November 2012 Archives

In the news article, "St. Paul's first Somali cop 'will be a great thing' for city" it talked about St. Paul's first Somali police officer.

I thought that the story was trying to move away from stereotypes. It tried to convey that change is happening, but very slowly. It talked of a Hmong police officer and his struggle with being a police officer because he received death threats from the Hmong community, showing that being a minority officer can be very difficult, which maybe why the numbers are so low.

"After Thursday's graduation, the department's sworn ranks will tally 594, including 34 Asian, 34 black, 25 Latino and six American Indian officers." I think that this line conveys that change is happening, even though the number of minority police officers compared to those white is extremely big.

I thought that the reporter didn't dig too deep into the topic in terms of sources. He only had two sources, the Somali police officer and the Hmong police officer. The reporter didn't talk to any other community members of any minority about this issue.

The Director of the BBC resigned on Nov. 10 after a string of events demonstrated that the BBC was below journalistic standards.

On Nov. 2, in a broadcast, the BBC wrongly implied that a former Conservative Party politician had a pedophile scandal involving children in Wales.

The director George Entwistle, has only held his position for two months, however as a senior executive of the BBC he also has been accused of covering up scandals from being broadcasted. Last year, he cancelled a Newsnight that would cover a story about former BBC reporter, Jimmy Savile and his numerous sex scandals according to Fox News.

"The wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude that the BBC should appoint a new leader," said Entwistle according to the New York Times.

Four star General Petraeus resigned after the F.B.I. found evidence of him having an extramarital affair according to the New York Times.

His biographer, Paula Broadwell, was the woman involved. She is married with two children of her own. She interviewed and spent a lot of time with him in Afganistan for her biography. The F.B.I. caught the scandal after Broadwell sent a woman named Jill Kelley threatening messages according to the NY Daily.

Kelley had been spending a lot of time with Petraeus and Broadwell allegedly was jealous and sent emails to Kelley. The mysterious emails stimulated Kelley to have an investigation done to find out who the author was.

President Barack Obama did not accept General Petraeus' resignation right away.

"Let me think about it over night," was what the president after he received Petraeus' resignation. Later he realized that he could not have Petraeous in his administration and accepted the resignation .

The Mall of America is prohibiting teenagers from entering the facility on Black Friday, unless they are accompanied by an adult according to the Star Tribune.

Teens under 16 years of age will not be allowed in the mall during Thanksgiving night and Black Friday or between Christmas and New Years. The mall already prohibits those under 16 to be with an adult on Friday and Saturday

This resulted after last year's Black Friday when a 200 person brawl started in the mall by teens. Chairs and tables were thrown at teens and shoppers alike. There is also going to be more security at the mall on these days according to the Pioneer Press.

Teens over 16 must provide proper identification to enter the mall, however student IDs will not be accepted.

Israel has created misiles that can identify enemy rockets, determine if they are a threat to populations within the area and destroy them.

The missile defense system is very efficient and has saved many lives, however each missile costs $40,000. Therefore Israel is aiming it's missiles in areas that may have some HAMAS connections. The missile system, however is not able to stop a wall of missiles fired by HAMAS, according to ABC News.

HAMAS is considered a terrorist organization by the US and Israel and has had members shooting short and long range rockets into Israel. In 2006, 44 Israelis died due to HAMA's rocket attacks which sparked investment into the missile defense system.

Israel has called 60,000 reserve soldiers to prepare to potentially invade the Gaza Strip according to Fox News.

The principal of Minnetonka Public High School sent an email to parents asking them to talk to their daughters about wearing revealing clothing to school according to the Star Tribune.

The shirts are getting too high and when combined with tight leggings, the definition of the female student's backs is too defined Principal David Adney said. The issue is that this can be highly distracting to students at school according to the New York Daily.

Adney was forced to take action after many female staff members and volunteers indicated that the attire young girls were wearing was too revealing. The most controversial pants at stake are yoga pants, which are worn at least two-three times a week by female students.

"They are setting an example for middle schoolers," said parent Christine Helgeson, who is the mother of a male student at the high school. She, like many other parents, are afraid that new fashion trends will effect younger generations and encourage them to dress inappropriately.

The Iranian government said that they are investigating the death of a jailed blogger who reportedly died in custody according to AFP.

Sattar Beheshti posted up many blogs criticizing the Iranian government and before he was arrested said that he was being harassed by security agents who were calling him constantly.

The announcement came on the radio by Ahmad Tavakoli, a law maker and conservative critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In an open session of parliament, broadcasted on the radio, Tavakoli criticized the government for not being proactive in finding why Beheshti died according to ABC News.

It is rare for the Iranian government to investigate allegations against human rights abuse.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that Iranian police must release the full profile on the "suspicious death." (ABC News)

Two weak tornadoes touched down on Saturday, something that has not happened so late into the year according to the meteorologists at the National Weather Service.

No one was killed or injured, only trees and power lines were knocked over. About 12,000 homes and businesses in the Mendota Heights, West St. Paul and St. Paul areas did not have electricity. Power was restored Sunday night according to the Star Tribune.

The first tornado touched down on McAndrew's road and County Road 5 with winds averaging 80 miles per hour according to KSTP.

The second tornado touched down intersection of Interstate 494 and Hwy. 13 with winds averaging 70-75 miles per hour.

The storms came six to eight weeks later than most twisters hit Minnesota, surprising many residents.

In the article, "Greece passes crucial 2013 austerity budget" the bill passed, will allow for the another disbursement of the rescue loan installment to be given to Greece.

In the CBS article it said, "The budget passed by a 167-128 vote in the 300-member Parliament." And I think the reporter should have clarified what happened to the other 5 votes and why they didn't vote in such an important event.

In the CBS article, I don't think that he "crunched" the numbers well. In a Washington Post article, the reporter converted the amounts of money into US currency. I thought that this was helpful because I'm not quite sure what the exchange rate is between the the American dollar and the Euro dollar.

I also thought that it was effective how both reporters said, "Hours before the vote, 15,000 people converged outside Parliament in a peaceful demonstration. The crowd was far smaller than the 80,000-strong crowd which protested last Wednesday's austerity bill vote." I think it is useful for the reader to understand how the mentality of the Greeks are changing and how hard parliament worked to have a compromise.

I think that the numbers in both stories were overwhelming because there was just so many thrown at the reader, however, the story itself called for a lot of numbers because it is about economics and money. So I think both articles handled the numbers well. It was organized, just a lot for the reader to digest.

A house exploded on Saturday leaving two dead, police said on Sunday.

The names of the deceased have not been released but one was an elementary school teacher and the other was her husband according to CBS News.

The explosion could reportedly be heard from miles away. Five houses were destroyed and 26 homes were severely damaged and may need to be demolished, officials say. Many neighbors left their homes to stay with relatives or friends. About 200 left their homes and seven were injured according to USA Today.

All gas, power and other utilities were turned off after the incident as a precautionary measure according to CBS.

The Margret A. Cargill Foundation is giving a $500,000 grant to those in Duluth who are struggling to recover from a flood that happened in June.

In the flood, 1,700 homes were damaged and only 5-10% were insured according to the Star Tribune.

The money will be used to help local non-profit organizations and the Lutheran Social Service, which helps clients rebuild their homes according to the Pioneer Press.

Earlier this year, legislators met to approve a 167.5 million dollar flood relief package for those in Duluth, but it was overturned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency ruled that the flood damage was not severe enough for individual assistance.

"A lot of work has been done here on roads and bridges, but individuals have been very hard hit and the need is enormous," said Holly C. Sampson, president of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, "This grant will really ramp up our early recovery efforts."

On Thursday a Robinsdale bus driver asked a student on his bus to pick up a gun that was lying on the side of the road.

In the intersection of 25th and Irving Avenue the bus driver spotted an object, made an unexpected stop and asked a 7th grader to pick up the foreign object. He immediately reported the gun to school staff at Robinsdale Middle School and the Metropolitan Transportation Network, according to the Star Tribune.

Tia Clasen, spokeswoman for Robinsdale schools, said the bus driver is no longer working for the company.

"I encourage you to talk with your child about situations in which they may find themselves that would be considered unsafe, how to become an advocate in such situations, and to report any unsafe situation to an adult at school or at home," Robinsdale Middle School's principal, John Cook said in a letter that went home to parents of the students who attend the school according to Kare 11.

In Milt Campbell's obituary, only his partner, Linda Rusch, and a "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics" book by David Wallechinsky were quoted.

This article had a standard obituary lead. It said all of Campbell's accomplishments in the first sentence, why he is notable and his age when he died.

In terms of news value, i'm not sure if this is a topic in which many people can find interest. The obit though did explain all of his accomplishments and the impacts of them. I don't think there was much news value because there wasn't anything exactly "new" in this article about Campbell except for the fact that he died.

The difference between a resume and an obit is that a resume talks about work experience and accomplishments, but there isn't much room to elaborate the impacts of major accomplishments. Whereas an obit is all about accomplishments and the impacts of them because that's what makes a person's life interesting.

St. Paul Schools' Superintendent Valeria Silva is proposing a $39 million plan that would help develop the education system in St. Paul. This plan is going to be on the ballot on Tuesday according to the Star Tribune.

According to Silva, she wants to invest money into developing the schools' outreach online. Lessons, textbooks, homework and grades would be put up on an interactive portal in which teachers and parents can monitor the student's progress according to the Pioneer Press.

Many schools, such as Stillwater, use an online site called "Moodle" to help educators teach outside the classroom area. However Moodle leaves maintenance and training up to the school. So it proves to have many inefficiencies.

"The whole point is: How effectively is the school and teacher using it in the classroom?" Battle Creek Middle School teacher Jamin McKenzie said last week. If the technology is not utilized by teachers, than there is no point in investing in something that is not needed.

A young boy died today after he fell off a safety railing and into an African wild dog exhibit, according to the Star Tribune.

The boy fell from a railing after his mother had propped him on it. He fell about 14 feet and was attacked by four of the 11 of the dogs in the exhibit. Zoo visitor immediately told authorities. They tried to call off the dogs, but only three dogs responded the last one was aggressive and was shot.

It is still not clear whether the boy died from the fall or from the attack. (http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_news/water_cooler/Grab_wxyz_boy-killed-in-fall-mauling-at-pa-zoo-exhibit1352060596659).

The dogs were medium sized and were about 37-80 pounds. It is not known if the exhibit will be continued, however this is Pennsylvania's first zoo related attack.

Today, Bishop Tawadros was chosen to be the new pope of the Coptic Christans, a small religious group in Egypt (CNN).

The previous pope Pope Shenouda III died in March due to the effects of diabetes. He was 88.

The ceremony of choosing the new pope happened at the Cairo cathedral. A blindfolded young boy, who was chosen by lottery, chose out of a chalice one of three candidates to become pope (Huffington Post)

Pope Tawadros will officially be the pope on Nov. 18.

With the new regime Muslim regime in Egypt, he will have to properly represent the Coptic Christians, who only make up 10% of Egypt's population. There have been many recent attacks on them, and it is up to Tawadros to try and deter the violence according to the Huffington Post.

New York and New Jersey election board officials must decide on whether additional provisional voting will be needed according to CBS News.

Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast Monday and has caused great damage to New York and New Jersey and may deter voters from going to the polls this year.

New York county election board officials will ask the New York State Board of Elections to allow polls to stay open if voter turnout is less than 25%. New York has already relocated 60 polling sites due to Sandy. And in an effort to allow people to vote, some polling stations in New York are going to be by portable generators. (CNN News)

New Jersey has already made voting changes. New Jersey voters can fax and cast a provisional ballot at any polling area. Residents of New Jersey are also considered "overseas" and may apply for an absentee ballot until 5 p.m. Election Day (CBS News).