Kvlocke's News Blog

An Australian writer, Harry Nicolaides, was sentenced to three years of jail in January, but has now been pardoned by the king of Thailand, according to BBC News. The charges were because of a novel he wrote in 2005, the Australian government lobbied Thailand’s royal family for his release. In his book Nicolaides wrote about an unnamed prince that caused “dishonor to the royal family. Although Thailand is a constitutional monarcy, they have strict lese majeste laws. According to the New York Times, Nicolaides book sold less than 12 copies. Nicolaides was held in jail for five months by the Thai government. Nicolaides was in Thailand teaching English, when he was boarding a plane back to Australia on Aug. 31; he did not know there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Posted by lock0186 at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an open-air cafe in the Khan al-Khalili area a bomb exploded. Police say it was thrown from a balcony but conflicting reports say that the bomb was left under a bench. One victim, a 17-year-old girl from France died and 8 French nationals were also injured in the attack. More than 20 people were injured by the bomb exploding. According to BBC News the area was targeted in 2005 when a bomb exploded and killed three people, two of which where tourists; one from America and one from France. According to the Star Tribune, the bomb exploded on Sunday, injuring 21 people. The bomb was said to be homemade. Police found a second bomb but detonated it safely. Security officials told reporters that three people were in custody. An expert on Islamic extremism told the reporters that it could be a response to incidents in Gaza.

Posted by lock0186 at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The stories that I found about the Cairo bombings are a good example of differing leads from one day to the next because of the time zones. The BBC News lead reads, "A bomb explosion in Cairo has killed a French tourist and injured more than 20 other people, mostly foreign tourists." In this lead they state that there were 20 people injured, this number changes when the Star Tribune reports from AP in their lead that 21 people were wounded. As time goes on and more information is discovered, the leads change. The second story advances the news as we find out that their are suspects in custody, that there were other bombs planted which did not explode, and that the bomb appeared to be homemade. The second story is from a competing news source. This shapes the follow of the story in that information such as where the bombing occurred and how many were injured has already been in the news, so as a follow they need to provide more information for the readers. They do this in the examples above such as the fact that the bomb was homemade, but also when they discuss possible motives for planting the bomb. They suggest that the attackers may have had links to extremist groups. They also suggest that the attacks may have been young and inexperienced.

Posted by lock0186 at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the Star Tribune, Al Franken's legal team proposed to 1, 600 absentee ballots half of those ballots were ballots at Norm Coleman wanted to be considered for counting. Franken increased the number of absentee ballots that he wants counted from 771 to 804. Franken also said that 64 other ballots disappeared during the re-count. Franken told the Star Tribune that a felon voted for Coleman even though there is a state law prohibiting felons from voting. According to the Pioneer Press, Franken has told the Minnesota court that he agrees to the opening an counting of 1,585 sealed absentee ballots. Coleman is now suing to overturn the results that Franken lead by 225 votes. The case will resume on Monday.

Posted by lock0186 at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Police told the Star Tribune that on Friday a man allegedly assaulted his wife and his neighbor with a knife in Shakopee, and then fled. When police returned to the house to look for more evidence on Saturday, they saw signs of a break in. The man, Gordon William Denmark, who allegedly assaulted his wife and neighbor, was hiding in an attic space. When Denmark came out of the attack with a gun, police told him to drop the knife but he refused. Denmark was then Tasered by police, and still did not put down the knife. Two police officers then fired their guns at Denmark. He died on the scene around 4 p.m. According to the Pioneer Press, Denmark assaulted his wife and neighbor around 11 p.m. Friday in the 3000 block of Pine Tree Lane in Shakopee. The incident is being investigated by The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Posted by lock0186 at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This month in Hawaii, a bill was passed in the State House that would allow same sex marriage. On Tuesday, the Senate will vote on whether or not to allow same sex unions in Hawaii. According to the New York Times, the two chambers of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats. Religious groups have been placing ads and have made websites in an attempt to persuade voters against passing this bill. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Hawaii was the first state to “defense of marriage” constitutional amendment a decade ago. They would be the 5th state to legalize gay unions if it passes. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, has not commented on whether or not she will veto the bill. the "defense of marriage" of amendment banned marriage but did not rule of gay unions. The House Judiciary Committee passed the proposition by a 12-0 vote

Posted by lock0186 at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the article about a plane crash near Buffalo the reporter organized the information with the newest information in the lead. The newest piece of information for the incident was that the plane was on autopilot when the plane when down near Buffalo during icy conditions, even though it is against the airlines polices and federal guidelines. The reporter still summarizes the important events further down in the story towards the end of the story when he refreshes the readers memory with a statement about the plane crashing into a house. It is effective because the most important information may be a clue as to why the plane crash; the fact that it was on autopilot If the lead or first paragraph were to explain the crash, it wouldn't be effective because the reader would assume that is what the story is about. It could have been done a little differently by refreshing the audiences memory on the incident sooner than the last paragraphs. This would be effective for someone who didn't read the story the first time around that way they would understand why having the plane on autopilot was bad.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Venezuelans voted to uplift the limits on the number of terms for an elected official, which will allow President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election.
The President of Venezuela told BBC News that he needs to stay in power in order to secure that Venezuela becomes a socialist state.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez told BBC News that the election campaign was unequal and abusive. The president was limited to two-six year terms before the removal of that restriction.
According to the Star Tribune Chavez vowed to stay in power for at least another decade. While addressing a crowd outside of Miraflores Palac, Chavez said, “"Those who voted 'yes' today voted for socialism, for revolution." According to National Electoral Council chief Tibisay Lucena, with 94 percent of the vote counted, 54 percent had voted for the amendment. Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to told BBC that the election campaign was unequal and abusive. Supporters told AP that Chavez given the poor food, health care, and free education.
Under the old amendment Chavez would have been barred from the 2012 election. Voters rejected amendment in Dec. 2007

Posted by lock0186 at 4:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Police told the Pioneer Press that a 33 year-old man was apparently struck by a train on Saturday in St. Paul. A railroad woker traveling on the other side of the tracks noticed the man laying on the tracks and notified reporters around 11 p.m. Police told Pioneer Press it is not known when the man was struck.
St. Paul police spokesman Peter Panos told the Star Tribune that about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, a Union Pacific train operator reported seeing a man's body on the a set a tracks next to him. According to the Star Tribune he was struck by the train as well.
The victim appeared to be in his 30s and has not been identified. Panos told the Star Tribune that it doesn't look like he was hit by a train and knocked onto the other set of tracks, and that he was already on the tracks.

Posted by lock0186 at 4:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An investigator told the Star Tribune Sunday, that the plane that crashed near Buffalo was on autopilot, which violated the airlines policy as well as a federal safety guideline for flying in icy weather conditions. The plane onto a house Thursday night, killing all 49 people on board and one person who was on the ground. Investigators who examined the engines found them to be working correctly at the time the plane crashed. According to the Pioneer Press, the crew on the plane reported ice build-up on the wings and windshield. Pioneer Press reports that the plane requested for decent to avoid haze.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seven out of 10 people applying for jobless benefits in the state, 68.3 percent, were men, according to U.S. Labor Department figures from 2008. According to the Star Tribune, around the U.S. 59% of people filing for unemployment benefits are men. Some of the companies that have laid off workers around Minnesota include 3M Co., Andersen Corp.,Imation, Ecolab and Pentair. According to Hank Cox, spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturing, three-quarters of the people in factories around the nation are men and women tend to choose different career paths. Being out of work is so bad for some though. The Pioneer Press interviewed mnay Minnesotan's who said their layoff allowed them more time to do the things they want to do. Alex Swain for example, Swain makes himself do some of his hobbies such as, playing music, painting and hiking instead of sulking.

Posted by lock0186 at 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Facebook group of more than 5,000 men and women that call itself the Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women were blamed for a bar attack in Mangalore last month.
The group will give Sri Ram Sena (Army of Lord Ram) pink underwear on Valentines Day to retaliate the bar attack and . The plan is alsp for women to go to pubs on Valentine's Day and buy a drink. The Ram Sena's head, Pramod Mutalik, does not believe that it is acceptable for women to drink in bars.
According to the New York Times the attacks were at Amnesia: The Lounge by Hindu extremists.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Facebook group of more than 5,000 men and women that call itself the Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women were blamed for a bar attack in Mangalore last month.
The group will give Sri Ram Sena (Army of Lord Ram) pink underwear on Valentines Day to retaliate the bar attack and . The plan is alsp for women to go to pubs on Valentine's Day and buy a drink. The Ram Sena's head, Pramod Mutalik, does not believe that it is acceptable for women to drink in bars.
According to the New York Times the attacks were at Amnesia: The Lounge by Hindu extremists.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the story about the wild fires in Australia reported by BBC News, there are seven sources used. They include Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, firefighters, officials, a Whittlesea resident, an unnamed woman, and the Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, and residents. The two sources not named are a woman who describes seeing victims of the fires, and the officials who believe the fires may have been started on purpose. The sources are scattered throughout the story. The information is from people, but there is also recorded of past fires and reported deaths that is posted, but the source is not listed. The fact that the officials are not named, makes the comment about the deliberate starting of the fires less valid because the reader doesn't know what kind of officials they are or if they credibility. The attribution is set up in a way that is effective except for one paragraph, "Reuters reported that shocked residents wandered the streets of the hamlet of Whittlesea" where they refer to Reuters for the first time with no prior description or use of this persons full name. When information is gained from another source they let the audience know by setting up the attribution is ways similar to, "Whittlesea resident Sam Gents told the agency he had not heard from his wife Tina and three young children" which lets the reader know that they did not actually speak to Gents.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minneapolis mayor will run for a 3rd term, and has kicked off his re-election campaign. According to the Pioneer Press, Rybak will continue to work on reducing crime. He proposed the Opportunity Agenda in which he wants to improve public safety, make more jobs, help business and improve transportation and education.
Rybak started out his re=election campaign with a rally of 150 supporters at Riverview theater. According to the Star Tribune, Rybak told his supporters, "I can't wait for the next four years, I can't wait to see what this city will do in these tough times." In an earlier interview with the Star Tribune he said that he was unsure whether or not he would serve a full term. His competition Bob Miller pledge to serve a full term. He begins his re-election bid with a ampaign treasury of $9,200

Posted by lock0186 at 5:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Westchester county has started a program that will take excess cooking oil from restaurants and use it to run vehicles. There are currently seven vehicles that run on the cooking oil and 125 cars that run on a mixture of oil and diesel fuel. For every 10,000 gallons of cooking oil collected Westchester can save $25,000, Andrew Spano, the county executive told the New York Times. Restaurant owners will be able to save money because they won't have to a hire a disposal company to come and collect the excess oil. According to NBC New York, the county uses a promotion vehicle called the Veggie Van and have converted seven trucks to run on excess cooking oil.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wild fires in Victoria, Australia have already taken the lives of 128 people, and the number of lives lost is said to rise Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told BBC News. An area of 1,200 sq miles has been affected by the wild fires. According to BBC, officials believe that some of the fires may have been started on purpose. The worst bush fire previous to this was in 1983, and took 75 lives. Australians refer to it as Ash Wednesday.
The New York Times reported that on Saturday at least 14 people were killed in the southern state of Victoria. According to the Times, the bushfire had burnt about 7,500 acres that were mostly national park.

Posted by lock0186 at 4:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 41 year-old man was arrested for suspicion of groping over 10 women on the University of Minnesota campus starting around Dec. 9. He was arrested on Tuesday night after a woman reported being groped near the McNamara Alumni Center. Lt. Nancy Dunlap, head of the Minneapolis Police Department's sex crime unit told the Star Tribune that he had only a minor criminal record.
According to the Minnesota Daily, Phillip W. Acosta, 41, was charged two counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Dunlap told the Daily that he confessed to to 10 offenses.
The night that a woman reported being groped near McNamara, police found out after arresting Acosta, that there had been another offense near Moos Tower. The two woman that reported being groped that night identified him as the attacker.

Posted by lock0186 at 4:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This lead from an article on Jan. 31 from the Star Tribune:
"The three men who gunned down Jeffery Lamont Logan during a botched robbery in St. Paul early Saturday could have just asked for the money."

This lead includes who, what, where, when, why and how. The who is Jeffery Logan, the what is that a man was gunned down by three men. The where is in St. Paul and the when was Saturday. The lead explains the why by stating that Logan was shot during a "botched robbery", and how Logan was killed is explained in the lead; he was gunned down.

The lead is very detailed, but not too detailed with information such as time, which can be added later on in the story. The lead is not a completely straightforward hard-news lead because of the last part of the sentence in the lead, "could have just asked for the money". The reporter chose this approach as a way to tell all of the facts but the comment that the three man could have just asked for the money leads to a story about Logan's personality.

This leads to comments from his brother that he would have given the money to them out of the kindness of his heart, and that they didn't even need to rob him. The fact that the lead states that robbers could just ask for money catches the readers attention. It makes the reader wonder why the robber's didn't just ask for the money in the first place.

Posted by lock0186 at 4:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(CNN) Phelps apologized in a statement on Sunday for a picture of him smoking a marijuana pipe that was printed in a British tabloid newspaper. "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," he said in his statement. The U.S. Olympic Committee stated publicly that they are disappointed in his behavior. Phelps was also arrested in 2004 for driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty and issued an apology at that time as well.
The Star Tribune reported that the newspaper did not claim that Phelps was smoking pot, but they stated that water pipes are generally used for spoking marijuana. Phelps did not make promotional appearances at the Super Bowl as planned, even though he was in Tampa, Fla., the week of the game.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Norman W. Berry was charged with drug possession and second-degree assault. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Norman was said to have resigned from the St. Paul police department in 1993 after Hmong teen during a New Year celebration. $3,200 worth of marijuana was taken from his house by Courtney Bivens, according to the court documents. Bivens told police he heard of the robbery on Nov. 28 but denied breaking into Berry's house.
On Dec. 3, he slashed Bivens on the arm with a knife, according to the complaint. Berry told Bivens he would kill him if he did not get in his vehicle. Police searched Berry's house on Dec. 11 and found marijuana and the the remains of a grow operation.
According to the Pioneer Press, Berry is under arrest in Stockton, Calif.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeffery Logan was fatally shot near the American Legion's Attucks-Brooks Post in St Paul on Saturday. According to the Star Tribune Logan was leaving the club around 1 a.m. three were said to be targeting Logan's cousin, when he stepped in to protect his cousin, and was then shot. Witnesses were able to describe the vehicle which lead to the arrest of the three men.
The Pioneer Press reports that Logan was found behind the club by police and was then taken to St. Paul's Regions Hospital where he was pronounced dead. There was a short chase for the three suspects. They were caught after hitting a planter at Laurel Avenue and St. Albans Street.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to The New York Times Iceland now has a new prime minister. Johanna Sigurdardottir is the first woman prime minister for Iceland. She is also said to be the first openly gay head of a government. She is taking over after the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde. According to the Times, Iceland is the first country to change its government because of the global finincial crisis. Before becoming prime minister of Iceland she was a union organizer for the airline that is now Icelandair.
BBCNews considers the naming of Sigurdardottir as prime minister to be a gay milestone. The article concludes that she is the first head of a government not to conceal the fact that they are gay. The financial crisis in Iceland is not mentioned. According to Juris Lavrikovs of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, there is a divide between eartern and western Europe when it comes to tolerance for homosexuality.
Leaders such as Roger Karoutchi of France have recently openly admitted to being homosexual after hiding it from the public and although the Spanish Socialist Party supports gay rights, there are no gay members in the government.

Posted by lock0186 at 2:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)