January 2010 Archives

In a story by CNN, the lead describes the who, what, where, and how of the story of a woman who fell and tore a work of art by Picasso at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The who is a woman visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The what is the Picasso painting known as "The Actor" being repaired, which is mentioned by name and also referenced as a Picasso painting, not just any painting. The how/why is because a woman fell on it and tore it. Lastly, the where is mentioned as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with the dateline indicating the information was gathered in New York.

I must assume that the reason why the sentence begins with the mentioning that the painting is undergoing repair is to make the reader wonder how it got ripped so that one is motivated to read on past the first comma in the sentence. Since the article falls into the category of soft news, the author had more freedom of how to write the lead and likely chose to write it as he/she did in order to emphasize the fact that it was a significant piece of art work. This was done by mentioning that the work was by Picasso and naming it makes it sound like it is a more notable work of his rather than just any lesser painting of his.

A Picasso painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is being repaired after being torn by visitor on Jan. 22.

The museum said that the painting, "The Actor", received a 6-inch tear after a woman tripped and fell onto it.

The Associated Press said that the tear was made in the lower right-hand corner of the painting and does not effect the focal point of the piece.

Repair work, according to CNN, should be unobtrusive.

A mother and daughter from Bloomington were sentenced on Thursday for the death of a child at their home day care.

Doris Meeks, 49, was sentenced by Hennepin County Judge Mary Steenson to four years and nine months in prison. Her 22-year-old daughter, Harmony Newman was sentenced to four years in prison.

According to the Pioneer Press both defendants are appealing a jury's verdict which convicted them of two accounts of second-degree manslaughter.

The 22-month-old child died of asphyxiation after being strapped too tightly into a car seat and left in a dark basement to watch TV, according to Meeks' testimony. Meeks also testified that there was no monitoring equipment in the room and she had gone out on an errand when the child was placed in the room.

The Star Tribune said that Newman was alone at the time with 23 children under her supervision. The state limit for the home is 14 and requires two adults to be present for that many children.

A now 17-year-old boy from St. Paul pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the Thanksgiving Day killing of his friend.

The boy, Cody Nelson, was sentenced on Wednesday to an indeterminate amount of time in a juvenile facility with supervised probation until he turns 21. The Pioneer Press said that he may also be given an adult sentence if he violates his probation.

The Star Tribune reported that in the hours before the shooting Daniel Cornell, 19, had brought a revolver to the house they were at and Nelson, Cornell, the victim, Darion Smith, and others played Russian roulette with only empty cartridges loaded into the gun.

Later when people were getting ready to leave Cornell loaded the gun with three live rounds. Shortly after, Nelson picked up the gun and pointed it at Smith's head and fired, according to a criminal complaint.

Nelson told police that he assumed the gun wasn't loaded and was quoted saying "I didn't mean to."

Authorities reported that two men on board a small airplane were killed when their airplane crashed Jan. 23 near Chicago.

The Kane County Sheriff's Department says that the plane took off from Aurora Municipal Airport just a few miles south of the crash site and was on its way to a small airport near Denver.

CNN reported that the plane hit the ground in the small town of Sugar Grove, breaking into small pieces upon impact and hitting part of a local resident's garage. None of the residents were injured.

The Associated Press reported that the cause of the accident remains unknown and both the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are conducting an investigation.

A British man who sold fake bomb detectors was arrested Jan. 22 on suspicion of fraud, said police.

Jim McCormick, 53, was accused of selling bomb detectors that he knew didn't work to several countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, according to police.

BBC News reported that the British government announced a ban on the export of the device, known as the ADE-651, to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to CNN a spokesman for the British government said that the device could only be banned in Iraq and Afghanistan because powers to control the sale of the device were "based on the risk that [the device] could cause harm to U.K. and other friendly forces."