Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Journalism 022

Severe weather conditions across Europe have claimed at least 44 lives in recent days.

Due to temperatures reaching up to 115F:

*Greece - two people died

*Romania - six people died, bringing the country's heat wave death toll to 29.

*Turkey - a man collapsed on a beach and later died as temperatures there reached 111F.

In Turkey the governor of Istanbul said pregnant and disabled public servants would be given days off on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Greek government has ordered all public offices to close at midday on Tuesday and Wednesday to allow people to stay out of the sun.

*Firefighters in Italy battled to bring 30 forest fires sparked by the heat wave under control, with their efforts frustrated by strong winds.

Meteorologists said temperatures could hit 104F in the Romanian capital Bucharest this week, the highest level in 90 years.

Due to extreme rains and floods:

*England - three people died and about 250 northern county residents were evacuated.

*Bulgaria - three people drowned seeking respite from extreme temperatures.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Journalism 021


A 38-year old Iowan woman, Suzanne Marie Butts, was charged last week with three counts of fifth-degree theft.

Butts was at the Marshall county courthouse for an unrelated charge, when employees reportedly saw her taking three rolls of two-ply toilet paper from a storage closet in the women's bathroom.

Police confronted Butts outside the courthouse as she attempted to smuggle away the toilet paper under her shirt.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Journalism 020

Gay and lesbian rights advocates won out yesterday at the Statehouse in Boston.

The Legislature voted 151-45 in favor of disallowing a public vote on an amendment, which would ban the now-legal option of same-sex marriage.

Gov. Deval Patrick and other top lawmakers on Beacon Hill were a driving force in thwarting the amendment.
In Dallas, mayoral elections will be held tomorrow between Democratic candidate Ed Oakley and nonpartisan candidate Tom Leppert.

Oakley, if elected would be the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Journalism 019


In Australia, Queensland officials are forcing "habitual spitters" to wear "spit nets" in an attempt to deter them from spitting on police officers, according to The Australian.

The nets are similar to the headgear worn by beekeepers and would be disposable, one-time use items.

There were 222 spitting incidents in Australian watch-houses (detention centers), between October 2005 and October 2006.

Personal 003

Wow...so I don't know how many readers of this there actually are, but regardless, I feel semi-guilty for not attending to such beautiful matters as this here blog for over a month now...yikes. I've been traveling over the past three weeks, up and down the east coast and have officially finished my first year of journalism school. I also started my summer internship at WBUR, the local NPR radio station here in Boston. I'm in the newscasting department as of now, but am slated to move to the online department in the next couple of weeks.

So much has been happening in the world and yet for some reason I can't seem to shake the feeling that this is the quiet frontier that is about to burst full of revolutionary gunfire...and no, I'm not even referring to the U.S. presidential election more than a year away...

All I'm saying is...Paris Hilton and James Galdofini...for real? Is that where we're at right now?