they do matters to everyone in our nation. The conflict of this story is that these men are opponents and they want to beat each other. This news story is dealing with issues that are hapenning at this moment and a debate that will take place tomorrow evening. Therefore these issues are very current and very important to our daily life.

News Story #4-The Car Jacker

San Mateo- Newlyweds were hijacked on their wedding night.

Saturday night a 21-year-old man, Alan Ticas-Soto, tried to steal a car with a woman still in the passenger seat. Sheryl Wilcott a deputy district attorney gave some of the details of the crime.The woman and her new husband, whose names were not released,were wanting a late night snack. They stopped at the Taco Bell on East Fourth Avenue, on their way to the Embassy Suites, the hotel they were planning to spend their wedding night. The groom was still in his Tuxedo and his new wife was still in her wedding dress.

The groom had got out of his car a 2003 Nissan Altima, and left the engine running, he did not even get inside the restaurant before Ticas-Soto ran through the parking lot and leaped into the idling car. He had a hard time getting the car into reverse and then had to fiddle with the gear shift getting the car into the right gear. The police speculate that he had difficulty because he was distracted with the frantic screams of the 22-year old bride who was still in the passenger seat, trying to unbuckle her seat belt and get away from him.

As soon as the groom realized what was happening he ran to the passenger side of the car, trying to help his wife out of the car. She finally tumbled out, landing in the parking lot. Neither of them were hurt but they were shaken up.

Ticas-Soto proceeded to put the car into a forward gear and promptly smash into a Taco Bell sigh, according to the police. He then leaped out of the car and ran away. In the meantime, witnesses called the police. Patrolling nearby, police officer Brendon Boyle noticed a man matching the suspect's description. The suspect was running southbound on South Delaware Street at Ninth Avenue. Boyle called it in and patrol cars converged on the scene. They caught Ticas-Soto and arrested him without incident. Police say he told them that he'd been taking methamphetamines for three straight days.

Ticas-Soto is now facing felony carjacking charges and misdemeanor drug charges. He is being held in San Mateo County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bail. No attorney has yet been assigned to his case by the county private defender program. Ticas-Soto does not have a criminal record, and he pleaded not guilty in San Mateo Court on Monday. If he is found guilty, Ticas-Soto could face up to nine years in state prison for the carjacking.

News story #3-Gas LIne Break

San Francisco-A private construction crew severed a two-inch underground gas pipe with a backhoe. 

Four blocks were shut down in the South of Market area yesterday a little before 12:30 p.m. Traffic was at a standstill,  and people were standing around the edges of the area. At least 100 people were forced to leave the area including neighborhood residents, dozens of business owners and their customers.

Carlann Lauria, manager of Crocker's Lockers, a self-storage company on Folsom near 10th Street, said, "Ask my customers. They were pretty irate."

Samantha Feldman another manager said that the restaurant, Wa-Ha-Ka, lost about $500 worth of business in the shutdown. The ruptured gas pipe caused business owners in the area to lose money and it was an inconvenience to the residence. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was able to turn the gas back on at 5:09 p.m.

Feature Lead: An Alarming Event

Tulsa, Okla.- Firefighters crash 95 year old woman's birthday party.

The First United Methodist Church women's group threw a Birthday party for 95 year old Mabel McCullough.  They had a carrot cake with 95 candles and with help she blew them all out. Eddi Carlin commented, "There wasn't an inch to spare. By the time we had them all lit, it looked like a torch. The party had just sat down to eat when they saw 24 firefighters standing in the doorway. The smoke from the birthday candles set off a smoke alarm. As a result, five engines and two ladder companies arrived. Fire Chief Lonnie Lamb commented, " In my 23 years on the job, I've seen a lot of things set off a fire alarm, but I don't think I've ever heard of one going off because of a birthday cake." Although the firefighters didn't eat birthday cake they did take a picture with McCollough.

Feature Lead 1: Squirrel

New York-Squirrel met it's fate after playing on a power line.  The squirrel caused an electrical power surge after it climbed onto the Metro-North Commuter Railroad power lines on Monday afternoon. The power surge weakened a bracket which caused a wire from the overhead bracket to dangle down in front of a train passing underneath. This caused the train to tear down all of the lines. 

The loss of power resulted in affecting 47,000 rail commuters, they could not get out of Manhattan. Commuters waited for hours to realize that the trains were not coming. Service was restored by Tuesday afternoon. The squirrel died due to electrocution.

Foreclosure wave-S.J. fights to protect neighborhoods

All throughout the state we are seeing foreclosures and houses that are for sale. The Mercury News wrote about these foreclosures on Thursday 18, 2008. The impact of this article is great because the whole bay area is being affected by the housing market. Even if someones house is not going to be foreclosed on, the cvalue of the house has reduced considerably because of the market. For example, my husband and I want to by a house in the near future but because of the market if we sell our condo then we will lose money. Because of this the timeliness and proximity of this article are crucial. This story effects the entire bay area and it is happening right now. The currency and conflict of this story are also very important, This market is causing conflict because it is so hard to make a decision especially if you need to move. The currency is that everyone is concerned with this problem, even though the housing market always has its ups and downs, it is always scary when it is in a downward turn.

Missing Boy-Revised

Seven year-old boy was found after three years in Brick Township, N.J., after a neighbor called the police after recognizing the childes picture.

Smoking Wheels-Revised

Forty passengers were evacuated at Municipal Airport in La Crosse, Wisconsin, after a landing tower employee spotted smoke near the wheels of a Northwest Airlines Jet.

AP Style Exercise #1 (A-D)

JOUR 61 – AP Style Exercise #1 (A-D)
(contains 15 errors)

Please find and correct the AP style errors in the following sentences. The number in parentheses at the end of each sentence tells you how many errors are in that sentence. Be sure to consult your AP Stylebook for this exercise.

1) The new head of the journalism department, Dr. Deborah Dunwoody, Ph.D., recently bought a house at 6 Riverside Dr. in San Mateo, a lovely city in the San Francisco bay area. (4)

2) “What kind of person would break in to my apartment and rob my brand new thongs?” she asked her friend. (3)

3) The instructor asked her students to read Chapter 6, which began in the late 1920s and continued through the 1930s. (5)

4) Sarah Smith has not let partial blindness or wheelchair confinement stop her from living life to the fullest. In spite of her partial blindness and wheelchair confinement, she volunteers at a local senior center and enjoys going for strolls, she calls them “rolls,” with her friends. (3)

AP Style Exercise #2 (E-H)

JOUR 61 – AP Style Exercise #2 (E-H)
(15 points)

Please identify and correct the AP style errors in the following sentences. Post the corrected sentences on your blog.

1) To insure the accuracy of the news story, Sarah Jones checks with her source. For Jones this is an every day practice, not the exception. (4)
2) As the two boys argued over who should get the last piece of pizza, both seemed equally hungry. Clearly, they had forgotten their earlier decision to forego having seconds. (2)
3) He suspected his neighbor was selling drugs, so he called the FBI. His neighbor however, cried fowl at the accusation. (2)
4) She grew up on the great plains, near Alliance, NE, where the winters are long, harsh and the living is hand to mouth. (3)
5) Her car was sideswiped by a hit and run driver on route 1A this morning. She wasn't really injured, but the impact sent the contents of her purse helter-skelter. (4)

Cathedral Robbery- News Story #2

San Francisco- Tourists were robbed at gunpoint yesterday at Saint Mary's Cathedral.

Sergeant Lawrence Price of the San Francisco police department states that WeiMing Chen, 28, and his wife, Li Lu, 30 were with their  tour group in the morning. They left the group around 10 a.m. to take pictures at the cathedral's lower parking lot. 

The victims said that a man approached them wearing a black jacket and cap and he was waiving a pistol around. Chen described his assailant as being 18 years old.

Chen gave the assailant $100, the assailant still demanded more. Chen then gave him Visa card, passports, camera, and airline tickets.

The suspect took off running. San Francisco police are looking for him. 

The tour group was scheduled to leave at 1 p.m. back to Taipei.

Nobody knows if the couple was able to make the flight.

News Story #1-Firefighters

San Jose- Yesterday, Firefighters rescued Robert Kent from his burning home. 

Kent was found on the kitchen floor unconscious. HE was surrounded by flames and the house was engulfed in smoke. 

San Jose fire Captain Rob Piper stated that the fire was reported around 3 p.m. The fire started in the kitchen and spread to the attic in Kent's single story home on Annapolis Way. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Piper described Kent as in his 50's and retired. Kent has second and third degree burns  over fifty percent of his body. A nursing supervisor at Valley Medical Center in San Jose said that Kent was listed in grave condition.

AP Style Exercise A-D

Lead 1 Revised

A couple was awarded $150,000 in damages. Last March, in Butte County they suffered injuries due to a traffic accident.

Another snowstorm is expected to hit the Sierra's today. This is part of a series of snowstorms.

Three firefighters were injured while they were helping evacuate 41 families from a fire at 204 Union Ave. which roared through the six story building.

Top News Story: Palin Lifts McCain's Support

Senator John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate for the presidential race. This choice has considerably stirred things up in the political arena.  The Wall Street Journal stated that the choice is "lifting enthusiasm among once-subdued supporters and boosting the ticket's appeal with women" This is a very important news item because we are seeing as a nation what one woman is doing. 

Women are not usually elected to the vice presidency and therefore this is a very bizarre news story. We are able to talk about a woman influence in the top most part of our government. There is a lot of conflict surrounding Sarah Palin  because she allegedly does not have that much experience in Washington, and another issue is that her 17 year old daughter is with child. Although these are major concerns with the American people polls have indicated that support is rising for the duo. The impact of this story is that McCain cold win this  upcoming election. 

Car Accident (Lead 5)

Immediate Identification Lead- James W. Cunning was hit by another driver, Wayne Clay, after he crossed the center line

Delayed Identification Lead-Yesterday, two young men were involved in a car accident which resulted in minor injuries.

Pipe Fitter (Lead 5)

Immediate Identification Lead- Duane La Chance, 55, suffered third-degree burns yesterday, while installing new pipes he accidentally touched a power line carrying 15,000 volts.

Delayed Identification Lead- Yesterday, a pipe fitter suffered third-degree burns.

Missing Boy (Lead 4)

N.J.- 7 year-old boy was found after three years.

Monday evening a neighbor called the police after recognizing the child's picture, which was shown after the movie Adam: The Song Continues. Ellen Lynn Conner, the boy's mother is facing charges of kidnapping and interference with a custody warrant.

Smoking Wheels (Lead 4)

Wisconsin-Yesterday 40 Passengers were evacuated from a Northwest Airlines Jet.

A Landing tower employee spotted smoke near the wheels of Flight 428. The evacuation was at Municipal Airport in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

McCain Vows End to 'Rancor' betting on Maverick Appeal

McCain Vows End to 'Rancor' Betting on Maverick Appeal

This story ran in The Wall Street Journal on Friday Sept. 5th. The article was written about McCains acceptance speech as the Republican candidate. McCain focused his speech on the theme of 'Country First!'  all evening, he spoke about going to Washington not for himself but for the people. 

The impact of this story is great, because people need to know what he believes in, because if McCain is elected to the presidency then whether you are democrat or republican your life will be effected by this man. McCain has high prominence in the news circle because he is running for president, he is sharing prominence with Obama and only Obama, they are the most important news items at the moment. The proximity although far away is important because he is running for president so he effects our entire nation. The Strife in this piece is high because he is competing for a position of high importance and he has to prove his worth to the people of this country. This is the most current and ongoing news story right now because we as a nation will be voting a new man in to be our leader and we as a nation need to know what is current and what the new news is on these men everyday. This story has great relevance to everyone in our country because it is of a national context.

Lead 2

PITTSBURG-U s Air Airplane coming from Chicago crashed yesterday killing all 131 passengers and crew on board. it is the worst air disaster in the United States in the last three years. The crash occured as the plane was beginning to descend, it plummeted into the ground.

Lead 1

1) Last March a couple in Butte County suffered injuries in a traffic accident. Yesterday the two were awarded $150,000 in damages.

2) There is another snowstorm expected to hit the Sierra's today. This storm is part of a series of snowstorms.

3) Police stated that three firefighters were injured while they were helping evacuate 41 families from a fire at 204 Union Ave which roared through the six story building