News summaries for Jour3101

Tornadoes that struck northern central Kansas on Friday have killed 10 people, msnbc.com is reporting. Tornadoes have been touching down all over the state and plains this weekend.

Kansan officials confirm that areas are still unsafe for residents to return to. Search efforts in Kansas are still ongoing. Congresspeople from the state called the tornadoes some of the worst they've ever seen. President Bush promised federal support, and almost all landmarks and business were totally leveled in Greensburg, Kansas.

Flooding is also a concern throughout the state. Officials are looking to rebuilding efforts after the search efforts and general shock subside.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Kansas City man went on a shooting rampage Sunday, killing 3 people before being shot by police, msnbc.com is reporting.

The man was caught in a traffic stop driving a woman's car who had been shot to death earlier in the day in an incident police say is likely related. The man then shot the officer in the arm, eventually making his way to a local Target, where he killed 3 people.

Employees at the Target store said people were diving for cover, from what they saw to be a man in his 50s shooting a rifle.

Names and identies have not been released as family notification is still pending. No motive for the shooter has been released either.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John McCain, the AZ Republican senator running for President, released excerpts of a speech he plans to give Monday on the dangers of Global Warming the NY Times is reporting.

In the excerpts, McCain calls for a cap on American Greenhouse gas emissions, pointing to a variety of different reasons for doing so. McCain calls it an issue that needs immediate, urgent attention.

He says that with our reliance on foreign oil, we leave ourselves open to vulnerabilities. The speech points to the example of Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezulea at odds with President Bush. He says Chavez has used the income and strength of having an oil-rich country to move his Presidency towards something resembling a socialist dictatorship.

In McCain's speech he favors capping emissions, and giving a financial incentive to companies to curb their emissions.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times is reporting that more than a dozen detainees at the U.S. military detention center, in Guantanamo Bay, are on a hunger strike to protest living conditions, and conditions of their imprisonment.

Within situations of a hunger strike military guards force feed the detainees in a process widely known to be uncomfortable. Lawyers for the protestors say that the strikes come with their transfer to a new, higher security level complex within Gitmo.

Different prisoners are kept under different conditions in Gitmo, all of which have been ruled illegal under international law and gained great criticism from other countries and international organizations like the International Committee for the Red Cross.

In some security levels the detainees are kept in isolation for 22 hours a day, in other levels they only see other detainees while being transfered to another area of the prison. Hunger strikes have been used by other detainees, and last summer a riot started and three detainees committed suicide, from what lawyers say was despair over their harsh, illegal treatment.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is coming under fire recently over the firings of 8 U.S. District Attorneys. This past weekend, 3 new senators came forward (both Democrat and Republican) to express distrust and skepticism over Gonzales and his future in the administration msnbc.com is reporting.

Congresspeople and critics have accused Gonzales of firing 8 District Attorneys for partisan-motivated reasons. It is illegal to allow partisan politics to interfere with decisions of that nature. Two Republicans, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn) said this weekend that they feel Gonzales has compromised trust and integrity within the government.

Another Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, has said that Gonzales's justification of the firings keeps changing and things he's said are not adding up. All congresspeople empahsized the need for trust among govenment officials, and for the American people.

Many critics have called for Gonzales to resign, and this article points to the fact that support for that may be spreading.

The Los Angeles Times is also reporting.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A chief army surgeon, Kevin C. Kiley, was the thrid high-ranking official to be dismissed amid contreversy and furor over the treatment of wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and its outpatient care. The NY Times is reporting.

The Walter Reed Commander and Army Secretary were also both let go within the past 2 weeks. In Kiley's case, it is widely considered that he was forced into an early retirement. The positions are being filled by Army officials all over the country, and the board of Walter Reed will convene in April to find a replacement for Kiley.

Critics and even internal sources have pointed to sub-par living conditions for wounded soliders, and a highly beauraucratic system to getting care. Additionally, an internal study by the Department of Veteran's Affairs pointed to a lack of training for those assisting soldiers.

The AP also reported on this topic.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 1:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zookeepers at the Denver zoo shot and killed a Jaguar named Jorge, after he fatally mauled a zookeeper at the zoo.

Officials, who said that no keeper is allowed to enter an enclosure with a 'big cat', are planning an internal investigation.

The 27-year-old zookeeper was said to be experienced and familiar with the rules of the zoo. However, Jaguars are known to be mean and unpredictable.

The attack happened in an windowed enclosure, and a zoo visitor witnessed the attack. The visitor alerted zoo officals. Zoo officials called emergency officials. The zookeeper died after 90 minutes at the hospital.

When the Jaguar tried to get closer to the emergency officials working on the zookeeper, the animal was shot to death by another zookeeper.

The article can be found here.

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Drew Gilpin was named as the 1st female President to Harvard on Sunday, msnbc.com is reporting. She was choosen after a multi-tiered selection process.

Gilpin does not have a Harvard degree, and she has previously worked in issues of gender diversity on and off the Harvard campus. Additionally, she worked as a civil rights activist on issues of both race and gender. Born in the South, Gilpin says she began questioning issues of race and gender equality at a young age there. She is now a noted historian on the American South.

The previous President of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, had made what some considered inflammatory comments about the aptitude of women in math and science. The appointment of a female President signals a big milestone for some in light of the previous controversies.

The article can be found here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17103390/?GT1=9033

An additional source can be found here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7344357

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maytag, the makers of a dishwasher that is now being recalled because of its potential to short-circuit and start on fire, had its hand full with another problem on Friday. The huge phone system set up to handle the customer questions shut down because of an overload of calls reported the Star Tribune and Msnbc.com.

The recall was announced Thursday by Maytag and the Federal Safety Agency because of 135 verified reports of the dishwashers starting on fire. The dishwashers were sold over a four year time period.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that dish liquid could seep out and come in touch with the wiring of the dishwasher causing it to short circuit and risking fire.

Officials say that the consumer hotline is now up and running, and that either a reimbursement of sorts or in-home repair is being offered to customers with the dishwasher.

Within these stories the quotes are used to start a new paragraph and also to let government safety officials relay things to the reader in their own words. This is an interesting subject matter because it is one that serves the public in a more direct way. This is an issue that can really affect many people within the readership, and the newspaper needs to be a conduit of information for people with questions. In that respects, the articles are a little different because they hit so close to home.

The article can be found here:
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/977940.html

And my comparison article here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16942609/

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 1:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hilary Clinton was in Iowa recently, and held a townhall meeting in Des Moines to drum up support for her recently announced Presidential candidacy. She spoke to almost 3,000 people, addressing the ways in which her gender might affect her bid. Clinton said that she wants the U.S. to keep progressing and pointed to Motherhood and her gender as an asset to herself and campaign.

She also highlighted many issues that will come into play in her campaign later on. Among them were wage fairness amongst employees and CEOs, outsourcing of U.S. jobs, and pricey healthcare. Clinton met with prominent Iowa democrats while she was there, and was also introduced to the stage by Iowa Rep. Leonard L. Boswell.

A challenge for the reporter may have been accurately summing up her speech and describing her stage presence, as well as the crowd reaction and demeanor without incorporating much bias or judgement into the article.

The lead in this story included a few details about the setup of Clinton's townhall meeting, before making a very general summation of Clinton's purpose in Iowa. The article didn't have much of a sense of urgency and the lead reflected that.

Article can be found here:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/us/politics/28clinton.html?ref=politics

Posted by Wendy Diedrich at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)