Practice News Story 4: Court

Subject: Practice News Story 4: Court
Posted: 4:45 p.m. MT Sept. 26, 2007

Church Burglary will take two to Court

Logan, UT – Preliminary hearing has determined that James Michaels (35) and an undisclosed minor will face 2 misdemeanor charges of breaking and entering and vandalism as well as 1 felony burglary charge. This preliminary hearing, held to determine if there is enough evidence to continue with a trial, was held on Sept 26th, 2007.

On Sept 19th, the accused were arrested with evidence that they burglarized a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sheriff Deputy Geoffrey Hasty made the arrest late that same night.

The suspects came peacefully and according to the District Attorney Noel Mayfield, “[They were] cooperative, yet firm on the fact they are not guilty.”

Practice News Story 3: Crime

Early in the morning of Sept. 19^th, a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was burglarized. Bob Knotz, Physical Management Manager, arrived around 6:00 a.m. that morning to find two computer monitors smashed in the west hallway of the 16^th East 900 N. meetinghouse. Knotz called police after further discovering that the office of Bishop Lawrence Shirk had also been broken into.

Two computer CPU's units were stolen from this office. Bishop Shirk says that all data had been wiped on the units saying they were waiting to be recycled having been replaced by upgrades. A primary concern of Bishop Shirk was the confidential nature of items in the office. Fortunately, no confidential data was removed from the office.

Sherriff Deputy Geoffrey Histy says there was no forcible entry. He suspects that juveniles may be the source of the incident. The culprits appear to have entered through the window of the Bishop's office. Bishop Shirk remembers distinctly leaving with all the doors locked but doesn't remember closing the window he opened during interviews.

There are no direct witnesses but Evelyn Breathwaite, a resident adjacent to the meetinghouse, was awoken at 2:20 a.m. from a loud crash followed by a vehicle driving away. This gives an estimate of the timeframe of the event.

Bishop Shirk, Sherriff Deputy Histy, and Ms. Evelyn Breathwaite agree this incident is isolated and the neighborhood and surrounding areas are a safe and secure place to live.

If anyone has any additional information regarding this crime, please contact Logan City Police at (435) 716-9300.

 

Practice News Story 2: Fire

Local Restaurant Suffers Loss in Fire

At 2 PM yesterday, Pedro's Mexican Restaurant fell victim to what preliminary investigations reveal to be a grease fire.  Firefighters pulled three individuals from the second story window of this three story building.  Pedro, owner of the restaurant, called for the building to evacuate after failed attempts at extinguishing.  Pedro's brother and his two daughters, 4 and 2 years old, were trapped on the top floor.  Firefighters were dispatched and arrived on scene, having the fire contained within an hour.  They saved the three trapped by pulling them from the second story window.  The three were sent to hospital and later released having been treated for smoke inhalation. Surrounding buildings on Washington Boulevard and 21st Street were evacuated as a precaution.  Fire Chief Greg Chamberlain said the quick containment and prevented spread was aided by the stone exterior of the building.  Rachel Calhoun, owner of the building says she plans on rebuilding and is grateful that no one was seriously injured.

Dilemma of the Day - Friday the 7th

Does our technology have a consciousness?  Can your computer react to your mood and current circumstances.  Do cell phones listen for the perfect time to drop your call?  I believe so.  I believe that my computer is among this "mind of its own" category as well.

This weekend I had the privilege of technical difficulties...my hard drive mysteriously stopped working.  Yeah, I'm sure.  It knew that I had begun using my laptop frequently in classes to take notes and to manage finances.  I had everything on this 100 gig hard drive.  Why did it decide to fry?  Because I was actually using it.

As my wife can attest to, I spent all of Friday in a panic and frantic state.  If I wasn't freaking out I was hitting the computer.  I had the wonderful experience of having my intelligence insulted by the technical support people.  To lessen the peril and gravity of this situation, I have two additional hard drives in external enclosures. In English for those who are not computer nerds, I carried around two old laptop hard drives that could plug into a computer through USB just like your jump drive.  On one I stored media files such as video clips and the like.  The other is solely dedicated to (here is the good news) backup.  I had backed my files up August 10th. 

So big deal, I lost almost a months worth of work.  In retrospect, the worst part was the fact that I now have a broken hard drive.  I solved the problem fairly easy as I grabbed the larger of my two extra drives and popped it in.  The lengthy install process was annoying but I'm used to it.  As a true blue computer nerd, I regularly format (or delete everything) my hard drive to maintain high performance.  I have now gradually established my computer again.

I have decided to change its usage mind you.  It formerly housed every file I have and served as my do it all machine.  I plan now on keeping the bare minimum on this machine for dual purposes.  First, the hard drive is smaller and slower.  Keeping less on it will help keep things fast.  Second, with a desktop at home with more than double the capacity of the now broken drive, I might as well keep the important stuff at home.

There is the dilemma of the day.

Practice News Story 1: Accident

Seven Dead in University Van Accident

While on an educational trip, ten students and one instructor from Utah State University were involved in a gruesome accident. Upon arrival at the scene, of the twelve, six were dead and five were transported to the hospital. One of the five died before making to the hospital. Police say the accident was likely caused by, “a high rate of speed.” Kyle Hollden, who was in a vehicle accompanying the group at the time of the accident, said that he was passing the van in his own vehicle with his cruise control set in excess of 80 MPH. From Mr. Hollden’s perspective, he saw black smoke from the back of the van and believes the cause to be a tire blow-out leading to swerving and the van rolling. Students were ejected from the van; some thrown up to 100 feet. A grief stricken Kyle tells us the group’s field trip was a trip to Greenline for Ag week, a special week long event at Utah State University.

After speaking with the President of the College, we found the university is in the process of contacting the families of those involved. The University will also conduct an investigation of what happened as to make sure that changes are made if necessary. No names have been released at this time. Ag week is planned to go forward with possible changes and accommodations for a service of some fashion.

A New Beginning

Why am I blogging? Is it because I have to? Honestly, yes. A foul experience prior has put me off on blogging. But there is hope. First day of class and I am looking forward to a fast paced and stimulating environment. With many news stories to post, I just may learn to enjoy this better but also do it more often. The potential to reach out to all sorts of people from all walks of life is incredible. Some use Blogs as a journal. Some for education like me. I will probably do a bit of both.



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