Story Idea

WHO: Interview:-
- students who attend mass, find out why they like this church and what it has to offer them
- members of Alpha O, since they are already involved and know the ins and outs of participating in events
- Jenny, Youth Minister, who organizes events, and oversees AO
- Father Jose, who conducts Mass and also takes part in the events
- Student Leaders, who brainstorm the events and organize AO


WHAT:
- Alpha Omega: Beginning and End
- A place where college students practicing the Catholic faith go to hang out, strengthen their faith, meet other Catholics, socialize, and wine and dine together.
- Jonah’s Wail, Praise and Worship, Karaoke Nights, miniature golf, movie nights, holiday get-togethers.
-


WHERE:
- Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM), 10th and San Carlos Street


WHY:
- Make students aware of CCM and Alpha Omega.
- Let students know where they can go for Mass, take part in community service activities, meet other students who are Catholic, socialize at events and find community. Also, CCM works with other parishes and other religious groups combines events with these organizations


WHEN:
- Alpha O meets Thursday Nights at 8pm
- Sunday Mass at CCM is at 12pm and 7pm


HOW:
- Get involved by stopping by the CCM office located next to the Church on 10th and San Carlos, located next to San Carlos Pizza
- Attend mass and talk to the students and the Youth Advisor and Priest and get a newsletter of the events going on.
- Go to AO on Thursday Nights

Pipe Fitter/ Car Accident

Delayed Pipe:


While installing new pipes, an employee of Gross Engineers accidentally touched a power line carrying 15,000 volts with a piece of angle iron and suffered third-degree.

Immediate pipe:

A pipe fitter employee of Gross Engineers was listed in serious condition at Springfield Hospital, Wednesday, after accidentally touching a power line carrying 15,000 volts with a piece of angle iron.


Delayed car:

Driving south less than a mile north of Blue Ridge Road, James W. Cunning, 20, was suddenly hit by Wayne Clay’s car when it crossed the center line 11:45 a.m. Thursday.

Immediate car:

Springfield resident, James W. Cunning, is in satisfactory condition at the Springfield Hospital after being involved in a car accident Thursday, less than a mile north of Blue Ridge Road.

Fairytale

Three children return home via flying golden ship after willingly leaving with a young boy, dressed in Robin Hood Attire, who entered the Darling’s house looking for his shadow, held by the eldest child.

Young girl who loves to tell stories of a boy who doesn’t want to grow up, along with mending his shadow, willingly flew to the second start to the right, straight on till morning to Never Never Land with her two younger brothers in tow, leaving the family’s nanny dog behind, late Saturday night.

AP Style

4 Weird AP Style Rules

#1

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
--two different forms of "and" (word and symbol) in the same name.

#2

habeas corpus
--must define this word when it is used in a story.
--not capitalized.

#3

ATM
--should be spelled out at some point in the story.
-- do not use "redundant" ATM machine.

#4

music
--the names of instruments are capitalized only in certain situations.
--the words "symphony" and "concerto" also may not be capitalized depending on context.

News Story #2, HW

Striking Hollywood writers to vote on contract, end to walkout
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 02/10/2008 01:55:17 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Writers Guild of America moved swiftly Sunday toward a resolution of its 3-month-old strike, with guild leaders deciding to recommend the contract to members and ask them to vote on a quick end to the walkout.
By asking writers to vote separately on ending the strike and accepting the contract, the union cleared the way for the entertainment industry to return to work almost immediately.
Membership meetings will be conducted Tuesday in New York and Los Angeles to allow writers to decide whether the strike should be called off, said Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West.
"This the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years," Verrone said.
The tentative contract secures writers a share of the burgeoning digital-media market, he said, including compensation for Internet-delivered TV shows and movies.
"If they (producers) get paid, we get paid. This contract makes that a reality," Verrone said. But, he added, "it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved."
Still, the union's negotiating committee recommended Saturday that the contract be accepted, and the West guild's board of directors and the East guild's council agreed. They called for a membership ratification vote, which will be conducted by mail over about two weeks.
Show runners - industry lingo for the executive producers in charge of a TV series - are expected to be back at work Monday, preparing for the return of writers as soon as Wednesday, industry members said.
Although show runners are also guild members, they are allowed to work as long as they focus only on producer-related tasks.
Member approval of the contract and the strike's end appeared likely. At heavily attended membership meetings Saturday in New York and Los Angeles, there was resounding support for the proposed deal that could put TV and movie production back on track, salvage the rest of the TV season and remove a boycott threat from this month's Oscars.
The strike shut down production of TV comedies and dramas and disrupted moviemaking and Hollywood's glamorous awards season.
Verrone thanked television viewers who "tolerated three months of reruns and reality TV."
The guild's major bargaining concession to studios was agreeing to take unionization of animation and reality TV shows off the table, Verrone said. The guild has said it still intends to pursue those goals.
Negotiating committee chairman John Bowman said a turning point in negotiations was last month's Golden Globes, when its star-studded ceremony was scrapped after actors refused to cross writers' picket lines.
The Globes showed the strength of the writers' resolve and solidarity, Bowman said.
The threat of a similar fate for this month's Academy Awards also was a powerful bargaining chip, said chief negotiator David Young.
"It was going to be a huge thing for the industry to lose the Oscars," Young said. The Feb. 24 ceremony now appears likely to proceed in its full glory and with writers on board to script host and presenter banter.
Academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger said Saturday that Oscar organizers were hopeful but that writing on the ceremony could not begin until the strike was over.
--
AP Movie Writer David Germain contributed to this report.


Who: Writers Guild of America

What: Moved towards a resolution and new contract, ending the 3-month long strike

When: Sunday

Why: To allow the entertainment industry to continue with work

Where: Los Angeles

News Story #1, HW

California Supreme Court sets March date to hear gay marriage debate
By Howard Mintz
Mercury News
Article Launched: 02/06/2008 11:07:20 AM PST

The California Supreme Court has set arguments in the legal fight over gay marriage for March 4, assuring that a ruling will be issued by June.
The state's high court will hear the legal challenge in San Francisco, where the battle over same-sex marriage first unfolded four years ago when Mayor Gavin Newsom temporarily issued marriage licenses to gay couples.
San Francisco city officials and civil rights groups have challenged California's ban on gay marriage, arguing that it deprives same-sex couples of the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.
A divided state appeals court in 2006 upheld the state ban on same-sex marriage, overturning a San Francisco judge who previously declared it unconstitutional. The state Supreme Court will be reviewing that appeals court ruling.
The justices must rule within 90 days of the arguments.

Contact Howard Mintz at hmintz@mercurynews.com or (408) 286-0236.



WHO: California Supreme Court set arguments

WHAT: Gay marriage marriage rights.

WHEN: Legal arguments take place March 4, ruling will be issued by June.

WHERE: San Francisco, where the battle first began when Mayor Gavin Newsom issued marriage licenses to gay couples that were temporary.

HOW: San Francisco City officials and civil rights groups challenge California's decision to ban gay marriage.

MORE: The justices will rule within 90 days of the arguments.

Smoking Wheels/ Missing Boy

Smoking Wheels:

Forty passengers were evacuated from a Northwest Airlines Jet, Flight 428 at the LaCrosse, Wis., Municipal Airport, Wednesday.

The flight, which was following another flight out of Minneapolis, noted to have smoke near the wheels.

Missing Boy:

A seven year old boy, who has been missing for three years, was found in Brick Township, N.J., Monday night.

A neighbor called the police after recognizing the boy's photo when it aired after the movie Adam: The Song Continues leading to the arrest of the boy's mother, Ellen Lynn Conner, age 27, who is charged with kidnapping and interference with a custody warrant.

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase, actor and comedian, who is alumni of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., was appointed to their Board of Trustees yesterday.



Fifteen dead and 175 injured in the worst accident in Amtrak history when the Colonial collided with three Conrail locomotives on a switch that merges four tracks into two at Near Chase, Md. yesterday at 1:30pm., when the Conrail apparently ran a stop sign, said Larry Chase, Amtrak Spokesman.

Air Crash

One-hundred and thirty-one passengers were killed in the worst disaster in three years, when an airplane crashed as it prepared to land outside Pittsburg, yesterday.