Story 1

LINO LAKES—At 6:45 a.m. an accident on Interstate 790 containing four tractor-trailers and 14 other cars leaves two dead and 20 others injured.

This horrific accident killed two drivers and sent 20 more people to the hospital. Of those 20, four of them were seriously hurt with life-threatening injuries and were taken to the hospital. The two worst injuries were taken by the “Life Flight” helicopter to the trauma center in Statesville, 50 miles away.

According to Sgt. Albert Wei of the Lino Lakes Police Department, the accident occurred when two tractor trailers collided. After the tractors lost control and crashed, a chain reaction ensued, causing two other trailers and 14 cars to add to the wreckage.

One of the tractor-trailers was a tanker hauling diesel fuel; Wei stated that it was very luck the trailer didn't flip and explode or set anything a flame.

Fire Chief Tony Sullivan said that in his 18 and a half years he hadn't seen anything that bad. Sullivan described the scene as a war zone, with people covered in blood next to their cars, emergency workers scampering to help the injured and nothing but the blaring sirens in the background.

Police are still investigating the accident and according to Wei, Interstate 790 is still closed and has backed up traffic on Interstate 690 for three hours.

G.M. Strikes Deal to Save Saab

General Motors has made a preliminary deal to sell Saab to Spyker Cars, a small Dutch maker of sports cars. G.M. is selling Saab for $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares of the new company. The deal is supposed to close in mid-February.

original article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/business/global/27saab.html?ref=business

Leads

I have learned a lot of information about leads, but I still have a long way to go. I don't completely understand how to write and find leads for newspaper articles.

One of the biggest "dos" I have learned is that a lead must answer the 6 questions: Who? Where? How? Why? When? and What? Leads need to be as specific as possible and answer as many of the 6 questions as possible.

Leads that are long and that drag on are a big "don't". The reader will get confused and not understand the story they are about to read. Another "don't" is that writers should not include opinions in their leads (assuming it isn't an opinion article).

Those are some of the "dos" and "don'ts" I have learned thus far, but as mentioned before I have a long way to go before I can fully understand leads.

Journal Entry

Companies such as Google, Adobe, and Cisco Systems are all in danger. Chinese based attackers have recently tried hacking Google and some 30 other web-based companies to steal their source codes. Verisign iDefense (security intelligence) has been working with companies to try and find the people behind the attacks.

Original Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/technology/20code.html?ref=business

Introduction

Forgot to post this originally. Hey everyone! I'm Joe. I graduated from Centennial HS last year and played hockey for them. I enjoy any kind of sports or outdoor activities including golf, water skiing, and beach volleyball.

I started this year playing junior hockey in Souix City, Iowa, but then I was traded to play for the Owatonna Express (Owatonna, MN). I love playing hockey and my goal is to play in college. Unfortunately though, I dislocated my shoulder numerous times and ended up having season ending surgery on my labrum.

Now I'm back at home trying to keep busy and figured I'd take the opportunity to further my writing skills!

Newspapers!

The newspapers that I have started following are the Pioneer Press and the New York Times (online). I chose the Pioneer Press because that is the paper I receive daily at my house. As of now I have mainly been reading the sports page because that is what interests me the most. I figured I would start my newspaper reading "experience" by reading articles that intrigue the greatest amount.

I have chosen to follow the New York Times because it is one of the most popular newspapers in America and it carries the biggest stories from around the world. I have also heard that some of the best columnists write for the NY times.

I am really hoping that by reading these newspapers to not only learn about current events, but become a better writer from absorbing their methods.