Feature Story

A lot can change in a short amount of time. Stephanie Boettcher was a perfect example of this; as I look back on my best friends life and the struggles she’s overcome, I knew I wanted to share her story.

Stephanie Boettcher grew up in Lindstrom, MN. Stephanie was the younger of two girls and lived with her parents in a suburban neighborhood. Stephanie was always very close with her father, more than any other member of her family Her sister was away at school in North Dakota and it always seemed as though her mother was to busy with work to focus on much else.

After graduating high school with honors, she started to notice a void growing between her parents. At first it didn’t seem to bother her that much but months went by and her parents feud continued to cause the family to drift apart. This is when Stephanie decided she needed to get away for a while and live her own life; so she packed up her belongings and moved to California to further her education as an interior designer.

The first quarter in California seemed to be just what Stephanie needed, she was making friends, having fun, and most of all staying out of the family drama. A few weeks later Stephanie received a phone call from her dad, the beginning of the conversation was much like it usually was; he asked her how she was doing and if she was enjoying her time in the warm weather. Even though the conversation seemed normal, Steph could tell something was wrong; after a few minutes her dad finally told her what was going on. He went on to describe that he and her mother’s relationship was over, and he would soon be moving out.

The next few weeks were somewhat of a blur for her; she spent most of her time alone in her apartment. Her roommates couldn’t stand to see her so upset all the time, so they finally were able to convince her to go out and try to have a little fun. Her innocent fun quickly turned to dangerous lifestyle. Soon Stephanie was going out every night and drinking until she was blatantly intoxicated. She soon realized that alcohol was no longer filling the void so she looked for another way to cover up her pain. Even though she was never into drugs, marijuana was common among her new friends, and soon became her newest crutch. Steph was smoking and drinking almost everyday. Her schoolwork began to become last on her priority list and her grades were a direct correlation of this. Because Steph was failing most of her classes, the school took matters into their own hands. Steph would soon be kicked out of her student apartment and have nowhere to go. She turned to her parents for money, but when they refused to send more funds for housing, Steph was forced to move back to Minnesota.

Being back home in Minnesota was a big change from the past year in California; she went from her fast paced life to feeling trapped in her mother’s house with no one to turn to and nothing to do. Stephanie’s best friends from home new this behavior was completely out of the ordinary for her. They knew she needed their help to pull her out of this funk. A few days later Steph agreed to go to a bonfire with her friends where she happened to be introduced to someone who would have a much greater impact on her life than she would have ever expected.

Tim was a fun loving guy who had quite the past of his own, something steph felt she could relate too. When they first started talking she felt Tim had a strange understanding of her something she hadn’t had in quite sometime and having that was very refreshing. Soon they became close friends, Tim took Stephanie on hikes through the woods, (which was something she loved to do, but had lost interest until this) helping her to look at things in a new light. Tim however had always been very into nature and the natural ways of life. Stephanie was intrigued to this way of life, but soon because very interested in it. Tim was beginning to open steph up to a whole new way of life.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to Stephanie Boettcher if Tim wouldn’t of been there, I know he feels he didn’t really have much to do with this success story but he was her guardian angel to the rest of us. Stephanie was in a tough situation where wrong decisions were made, which I’m sure most people could relate too. Never give up on the people you care about no matter how difficult it may be, in the end it might save their life.

And the Survey Says

Survey taken by Chisago County High school students grades 9th-12th show both good and bad news. In past years Chisago County was ranked as number 3 county in the nation for meth use/labs. It is now said that almost no students have ever used or tried meth. The new concerns among school officials is the growing problem of alcohol consumption and illegal prescription drug use. The survey states that almost 40% of high school seniors have binge drank within the last month, and another 8% has said they have NEVER drank before! This means 92% of the High school students have drank at least once!

One measure being taken is a plan to put a stop to underage drinking. Social Host Ordinance will hopefully soon be put into the works to prosecute parents or people over 21 for hosting underage drinking parties at their homes.

We hope to see these outrageous numbers go down soon with this new plan in progress.

Sperr acquitted of aiding and abetting charges

Shane Sperr was charged with aiding two uncles in the kidnapping of their 25 year old nephew and allegedly beating him unconscious over a period of hours. A 12 person jury acquitted Sperr on four counts connected to the "uncle kidnapping." The jury only deliberated for a few hours after a three day trial. Sperr was not found guilty in the aiding and abetting in the assault and false imprisonment of a young man; who originally told authorities he was the victim of a trap set to do him harm. When it came time for Shawn Dougherty to testify he told the jury he lied about the whole thing.

http://www.chisagocountypress/main.asp

Student Poll

I conducted a poll that involved fifteen students all between the ages of 18- 22. This poll was based on question about drugs and drug use. I asked a total of seven questions one of which involved a sentence answer. The first question was, What do you think the average age is when a person first tries any type of drug? There were three possible answers, A) 10-12 B) 12-15 C) 15- +. Twelve of the participants answered with B, three people said A, and no one answered with C. So looking at these answers you can see that these students who answered the survey believe that people are first introduced to drugs at a very young age. This can be both good and bad depending on the person, if you are a younger child experimenting; then they may just try a certain type of illegal drug and that will be the end of it. However, if you are a preteen that tries a certain type of drug not just to try it but to get a reaction from it you may have a greater chance of turning this into a habit.
The second question I asked was, Do you think your family upbringing has something to do with children using drugs? There were only two possible answers for this, either yes or no, 11 students answered with yes and the other four answered with no. I could see this going both ways, children going up in a home with not many rules about right from wrong, or homes that don’t discourage against drug use may give these children the wrong impression; thinking that drugs are okay and that they won’t affect their life. On the other hand a child can grow up in a fun loving, caring, relaxed setting and not want have any influence to try drugs, or they could completely become and addict. A lot depends on a persons’ personality and priorities.
The third question I asked, Was do you consider alcohol a drug? This question was just about split right down the middle which seemed surprising to me. Eight students answered with no and seven answered with yes. I was surprised by this answer because so many people said yes, I was expecting it to be all no’s across the board seeing as how it is such a common part of people’s lives. People always go out for social drinking, and use alcohol as “liquid courage.” Seeing as how this is so common among all classes of people, I wouldn’t expect for so many to think it should be illegal or think of it as a drug.
The forth question I asked is, What do you think the most common drug is? A) Meth B) Cocaine and C) Heroin. This answer was pretty well divided, I think because these aren’t the most common drugs; such as marijuana or alcohol. Meth received five votes, cocaine got seven votes and heroin received three votes.
The fifth question was, Which sex is most likely to use? The males received all the votes with this question, this wasn’t too shocking but I still expected the females to get a few votes. I think the reason behind the males accumulating so many more votes is because men are known to be more of risk takers and willing to try more things with dangerous outcome.
The last question asked was, Should any drugs be legalized? If so what ones? Eleven of the students surveyed said yes. Most of these students thought that only marijuana should be legalized, but a few others thought all natural drugs should be legal including mushrooms. The other four said no drugs should be legal.
Looking into this poll you see a lot of obvious answers that I think most people in Minnesota would answer similarly too. This survey was very informative to me to see what students believe and how they view certain drugs.

Steelers QB acquitted of assault charges

A complaint was filed March 5th against Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger for sexual assault on a 20 year old college student. The incident took place in a restroom stall in Capital City nightclub in Georgia. The women went to the hospital and doctors found small laceration and bruising along with male DNA, however this wasn't strong enough evidence to hold Ben. Charges have been dropped.

###

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2010-04-12-ben-roethlisberger-fred-bright_N.htm

Jack's new Album

Jack Johnson

1820 Raleigh Road

Public on sale date: June 1st



Jack Johnson first picked up his guitar at the age of 14 and has being a legendary musician for close to ten years with has 6 albums with a seventh on its way. Jack Johnson is going to performing in Somerset, WI. Presale tickets will be available April 6th and public tickets will be available April 10th.

Jack Johnson grew up in Oahu, Hawaii performs alternative surf music. In his upcoming concert he will be performing a few songs from his old albums like "Banana Pancakes and Upside Down", along with his new album. Jack Johnson is one of four men in the band. You can see many of their performances on youtube or myspace etc.
###

Enterprise Topic

The story I chose to take a deeper look into is the Anoka-Ramsey Nursing Program. I am very familiar with this because both my sister are going into the nursing field. My older sister Kim has applied for the nursing program three years in a row and finally made it her third year, regardless of her perfect scores. My oldest sister Krystal is now taking generals, working towards entering into the program. I will be interviewing Kyla Dropkin, one of the professors and Kara Link and Renee Cocchiarella , two students in the program. I think this will make for an interesting topic for the simple fact I closely know people in it and it is a major reason A.R.C.C. is so populated.

Vatican Offers 3 reasons it's not liable in abuse case

Pope Benedict XVI may be the first Pope to be impeached. Three men from Kentucky are filling a case against the Vatican after claiming to be abused by priests. This is the only case to have ever been filed against the Vatican and could possibly be charged with all sexual offenses in that country.

There is said to be a 1962 Vatican document that mandated the Bishops not to report any activities to the police. There are constantly more and more cases of abuse coming out amongst the churches. This is going to be a very long process in finding justice to all the victims but in the end justice will be served.

###


http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-03-30-catholic-abuse_N.htm

Interview with Deborah Shepherd

Deborah Shepherd is an elaborate character that is very similar to the archeological sights she excavates. Layer by layer we were able to sift through the past times and hobbies of this matchless woman in order to uncover the little details that make this individual truly unique.

Starting at the surface Shepherd revealed the generic details of her daily career. She is an Archeological professor at Anoka Ramsey, and is a doctor in her field claiming that her “special interests lie in early medieval northern European studies, from post-Roman to Viking”. She has lead numerous excavations in the North St. Paul area, and dedicates much of her spare time to helping aspiring archeologists find connections within the archeological profession.

Digging a little deeper into Deborah’s past uncovered the basic foundation that has shaped who Shepherd is today. She grew up on the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio with her mother, father, and older brother Jim. Deborah says that she “remembers as a young child digging holes in ‘her’ back yard with Jim searching for dinosaur bones”. This illustrates her passion for anthropology; when asked if she had ever considered another profession Shepherd exclaims “I also seriously considered being a museum curator, but in the end I was sure that anthropology was the right path for me.”

Although incredibly fascinating to her, Archeology isn’t the only interest Deborah possesses; it is these minor details that truly break down the real Shepherd. In her spare time this professor keeps life pretty simple. She enjoys classical music, and even plays the violin. She offers voice and violin lessons to children in her neighborhood, and has participated in various local orchestras. When she is not playing melodic melodies she can be found cuddling up to a good book with her favorite cup of green tea. Shepherd states that she “enjoys the works of Jane Austen the most, and has re-read Pride and Prejudice ten times.”

Similar to the characters in Pride and Prejudice, Deborah makes her own clothing. She has been doing so for more that 30 years now, and she is quite the seamstress. At one point and time Shepherd reveals that, “Nearly half of what was in ‘her’ closet was made by ‘her’!” This only further demonstrates how highly creative and imaginative this splendid woman truly is. To top it all off Deborah has been working on a novel of her own. It is something she has been working on for a few years now, and when she manages to find the time she claims that she likes to work on it “little by little.”

As you can see, when the small layers are stripped away Deborah Shepherd proves to be a truly remarkable human being. This eclectic woman dabbles in just about everything from the sciences and discoveries of archeology to music, and even fashion. So the next time you are walking down the hall remember that when you dig a little deeper, you might make some pretty interesting discoveries about every one.

###

Buck Hunter Tournament

Talk about starting your day off with a bang! On March 9^th Anoka Ramsey Community College hosted a Big Buck Hunter Tournament from 9am to 2pm in the courtyard commons for any one that wanted to participate.

Big Buck Hunter arcade game is a common element in most mid-western bars and saloons, so most contestants involved have had some sort of familiarity as to how the game is played. However, according to the sign up sheet and those involved this game wasn’t a “big hit.” There were a total of 12 participants after a five-hour event. It was unfortunate that this didn’t have a larger turn out amongst the students; it could have gotten a better outcome if only they had advertised more.

I was able to have a word with Krystal Gravelle age 25 before and after she had her turn in the competition. The first question I asked her was how she heard about this event, she stated, “I first heard about the tourney during one of my classes when I overheard fellow classmates talking about it, and then I saw it on the bulletins around the school and I had to show off my rifle shooting skills.” Krystal came bearing arms in her lucky camo vest, on the 9^th of March, but was very disappointed when she saw that her fellow competitors weren’t taking this as serious as she.

At other events Gravelle has competed in there were judges involved making sure all the rules were followed and that all the kills were legitimate. The rules in this competition were pretty “basic” according to Krystal. There were a total of four rules, including:

1) Each contestant gets one region to hunt in. Each region has four sites.

2) Complete sign in sheet to be eligible for prize.

3) Disqualified if you play twice

4) When starting game choose region hunt- southwest region ONLY

Depending on the organization the rules can be very strict including on how close to the screen you need to stand and your win not only depends on your number of kills but also on your accuracy. While observing this event I noticed some of the players actually touching the gun to the screen while trying to get a kill.

Gravelle was asked how many tournaments she has been involved in, her response, “I have been in far to many to count there are a lot of tournaments held just for the fun of it where I’m from, I have won quite a few as well, so I’m hoping to do pretty well today.”

Many of the contestants complained the guns timing was off and there was a large glare on the screen making it difficult to see what they were aiming at, which drastically affected their scores. Krystal said she was disappointed with the outcome and feels she could have done better.

The winner of the tournament has yet to be decided and will be called when the scores are all received. In order to win the prize, you had to not only get in first place, but you needed to get the most kills, highest accuracy, and best scores during the bonus rounds. There will only be a first place prize given. Gravelle is crossing her fingers in hopes of the best.

###

U.S.: Pennsylvania woman tried to recruit terrorists

Pennsylvania woman is facing a life time in prison and a $1 million in fines after being charged with identity theft, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country.

Colleen LaRose, sometimes going by the alias name, "Jihad Jane" and "Fatima LaRose." Is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. The conspiracy began in June 2008 after posting a comment on YouTube stating she is "desperate to do something somehow to help the Muslims."

LaRose will be held there until a verdict is made.
###

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/09/pennsylvania.terror.indictment/index.html?hpt=T1

When you think of hockey you think of fast skating, entertaining fights and cold arenas. For Joe Schmitz it's so much more than that, it's a way of life.

Joe was born February 15, 1991 and is the oldest of three brothers. Schmitz grew up in Lino Lakes always wanting to be outside or participating in activities. It just so happens that hockey ended up being one of his biggest passions in life. He graduated from Centennial High School last year, where he was the captain of the hockey team. Schmitz now plays in a Junior Hockey League that helps to develop their skills for college hockey. He started out playing for the Musketeers in Sioux City, Iowa until he was traded to the Owatonna Express in the NAHL.

Schmitz played in successful five games for the Owatonna Express before falling victim to a season-ending injury, where Joe painfully tore his labrum in his shoulder. At this time Joe is back at home with his family to begin his slow recovery. He is optimistic about his healing process in hopes to be back out on the ice to participate in the playoffs with his teammates.

Joe recently signed with the Alaska Avalanche of the NAHL in hopes his shoulder will be back to normal in time for their season. In the mean time he's spending time with his friends, family playing video games and watching movies.

###

First Interview with Joe Schmitz

Getting to know Joe Schmitz

Q. When were you born?

A. My birthday is February 15, 1991

Q. Do you have any brothers or sisters?

A. Yes, I have to brothers one named Jake-16 and Wyatt-12

Q. Do you have any hobbies?

A. I enjoy sports of all kinds. I have been in hockey for quite awhile I was a captain at Centennial high school. I now play junior hockey where players try to earn scholarships. I started in Sioux City, Iowa playing for the Musketeers in the USHL. Then I was traded to the Owatanna Express.

Q. Wow that's really impressive! Have you ever had any injuries from it at all? Any fake teeth?

A. No, no fake teeth but I did recently have a season ending shoulder injury due to a torn labrum.

Q. I'm sorry that sounds very painful! Do you think you'll ever go back?

A. Yes, I'm hoping I'll recover in time for the playoffs; but for now I'm just at home trying to get better. I also just signed with the Alaskan Avalanche of the NAHL

Q. Well all that's very exciting and I hope to see you in the NHL one day and be able to say I did my first interview on him!

University Students Ignite Racial Tension

San Diego students outraged after fellow students mocked Black History Month by hanging a noose from the ceiling in the campus library, and not two weeks earlier, students threw a party to scoff at all the people who celebrate it.

Angered students put red handkerchiefs over their face and took over Chancellor Marye Anne Fox's office for several hours on Friday. Chanting "Real pain real change."

Protesters left peacefully when the leaders of the university's Black Student Union talked with administrators about changing the curriculum to something that boosts African-American activities.

There was only one suspension given to the girl who hung the noose, but she has not said why she did it, or given the names of anyone else involved.

Injured Bicyclist

College grad Marsha L. Taylor was recently released from the hospital after being involved in a bicycle accident.

Marsha is 37 years old and is currently managing a McDonalds in Chisago City. Taylor started bicycling in her first year of college only to get to and from her interviews. After she graduated her hobby turned into a passion. Taylor eventually became involved with some groups of cyclists were she participated in weekend rides and some races. This year alone Marsha said to have ridden over 3,500 miles in the Governors tour, which traveled across the state and another ride, which takes you across the United States.

This passion was abruptly taken from Taylor after a short ride down 72^nd Street almost to Southland Boulevard when a car hit her from behind, sending her flying off her bike into the air.

Marsha woke up in the hospital confused and in pain after her accident. She suffered from a mild concussion, broken neck, six broken ribs and a broken pelvis. The doctors told her it is a miracle she wasn’t paralyzed in the crash.

After being sent to a rehabilitation facility, Marsha soon developed complications. The doctors discovered she had internal injuries involving her liver, gall bladder and a perforated intestine. These undetected complications caused Marsha’s skin to turn orange like a “Halloween pumpkin.” Says her mother, and two extra months in the hospital.

Marsha is very thankful she was wearing her helmet that day, and will continue wearing her protective gear. She believes it saved her life and can’t wait to get back out on her two-wheeler. She just needs to wait until she is healed, crutches and a bike just don’t mix.

###

Baby Girl Born on Air Plane

Tami Fobiola was born on Feb 14, 24,000 feet in the air. She was brought into this world by a doctor and nurse who were passengers aboard a military-run airliner. Tami was named after the aircraft which was called TAM.

Tami's mother issued a statement that the baby girls baptism will be held aboard the plane "to make this occasion memorable."

Tami will also receive free flights with TAM until the age of 21, and a scholarship through high school.

###


http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-02-22-baby-flight-baptized_N.htm

Obituaries- Eddy Thompson

Eddy M. Thompson age 2 of Chisago City was sent to the South Shore veterinary clinic where he passed late Thursday afternoon. Eddy was a young playful cat who loved to cuddle, climb trees and chase squirrels. Eddy leaves behind best friend Sami and five family members. He will be missed by many. Services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Thompson's yard.

Violence in the Workplace

University of Alabama faculty member is in custody after killing three fellow co-workers and putting two others in the hospital. No reports of any students being involved. The suspect is listed as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences who taught coarses in anatomy and physiology.

After finding out she was being denied tenured the suspect went into the Biology teachers faculty meeting. Where she pulled out a gun and began shooting. Two of the victems are in critical condition, the third is now stable. The suspects name is not being released at this time.




http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/3-dead-in-shooting-at-huntsville-ala-campus/1

Story #2

Chisago County- Lakes Area Sheriff, Gus DiCesari, and several county commissioners met Thursday afternoon to discuss their differences over equipment and personnel; which turned into a debate about immigrants in the community.

The sheriff accused county commissioners of "shortchanging" the police department to save money. DiCesari stated, "You're putting the lives of the people of this country in jeopardy." DiCesari wants to hire five new deputies and supply eight new vehicles to the department, in belief this will better serve the people.

"It is getting to costly to maintain the older vehicles and they spend to much time in the repair shop. You commisioners eliminated the equipment budgets for my department this year and now I can't buy anything. This is the first time in my 27 years as sheriff, that the county hasn't allocated money to the sheriff's department to buy equipment. My deputies can't keep driving these old vehicles. Something bad is going to happen." Gus stated to commissioners.

The vote was torn amongst the commission members. President Anne Chenn disagreed with Gus DiCesari's statments saying they were "shortchanging" them. Chenn says the county does not have the money to buy new police cruisers and hire five new sheriff's deputies. Commission members Valerie Dawkins, Faith Ellis, Jose Gardoz and Roland Grauman support Chenn. Commissioners Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne support Sherifff DiCesari.

Shenuski and Layborn proposed during the meeting that the county should spend more money on the sheriff's department and law enforcement than programs for migrant workers who come to the county to work. "We never had problems until we began letting migrants come to this county to work. They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools, and our healthcare system. They take jobs from decent people and work for next to nothing and if something gets stolen, you can bet it is one of them that's taken it. We need to protect local residents from them," Shenuski agrued during a heated discussion with Chenn. Chenn denied that immigrants are the problem.

Chenn rebutled by saying, "Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs that local residents don't want to do. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes. You are being a hypocrite when you try to blame those people for everything"

Chenn also stated the county ran short of money this year because of increased cost for health care for employees and higher fuel costs. Chenn confirmed that the countys' budget this year was $127 million and the money was already being spread out thin enough throughout the community. Chenn told DiCesari that the sheriff's department would have to make do this year because the county did not have the additional funds it would need to supply the Sheriffs requests.

Chenn offered several suggestions for the department, starting with not taking their cruisers home every day as they do now. By doing this more cars would be available and it would also save on mileage.

The commissioners voted 5-2 against the sheriff's request for additional money for eight new cruisers and five addition deputies and would have to figure out his own solution for this year.

###

Kill or jail gays but not pastors: Church of Uganda

If people aren't the same as you, do you think that it is to put them in jail? Well, city officials of Uganda have clearly stated that being homosexual is against the law and you will either be killed or thrown into jail. Also any person who may be keeping their own or someones elses sexuality a secret may also face jail time. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William has begun to speak out against this bill, he says that this bill is unjust and unchristian. Other leaders of the church are getting irritated with Williams response to the bill. Rowan will soon be asked to speak out against the Church of Uganda's statement.

First Day of School

The first day of any school can be a little overwhelming. Meeting new people, having new professors, not to mention even finding the class. Luckily, my sister had already been going to that school for a year and a half and was able to show me around. On my first day I met quite a few new people. One of my coarse was very interactive and helped me to meet a lot of people I'm still friends with today. The class was Introduction to Speech Communication, the very first day you had to get up and meet new people and get into large groups and work together as a team to accomplish a common goal. Some of the activities were to be tied to the persons next to you with a jump rope and then you had to work together as a team to get unattached.

Also on my first day of school I met a few professors that helped me in my coarse, and coarse in the future. During my first semester I also took a Mass Communication coarse. This is where I also met two of my really good friends that I still talk to frequently. Mr. Broderick was the professor of this coarse, he was a very helpful teacher when it came to learning new media styles and how to make good journalism articles online.

I would have to say the first day of school was very successful and have enjoyed myself at ARCC for the past year and a half.

Low Serotonin Levels Might Explain Sudden Infant Death Syndrom

Researchers may have discovered the cause of more than 2,300 deaths in babies each year. Infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS are said to have had low serotonin levels, which is a chemical in the brain that helps the brain stem regulate breathing, temperature, sleeping, waking and other automatic functions. When infants have low serotonin levels it effects their ability to gage their carbon monoxide levels, normally this would cause the child to roll over to get oxygen; but without that automatic reaction these children don't get the proper oxygen they need. Doctors hope to find new ways to test for this before it's to late in order to protect more newborns lives.

Story #1

The police department is not done investing a bad accident that happened on Interstate 790 this morning at 6:45 a.m. between two tractor trailers when they collided, which started a train reaction. A total of four tractor-trailers and fourteen cars were involved according to Sgt. Albert Wei. One of the trailers was a tanker hauling diesel fuel which Wei said was very lucky it didn’t roll over and dump fuel and catch on fire. The driver was hit but he managed to control it so it didn’t explode. The driver of the truck wasn’t injured, but 2 people were killed and twenty others were injured and taken in to the hospital. Of the twenty four of them were seriously hurt, possibly even life threatening. Tony Sullivan, the fire chief, said that he had to cut the roofs off three of the cars to free the drivers and passengers with the help of firefighters from five nearby towns. Also the “Life Flight” helicopter from Memorial Hospital was also called to the scene to fly two of the most injured to the trauma center 50 miles away in Statesville.

Sullivan said that the scene looked like a war zone with bodies lying along the road, people covered with blood, emergency workers running from one place to another trying to help; and sirens wailing in the distance. He has been working with the fire department for almost 19 years and he said that he hadn’t seen anything like this before. This huge accident cause quite the headache for rush hour traffic since the people who normally take interstate 790 had to take I-690. This ended up backing up traffic for 3 hours on I-690 as well. Wei said that the accident, which occurred in the northbound lanes, closed the entire highway going both directions. At 10 a.m. the interstate was still closed and Wei said that he had no idea when it would reopen.

Nancy Kerrigan's father dies

The brother of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan's is accused of murdering their 70 year old father in his Massachusetts home. After Mark (son) and Danial (father) got into a violent argument over a phone call Mark said that he put his hands around his father's neck and he just fell to the floor. After cops arrested Mark from his home in Boston, MA he plead not guilty to all charges, despite cruetial evidence.

Danial's wife says he died of a heart attack and there was nothing suspicious about his death. After looking at Marks extensive criminal record he was put in jail until he made bail in 2007. Sources say he is very distraught over his fathers death and is seeking treatment for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder and seeing a psychiatrist.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-01-25-kerrigan-death_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

The Do's and Don't of Leads

I have learned a lot of things about what makes a lead good or bad, however there are still many things I need to learn or could improve on. One of the "Dos" in creating a good lead, I have learned is to make it short and to the point. When your lead begins repeating itself or getting to wordy, this is when you run the risk of creating a bad lead which is a big "don't". You need to keep it interesting, and something that will make the viewer continue reading.

Also you want to make sure your lead is easy enough for a fifth grader to follow. You need to make sure your lead is clear and concise. So you don't want to go nuts with your thesaurus on this because bigger words can have the effect to turn readers away.

These are a few of the things I have learned thus far, this is just the beginning there is much more to learn.

Journal Entry #1

The price to stay connected using your cell phone has been a constant incline until recent events. The two leading cell phone carriers, AT&T and Verizon have announced dramatic price cuts. Verizon being the first to announce that they were going to drop there prices almost in half; AT&T following not to far behind. The recent changes are the result of a struggling economy. However, not everyone gets to see the effects of this plan in their pockets. Only subscribers with an unlimited plan will be able to save money when this goes into effect. The only question left is if this will spill over into the rest of the markets, particularly into the world of smart phones.

Introduction

Hello my name is Courtney Thompson. I am currently in my second year at anoka ramsey and am planning to make this my last year. I will be transering to Austraila to study abroad in New Castle for one semester. When I return I hope to be accepted in to the University of Minnesotas broadcast journalism program. I feel journalism is very important to keep people informed and updated on all aspects of their area and our world. I hope to one day be a news anchor for either a local such as channel 5 or national station like Good Morning America. I hope to get as much out of this class as possible in order to further my education.