April 2010 Archives

Three years worth of data and research had to have gone into "Little done to deter violations of Clean Air Act," article.

The journalgazzette.net found that very little improvements have been made in Indiana in over 200 facilities to stop polluting air.

The problems have been ongoing since 2007 which means the report had to have looked a numerous past records and logs in order to see the steps taken by the government.

The analyst found that 210 of the 1.206 facilities violation the Clean Air Act at least once in the past three years. And two-thirds have violated the act since last December. This involved the reporter crunching some numbers as well.

The reporter had to do a great deal of background checking with the copious amount of facilities that broke the act. The reporter had to keep an eye out for violations and broken codes the facilities breeched.

Checking up on the policies and standards for the Environmental Protection Agency was also necessary for the report to know. As well as the background of the Clean Air Act.

The reporter must have been familiar with the databases of many facilities as well as knowledge on where to locate accurate information about the background to the reporting. Being able to find a trust worthy Web site to gather basic information is crucial to the basis of the reporting for this article.

An Iran television station announced on Sunday it fired locally-made missiles, Fox News said.

The five missiles fired were ground-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles in the Persian Gulf, CNN said.

High-speed boat activities were also used on Sunday in waging a war against a warship, CNN said.

The exercise were meant to show Iran's military strength, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guard told the media, CNN said.

The war games began Thursday, begun by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, causes tension in the region, Fox News said.

CNN said the U.S. Military will be closely watching Iran's Missile development.

A 42,000-gallon-a-day oil leak is polluting the Gulf Of Mexico, and efforts to try and stop it are continuing, ABC News said.

Oil was discovered leaking from drilling of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on Saturday. The rig exploded on Tuesday after drilling in a well, ABC News said.

Fresh oil was leaking from two places, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry. But the clean up was pushed back due to high seas on Saturday, CNN said.

In order to compensate, authorities told CNN they approved a plan that uses submersible remote-operated vehicles in an effort to activate a "blowout preventer" on the sea floor.

"A blowout preventer is a large valve at the top of a well. Activating it will stop the flow of oil," a Coast Guard member told CNN.

Officials told CNN about 1,143 barrels, or 48,000 gallons, of oily water have been collected. However, the spill may take months to clean up.

A deadly tornado hit central Mississippi over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, injuring more and ruining hundreds of houses, CNN said

The tornado was almost a mile wide and affected 12 counties, CNN said. Of the hardest hit were Yazoo and Choctaw.

The tornado had 160 mph winds and covered around 50 miles, MSNBC said.

Gov. Haley Barbour told MSNBC, "The tornado was enormous." Barbour grew up in Yazoo County.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency deployed 80 Mississippi National Guard troops, including 50 military police in Choctaw County, CNN said.

Five of the deaths occurred in Choctaw Country, which included a baby and two children, CNN said.

A Minneapolis man was attacked by two pit bulls on Friday, Fox 9 News said.

Eugene Dickerson said he was walking along 1600 block of Morgan Avenue North in Minneapolis when he passed by the two pit bulls, WCCO said.

The two pit bulls were in a neighbors front yard when one bit through its leash. The dogs attacked Dickerson, Fox News said.

Dickerson said he tried to ward off the dogs with his cane but he fell to the ground. One of the dogs took a large bite out of his leg, WCCO said.

The owners told Fox 9 News Dickerson must have provoked the dogs."If you are waving a cane and actually hit a dog, I probably would have bitten him too," Shalisa Jones.

The police brought the dogs to the Minneapolis Animal Care and Control Shelter and will most likely be put down, Fox 9 News said.

Six people died in a head-on car crash on Sunday morning near Cambridge, The Star Tribune said.

Four teenagers died in the car with a 16-year-old driver. She had gotten her license less than three weeks ago, KSTP said.

Police said alcohol may have been involved in the car with the 16-year-old driver, The Star Tribune said.

The car collided with an SUV. The two in the SUV died and were not identified by police, KSTP said.

The 16-year-old driver from Isanti, was sent to Hennepin County Medical Center in serious condition, The Star Tribune said.

Police have not determined which vehicle crossed the median to cause the crash. The crash in still under investigation and being reenacted, KSTP said.

The Pope met and sympathized with clerical abuse victims on Sunday, MSNBC said.

He expressed he felt 'shame,' for what they had been through, CNN said, and he hopes the abusers will serve justice.

A victim told CNN, that the meeting was emotional. The pope met with eight men. They came forward earlier this year and said they were abused by Catholic priests when they were children.

The Pope's meeting in Malta, will have marked the first time he had met with the victims of the abuse since the scandal that took place earlier this year, MSNBC said.

The meeting lasted 20 minutes and took place in the chapel of the papal embassy in Malta, CNN said.

The 94% Catholic Malta has been greatly affected by the abuse scandal. One of the men attributed his abuse to the murder he committed of a homosexual man in 1991, CNN said.

Before the meeting, the Pope had previously met with tens of thousands a people to celebrate a mass on Friday. He mentioned nothing to his colleagues about the abuse scandal, MSNBC said.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas told CNN and Fox News that air traffic may be able to go back to 50 percent of normal traffic on Sunday. However, the weather must cooperate.

The Iceland volcano, forced millions of travelers to be stranded after it exploded on Wednesday, Fox News said.

"It is clear that this is not sustainable," Kallas said."We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates," said Fox News.

The British government announced its space will be closed at least another 24 hours, CNN said. While, Fox News reported Germany temporarily allowed some flights to leave in cities such as; Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Erfurt and Leipzig and some from Frankfurt and Hahn airports.

But these airports closed Sunday, Fox News said.

Airlines have lost around $200 million a day according to the International Air Transportation, CNN said. By Sunday that would result in about a $1 billion loss for the EU airline industry.

British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said airlines won't do anything until they know the air is safe to fly. "Urgent discussions are taking place with European and international regulatory agencies. We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern," Adonis told CNN.

Five major airlines vowed not to charge for carry-on luggag, Sen. Charles Schumer told CNN.

American Airlines,Delta Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines and US Airways told Schumer, D-New York, they would not charge, CNN said.

The scare that airlines would charge for carry-ons follows from Spirit Airlines announcing they would charge passengers $45 to store their carry-ons in overhead bins. Fox News said.

Schumer told CNN, "In the last week we have gained tremendous momentum in our effort to keep carry-on bags free. We have begun to put the brakes on runaway and out-of-control airline fees. I am pleased some of the major carriers have responded to our efforts and have agreed not to charge for something that has always been free."

Other senators support legislation, which would tax airlines if they placed a fee for carry-on luggage. The senators include Schumer, New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, Maryland's Ben Cardin, Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, and New Jersey's Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, Fox News said.

The total for U.S carriers in the third quarter was $1.95 billion. This number comes at 36 percent higher than from a year earlier, Fox News said.

Airlines have been struggling with rising prices of oil and cancelations from this past winters snow storms, Fox News said.

Analysts say they expect for airlines to gain some money back with summer travel, Fox News said.

The name of the injured officer in Thursday's fatal shooting was released on Saturday, the Star Tribune said.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released the name of the officer as Sgt. Omar Maklad, 27, KSTP said.

Maklad was treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul for serious, but not life-threatening injuries, the Star Tribune said.

According to the release, Maklad responded to a domestic disturbance on Thursday night. The call involved a male who was pushing his wife. Maklad exited his car and was shot by the owner of the house, Timoth Scott Hanson, 55, KSTP said.

Maklad has worked with the department since 2001. He spent two years as a community service officer before becoming a full-time office, the Star Tribune said.

A couple is dead in Columbia Heights after a suspected murder-suicide on Saturday, Kare 11 said.

The married couple died in the parking lot of Asia Chow Mein Restaurant, Kare 11 said. The incident was believed to have occurred around 10:30 am, when gunshots were heard by an officer who was a few blocks away.

A relative told police the woman had planned to leave the man. Police beleive the man shot his wife and proceeded to shoot himself, the Star Tribune said.

A gun was found by the man's body and near the woman's body was a cat, the Star Tribune said. The cat is being taken care of.

The car seems to be parked in a hurriedly manner and the door was still open when police arrived. The car, with the initials of the couple on the license plate, was registered to the married couple, the Star Tribune said.

The couple lived only a few blocks away from the murder scene, Kare 11 said.

Public records show the couple's names were, Jozef Franz Tomasovic, 66, and his wife, Natalia Jurjevna Tomasovic, 55, the Star Tribune said.

There is no apparent connection between the restaurant and the couple, Kare 11 said.

I talked to Andy, a Muslim, about stereotypes of Muslims, through a Fox News article. Andy was a Christian and converted last year to the Muslim religion. His family is not Muslim. He lives on West Bank.

The article was actually about combating stereotypes. The action of the story was based off of Sen. Joe Lieberman calling the Obama administration offensive when using terms such as "Islamic Extremist."

The article quoted Lieberman saying:
"This is not honest and, frankly, I think it's hurtful in our relations with the Muslim world," Lieberman said. "We're not in a war against Islam. It's a group of Islamist extremists who have taken the Muslim religion and made it into a political ideology, and I think if we're not clear about that, we disrespect the overwhelming majority of Muslims who are not extremists."

Andy believed the article was justifying. He does believe the term 'Islamic Extemist,' is quite offensive. And it is not a fair representation of the Muslim community or of Islam.
"People always notice the radicals in situations like this," he said. "It ruins it for the rest of the group because people just assume that's what everyone of that group must be like."

The article does go beyond the stereotype only because of the content that was written about. Otherwise Andy and I both thought it was simply just reporting and taking an un-biased view of the situation.

Although the reporter doesn't combat stereotypes in the article, the reporter also doesn't make the stereotype worse in any matter.

The fact that the story is about Joe Lieberman disagreeing with stereotype terms is enough for the story to go beyond the stereotype. Andy and I both thought the report uses quotes from Joe Lieberman and simply reporting to combat the stereotype.

Poles paid tribute to President Lech Kaczynski on Sunday afternoon, after his body arrived in Poland, CNN said.

The casket was carried by soldiers in a ceremony for Kaczynski. Kacyznski's twin brother and daughter joined Poles to mourn his death, CNN said. Catholic priests said prayers before Kaczynski's family knelt by the casket.

A two minute-long silence was observed by ten of thousands of Poles for the president and the 95 others who were killed in the plane crash, Fox said.

A two minute silence was also held by President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. He also declared Monday a day of mourning, Fox said.

The plane crashed in central Warsaw and many people laid wreaths and candles to mourn Kacyznski. On Sunday, around 100,000 people came to mourn, CNN said.

A date for Kacyznski's funeral has not been set, Fox said.

Eden Prairie's Web site was hacked on Sunday, The Star Tribune said.

Students who entered the site saw; a video, a picture of a Turkish flag and a handgun, KSTP said.

The words; "This was hacked by a silent assailant," were on the web page, said KSTP.

"Then it said something in Turkish," student Paul Rairamo told KSTP. "It was followed by some strong language, then the word 'Israel.'"

The schools Web site will remain shut down until the problem is solved. The school is among the 100 Web sites that have been hacked world-wide, KSTP said.

A woman was rear-ended by a train Sunday afternoon in Wadena, The Star Tribune said.

The 28-year old woman was driving alone when she was struck from behind. The crew of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe did put on the breaks and sounded the alram, however it still hit the car, WCCO said.

The woman was not seriously hurt after being taken out of her car by firefighters. The woman was sent to the hospital and was later released, The Star Tribune says.

The search for 12-year-old Kayleah Wilson of Colorado continued this weekend, CBS said.

Over a hundred community members of Greeley Colo., set out to search for Kayleah on Sunday, CBS said.

Kayleah has been missing since March 28. She was last seen walking to a birthday party, ABC said.

"As it is at the moment, we don't have any clear direction where she went, or who she went with," police told ABC. "Right now we are just eliminating areas where she is not."

Police have received over 300 leads, CBS said.

The FBI announced a $10,000 reward would be given to anyone who has information of the whereabouts of Kayleah Wilson, CBS said.

An elephant stomped and killed its trainer on Friday at a circus in Pennsylvania, CNN sad.

Andrew Anderton, 48, died after being stomped on at the Irem Shrine in Wilkes-Barre, the Associated Press said.

The elephant had touched an electrical wire, but the cause of why the elephant was startled is still unclear, CNN said.

The incident is now under investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Associated Press said.

"In the 30 years I've been doing my vending, I've never heard an animal killing their trainer and all," Ed Conrad, a ballon vendor at the circus, told a CNN affiliate. "So something must have happened."

The circus workers observed a moment of silence for the trainer and the show went on.

CNN's story concerning the economy crunches numbers in an understandable and comprehensible way.

For the most part the reporter does not bring up specific numbers, but rather uses 'increase,' or 'decrease,' to explain the situation.

The reporter uses numbers to illustrate the employment for the U.S. economy. "162,000 news jobs created in March but the unemployment rate remaining at 9.7 percent," CNN said.

The numbers are not hard to understand. When using numbers in an article, only two numbers are alloted per paragraph. The reporter does a good job of doing so.

A little more usage of numbers would have made the story more effective. When 'increase,' and 'decrease,' are used, the reader wonders: "by how much?" If this answer could be satisfied the article could have made more of an impact.

The sources are listed within the article. However, the specifics on who said what numbers was not made clear in the article. All other information in the article is clear and evident where the information came from.

Other information the reported used, was taken straight from what chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Cristina Romer had said in a previous interview.

A gunman killed four and injured two after walking into a LA restaurant on Saturday, ABC said.

The attack occurred at the Hot Spot Mediterranean Cafe around 4:40 p.m. Three men were pronounced dead at the scene and after being rushed to a hospital died of wounds, FOX News said.

Authorities are continuing to look for the gunman, ABC News said. The victims appear to be targets and their identities revealed.

The victims; Harut Baburyan, 28; Sarkis Karadjian, 26; Vardan Tofalyan, 31; and Hayk Yegnanyan, 25 were identified by police, ABC said. The police would not reveal any more information.

The two others who were injured were not identified, ABC said.

"It's a very complex investigation that we are involved in right now," LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese told Fox, Saturday night. "Anytime we have a shooting at an eatery in broad daylight, we all need to be concerned."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed to the dried up Aral Sea as one on the most shocking disasters of the planet on Sunday, the New York Times said.

The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest lake, and is now shrunk by almost 30 percent due to a Soviet Project that diverted the rivers that fed the Aral Sea to a cotton boost project, CBS said.

Ban visited the sea by helicopters and described the desolate area. "On the pier, I wasn't seeing anything, I could see only a graveyard of ships," CBS said Ban said after visiting Muynak, Uzbekistan, a town once on the shore .

Since the sea has dried up, layers of highly salted sand have been left for winds to carry to places such as Scandinavia and Japan. This salty sand caused health problems for the locals. The Times said.

The fishing economy has also been affected by the evaporation, The Times said.

On his six-day trip Ban proved to be very concerned with the evaporation of the Aral Sea. Ban's visit includes five countries of former Soviet Central Asia, CBS said.

Ban is calling on the countries' leaders to set aside rivalries to cooperate on repairing some of the damage, The Times said.

Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court has said he will soon decide if he will retire, MSNBC said.

Stevens had told a CNN reporter he would decide whether he would retire in about a month- that was March 8. Stevens would be stepping down after 35 years of service, CNN said.

When Stevens retires, President Obama will be able to leave his mark on the court again. Obama named Sonia Sotomayor to the court last summer, CNN said.

His birthday 90th birthday is on April 20. Stevens will be the oldest and longest-serving justice on the court if he chooses to stay past this term, MSNBC said.

However, MSNBC reports Justice Stevens as the least recognized court members. Only 1 percent of Americans could name him.

In an interview Stevens said it would be take much contemplation to leave the job. "I can tell you that I love the job and deciding whether to leave it is a very difficult decision," MSNBC said. "I want to make it in a way that's best for the court."

It is likely another Democrat will replace Stevens, CNN said. The court normally consists of five conservatives and four liberals.

St. Paul police shot and killed two pit bulls on Sunday evening after the dogs bit two people, the Star Tribune said.

The incident occurred on the 200 block of Stinson Blvd, the Star Tribune said, just before 7p.m. when the dogs were running at large.

Both victims were bit. One victim suffered multiple bites to the foot and taken to Regents Hospital. The other victim had a less serious bite on the leg, http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=847514 said.

The officers were not able to control the pit bulls, forcing them to shoot the animals, Kare 11 said. The officers were concerned for the other people outside.

The owners were notified and the dogs were turned over to animal control, Kare 11 said.

Neighbors say the dogs have been seen running around before the incident, Kare 11 said.

Two men are still hospitalized and are in satisfactory condition after a plane crash, a hospital spokeswoman said, Kare 11 said.

The pilot of the plane, 56-year-old Alvin Bipes has a broken arm. Passenger Timothy Jacobsen, 58, has a cracked vertebra. Both have laceration and bruises, Hennepin County Medical Center spokeswoman Christine Hill told the Star Tribune.

The twin plane crashed into three feet of water on Thursday, south of Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Kare 11 said.

The plane crashed just after taking off from Flying Cloud Airport. Bipes and Jacobsen were headed toward New Richardson, Wisconsin, when they lost power, Kare 11 said.

Reports of the crash came around 2:40 pm. Crews reached the plane and loaded Bipes and Jacobsen onto backboards where they were put into an ambulances. Bipes and Jacobsen were conscious when they were transported to Hennepin County Medical Care Center.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, the Star Tribune said.