Meritte Dahl - News Blog

In the New York Times article, "Obama Budget Seeks Deal in Mix of Cuts and Spending," the author uses large data sets of President Obama's 2014 budget.

The author includes a link to the actual 2014 budget proposal, allowing the reader to find the information about the budget on areas that they are interested in. The article also uses some of the data to explain possible repercussions of the budget proposal and the opinions of different politicians on the budget proposal. The article also links to an interactive graphics, where the reader can compare the president's proposal to proposals from both parties and historical averages. The interactive graphic also shows what percentage of the budget proposal would be covered by deficit spending and revenue spending. To make the interactive graphic, the reported would have to have knowledge of a computer program that makes graphics. The reporter would have had to look at several budget proposals to create the interactive graphic. The interactive graphic would engage the reader, by allowing them to compare different budget proposals.

A light rail car made a test run down the Central Corridor from Minneapolis to St. Paul Sunday morning, the Pioneer Press reported.

The Pioneer Press reported the train was pulled by a railcar so crews could work to verify clearance.

"The railcar moved faster than expected, making the trip in five hours instead of the estimated eight to 12 hours," the Pioneer Press reported.

The Associated Press reported the 11-mile route from Minneapolis to St. Paul will take 39 minutes, when the train is operating.

The Metropolitan Council said the light rail project is 92 percent complete, the Associated Press reported. The light rail will open to riders in 2014.

Seven people were seriously injured Saturday after an SUV driven by a woman with alcohol in her system rolled over in Fridley near Interstate 694, the Star Tribune reported.

Authorities said the only person wearing a seatbelt during the crash was the driver, Jennifer L. Teetzel, 35, of Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press reported the one-vehicle accident occurred about 5:20 p.m. on University Ave near the interstate, according to the State Patrol.

Teetzel was convicted for third-degree drunken driving in 2009, according to court records. The Star Tribune reported she also pleaded guilty in 2003 to careless driving after a charge of fourth-degree drunken driving had been dismissed.

The State Patrol said the cause of the accident is under investigation, the Pioneer Press.

Architects will reveal the new Vikings stadium design at 7 p.m. on May 13 at the Guthrie Theater, the Pioneer Press reported.

The stadium will house 65,000 seats and space for gift shops, restaurants and an NFL team museum, the Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press reported a limited number of tickets to the unveiling will be available for the public and details about how to get a ticket has not been finalized.

The Metrodome could be razed in 2014, the Star Tribune reported. The Vikings' home games will be played at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, while the stadium is under construction.

The $975 million stadium is scheduled to open in 2016, the Pioneer Press reported.

Not long before the Boston bombing suspects had a shootout with the police, they planned to blow up the rest of their explosives in New York City's Times Square, authorities said in a press conference Thursday, according to the New York Times.

The suspects intended to use five pipe bombs and another device similar to the bombs used in the marathon attacks on April 15, said New York police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, the New York Times reported.

The Associated Press reported Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told investigators from his hospital bed that he and has brother had made plans to attack New York.

Kelly said the suspects' plan fell apart when the brothers' stolen SUV was low on gas, the Associated Press reported. The brothers stopped for gas last Thursday and the victim of the carjacking escaped and called police.

Later that night, the suspects engaged in a shootout with the police, leaving the older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, dead, the Associated Press Reported.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was charged for the Boston marathon bombing that killed three people and injured over 260 people, the Associated Press reported. He may face the death penalty.

An escaped psychiatric patient attacked a rabbi and his son with a knife in Paris Tuesday, authorities told Le Monde.

The rabbi, in his late forties, required surgery for a neck injury, while his son, 18, sustained lesser injuries, the Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press reported the attacker was detained after a chase through a synagogue near Paris' Opera Garnier and was taken into police custody.

The attacker escaped last week from a psychiatric hospital near Lyon, Le Monde reported.

A Maine man who lived in the woods as a hermit for almost 30 years had bacon, marshmallows and $395 on him when he was arrested on charges of burglary, the Associated Press reported.

Christopher T. Knight, 47, was arrested on April 4, the Kennebec Journal reported. Known as the North Pond Hermit, he is suspected of over 1,000 burglaries.

A full list of the items on Knight at the time of his arrest are listened in a police affidavit on the Kennebec Journal.

While in jail, Knight has received a telephoned marriage proposal and a stranger's offer to bail him out, the Associated Press reported. Knight declined the offer to bail him out and remains in jail.

Minnesota doctors were alerted to a new influenza strain in China and are urged to inform state health authorities if they have any patients who have recently traveled to China and exhibit flu-like symptoms, the Star Tribune reported.

The new strain, H7N9, migrated from birds to humans and the source in unclear, the Associated Press reported.

So far no cases have been reported in Minnesota or the United States. The Star Tribune reported there are not yet signs the H7N9 will produce a pandemic on the scale of the H1N1 in 2009.

The Minnesota Department of Health issued the alert April 5, the Star Tribune reported.

The Associated Press reported the State Forestry Administration suspended the sale of wild birds Thursday to prevent the spread of the virus.

A man who is missing and presumed dead after falling into the Chippewa River Friday may be a student from Minnesota, according to a news release from police.

The man fits the description of a missing University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student, the Pioneer Press reported.

The Pioneer Press reported police searched the river Friday and Saturday but have not located the student.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Police responded to a 10:45 p.m. emergency call reporting that a man had fallen from the university pedestrian bridge into the river, the Star Tribune reported.

A witness description of the man who fell in the river match the description of missing student David Patrick Rodgers, 20, of Northfield, Minn., the Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press reported University Police ask anyone with information to contact them at 715-836-2222.

An earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China killed at least 156 people and injured more than 5,500 others Saturday morning, according to authorities, The Guardian reported.

At least 156 people were killed, according to the China Earthquake Administration, The Guardian reported.

Chinese authorities said the earthquake was magnitude 7.0, the Los Angeles Times reported, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported 6.6

The Guardian reported the earthquake is believed to have taken place on the same fault as the 2008 earthquake that killed 70,000 people and left 18,000 missing.

The Los Angeles Times reported the epicenter of the earthquake was 80 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu, near the city of Ya'an. The city's population was 1.5 million.

According to the government of Ya'an, more than 5,500 people were injured, The Guardian reported.