March 2011 Archives

By: Andrew Krammer

A fugitive level three sex offender, who was on the run for over a month, was arrested Wednesday afternoon, the Star Tribune reported.

Eugene Glaraton, 42, had cut off his GPS-monitoring ankle bracelet and left the halfway house he was staying at in St. Paul on Feb. 20, KSTP reported. Department of Correction officials arrested Glaraton at an apartment complex in Roseville.

He was released from prison on Feb. 15, where he was serving time for failing to register as an offender.

By: Andrew Krammer

One Marine was killed and three others injured Tuesday evening after a U.S. Marine helicopter was forced to land in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii, CNN reported.

The crash happened about 2 miles offshore from Marine Corps Base Hawaii, near Kaneohe, around 7:30 p.m., KITV reported. The reason for the CH-53D Sea Stallion's emergency landing is still unknown.

The three injured crewmembers were flown to Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. Two of them were in critical condition, while the third Marine was in stable condition, according to the Marine Corps.

By: Andrew Krammer

French daredevil Alain "Spiderman" Robert climbed the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, on Monday evening, CNN reported.

Robert, 48, was forced to use a rope and harness during the six hour climb, to comply with the requirements in the Gulf sheikdom that opened the tower last year, Yahoo reported.

The frenchman has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers, often using no safety equipment, including the Empire State Building, Chicago's Willis Tower and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Robert sometimes gets into trouble for trespassing while scaling skyscrapers, but this time he was invited to.

By: Andrew Krammer

In an obituary done by the New York Times, a reporter covers the death of Geraldine A. Ferraro.

In a death that likely has no controversy surrounding it, the reporter chose to source Ferraro's family on the cause of death: complications from blood cancer. Since Ferraro's fame came from her political career, the reporter also chooses to source fellow female governors as well.

The lead captures Ferraro's most iconic moment in her career, her Democratic nomination for vice president in 1984; being the first woman to do so in American history.

This obituary captures what Ferraro did for women in politics across America, claiming she took the "men only" sign off the White House. This differs from a resume in that it gives context and an encompassed view of her political life, not just a list of awards.

By: Andrew Krammer

Two people were seriously injured in a head-on collision on Main Street NW in Coon Rapids, the Star Tribune reported.

The drivers were airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries, while two other passengers in one of the vehicles had non-life threatening injuries, KSTP reported.

Police said one car swerved over the centerline and hit the other vehicle head-on, which pinned both drivers in their vehicles.

By: Andrew Krammer

The death of an NBC Universal executive is now being ruled a homicide by the coroner's office, KTLA reported.

Brian Russell Kaplon, 32, was shot in the chest on March 18 with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, the Huffington Post reported. The death was first thought to be an accident after a St. Patrick's Day party.

The shooting happened at the home of Kaplon's friend, David Andrew Armstrong, in the 20000 block of Vercelli Way, around 1 a.m., police said.

Armstrong has since been charged with the murder and was set free on $2 million bail, police said.

By: Andrew Krammer

A deadly Egyptian cobra went missing from the Bronx Zoo in New York, CNN reported.

The Reptile House has since been closed when the workers were alerted that the snake was missing on Saturday afternoon.

Staff said they're confident the snake is contained in a non-public, isolated area of the reptile house, Fox reported.

This type of Egyptian cobra's venom is so deadly that it can kill a full-grown elephant in three hours, or a human in 15 minutes, CNN reported.

By: Andrew Krammer

Twelve people were killed Saturday during anti-government protests in the Syrian city of Latakia, BBC reported.

The 12 were among at least 200 that were injured during a shooting that the Syrian government blamed on "unidentified gunmen shooting from rooftops," USA Today reported. Civilians and security personnel totaled 10 fatalities with the other two being 'unidentified gunmen.'

Many people have been killed in a week of protests against the current President Bashar al-Assad.

By: Andrew Krammer

An arrest has been made after a mass overdose at a Blaine house party killed one man and left 10 others hospitalized, CBS reported.

Timothy Richard Lamere, 21, of Blaine, was arrested and is being held for third-degree murder after he supplied a synthetic hallucinogen, 2C-E, to 11 people last Wednesday night, the Star Tribune reported.

Trevor Robinson, a 19-year-old father from Coon Rapids, died after taking the drug. The other 10 people have since been released from the hospital.

2C-E is a pill that is either ground down and snorted, or mixed in a drink. The substance is legally sold online for as cheap as $10 to $20 per gram.

By: Andrew Krammer

At least 14 passengers died early Saturday after a tour bus crashed in the Bronx on Interstate 95, CNN reported.

There were 31 passengers on the bus, eight of those were taken to area hospitals for treatment of severe injuries. The bus driver, Ophadel E. Williams, 40, of Brooklyn was also taken to a hospital for minor injuries.

The cause of the crash is unknown, but ABC reported that it is possible Williams may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

By: Andrew Krammer

A Florida man was arrested in Hastings on Saturday after more than two years of evading the FBI for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death, the Star Tribune reported.

Abraham Mpaka, 46, was caught at a Hastings library after an anonymous tip, AMW reported. Mpaka has been wanted since Dec. 26, 2008, when his girlfriend, Coty Paul, was fatally stabbed.

Police accused Mpaka, a native of Nigeria, of stabbing Paul in the heart as she was watching television in her neighbor's apartment.

Mpaka has appeared on the television show "America's Most Wanted" three times since Paul's death.

By: Andrew Krammer

An Edina eighth grader will be attending this years Scripps National Spelling Bee for the third year in a row after she won the seven-county, metro-area spelling bee Saturday, the Pioneer Press reported.

Anja Beth Swoap, 14, spelled "triforium" correctly after 16 rounds to beat out 55 other students from the area, the Star Tribune reported. Swoap is currently a student at Valley View Middle School and will be headed to the national bee on June 1-2 in Washington.

Swoap lost in the semifinals last year.

By: Andrew Krammer

The Japanese government ordered an evacuation of residents closest to a nuclear power plant that had cooling problems following Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake, CNN reported.

The Fukushima power plant was not leaking radiation, but had cooling problems due to the automatic shutdown of the plant caused by the earthquake, the Huffington Post reported. The shutdown of the plant's electricity and the failure of a backup generator led to the cooling system being unable to supply water to cool the reactor.

The evacuation affects at least 2,800 people, according to Japan's nuclear safety agency. The plant is in Onahama city, which is about 170 miles northeast of Tokyo.

A fire broke out at a second nuclear plant, but it was quickly put out.

By: Andrew Krammer

A man broke into a Portland house Monday and called 911 when the homeowner returned, fearing he had a gun, CNN reported.

Timothy James Chapek, 24, called police when the homeowner arrived and was worried he might have a gun, MSNBC reported. The homeowner also called police, reporting his own account.

Chapek was showering and locked himself in the bathroom when he found out he wasn't alone, police said.

Portland police took Chapek into custody without a problem and charged him with first-degree criminal trespassing.

By: Andrew Krammer

An Ohio priest is leaving his church and going to rehab after his drunken, profanity-filled sermon inside of a jail cell ended up on YouTube, CNN reported.

Rev. Ignatius J. Kury, 35, was caught driving drunk last Sunday after he drove his car off of the road, NY Daily News reported. Kury was a pastor at Holy Ghost Ukranian Catholic Church in Akron and plans to enter a clerical rehabilitation center in Maryland next week.

Kury's tirade hit on topics ranging from Sarah Palin and Oprah Winfrey to Libya and patriotism, police said.

"He's an extremely intoxicated priest. I don't think being a priest saves you from the affects of alcohol," Kury's lawyer, Walter Benson said.

By: Andrew Krammer

A British diplomatic team, consisting of six special forces soldiers and one diplomat, has been released Sunday after landing in Eastern Libya two days ago, BBC reported. The men were detained Friday morning after arriving by helicopter near Benghazi, AlJazeera reported.

Libyan security guards found they were carrying guns, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from four different nationalities shortly after denying they had weapons, witnesses said.

"We continue to press for Gaddafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people," Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

By: Andrew Krammer

Four children were treated for minor injuries after their mother allegedly drove drunk and smashed into a guardrail early Monday, the Pioneer Press reported.

Kyra Larae Lindsey, 30, was charged Wednesday with child endangerment, drunken driving and four counts of criminal vehicular operation. Four of the children, ages 4 to 9, were treated for minor injuries at Cannon Falls Hospital and, along with a 3-month-old girl, are now staying with relatives, the Star Tribune reported.

The crash happened around 3 a.m. along U.S. 52 in Dakota County, police said. Lindsey told police she hit a patch of ice, but a State Trooper had been "monitoring the roadway conditions and knew the road was completely dry," police said.

By: Andrew Krammer

A Lino Lakes man died Thursday after his snomobile slammed into a tree just off of an Anoka County lake, the Star Tribune reported.

The crash took place on the eastern edge of Reshanau Lake, in Lino Lakes, around 2 a.m. Thursday morning, police said.

John Brandenburger, 25, was accompanied by a female passenger, Adrianne Knotz, 25, who was taken to Regions Hospital where she is being treated for multiple fractures, the Pioneer Press reported.

The crash happened after the two were on their way home from a nearby bar, but it is unclear if alcohol played a factor, police said.

By: Andrew Krammer

Wes Leonard, 16, hit the game-winning shot for his western Michigan basketball team Thursday when he collapsed to the floor, FOX reported.

Leonard was hoisted into the air by his teammates after he made the winning basket in a 57-55 overtime win to complete Fenville's 20-0 season, Woodtv reported. Shortly after, a parent was performing CPR on him.

Leonard was taken to the Holland Hospital where he died an hour later.

The cause of death is unknown.

By: Andrew Krammer

For the analysis, I chose a press release about a meeting by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee and its coverage.

The reporter covering the story chose to write of the most important issues of the meeting, interest rates with and between banks. The reporter cut down the rough language of the press release and instead sacrificed compacted writing for explanations of governmental jargon.

The reporter also adds context to the meeting, noting which member voted against which policy action and how many times he has in the past. As the coverage continues, the reporter adds more context and gets farther and farther from the actual meeting.

By leaving the meeting coverage at the top of the article, the reporter places the news worthy information first. Then by adding context, the reader doesn't have to know anything about the situation and they can still get a basic understanding.

The reporter also avoided the 'positive' things the press release mentioned immediatley, instead focusing on the problem that the meeting meant to address.