Hard News Leads

1. A survey was released yesterday by the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Baltimore. The survey shows that three to four children die every day in the United States from child abuse or neglect. Statistics in the survey show that the number of child abuse or neglect cases reported at the end of this year rose to 2.7 million, from 2.5 million the previous year. More than half of the children who died were under age 1. Seventy-nine percent of the deaths were among children under age 5.

The Child Abuse Prevention Center out of Baltimore released the number of children abused or neglected has risen by 200,000 from last year.

2. MILWAUKEE – For the past three days nearly 2,500 people have been demonstrating outside of an abortion clinic here. Some demonstrators support the clinic and others oppose it. Yesterday nearly 150 of the anti-abortion protesters were arrested. Police said they were arrested on disorderly conduct charges of blocking the entrances to the clinic. The protesters said they planned to demonstrate for six weeks. (Clue: Avoid starting with a numeral.)

The two-sided demonstration outside the Milwaukee abortion clinic took a hit when 150 anti-abortion protesters were arrested yesterday.

3. This information comes from police. A delivery driver for a Chinese food restaurant was taking food to an apartment in your town yesterday. The apartment complex was at 718 S.W. Western Ave. The driver was robbed of the Chinese food at gunpoint. The driver works for The Great Wall of China Restaurant at 1336 S.W. 17th St. A man opened the outside security door to let the delivery driver in, and then the man disappeared. A short time later, the man came back and pointed a gun at the delivery driver. The man threatened to kill the driver unless he handed over the food. The driver gave it to him and ran out of the apartment building. Police weren’t sure what specific food dishes the driver was carrying.


The police reported a delivery driver for The Great Wall of China Restaurant was robbed at gunpoint yesterday at the apartment complex on 718 S.W. Western Ave.


4. A fire in your town caused $45,000 in damages to a two-bedroom home in the 2300 block of Main Street. Fire officials said the fire was started by a lighted cigarette on a sofa. Firefighters arrived at the house at 3:30 a.m. and found it on fire. They had the blaze under control in five minutes. The homeowner, Kathy Mahoney, was awakened by the smoke and flames. She suffered minor burns on her hands and feet.

A two bedroom home in the 2300 block of Main Street caught fire early this morning around 3:30 a.m.

5. The state Bureau of Investigation [in your state] yesterday released a report of crime rates for the first three months of the year. The report says murders in your state are up 53 percent and violent crime increased 2 percent. The state bureau officials said the number of rapes and robberies decreased significantly.

For the first three months of the year, the state Bureau of Investigation reported that while murders in Colorado are up 53 percent and violent crimes are up 2 percent; rape and robberies have decreased significantly.

6. A United Nations scientific panel released a report yesterday. Researchers of the United Nations Environment Program found that damage to the earth’s ozone layer is increasing. They predicted that ozone levels could drop 3 percent in the next decade, which would lead to a 10-percent increase in skin cancer. The ozone layer above the earth absorbs some of the sun’s cancer-causing ultraviolet rays.

The United Nations Environment Program found the damage to earth’s ozone layers is increasing.



7. Information comes from police in Santa Ana, Calif. A Santa Ana woman was charged with attempted murder yesterday. She was being held in the Orange County jail after being unable to post $250,000 bond. Police said the woman, June Carter, 71, doused her husband, who was confined to a wheelchair and had cancer, with rubbing alcohol and set him on fire. Police said she was angry because he ate her chocolate Easter bunny. She called paramedics six hours after the attack on her husband. Paul Carter, 62, was taken to the University of California Irvine Burn Center with third-degree burns, police said.


Yesterday, the 71-year-old female June Carter was charged with attempting to set her husband on fire.


8. Clue: Choose one angle and don’t flood your lead with statistics:
What: Broadband user surpassed the number of people using dial-up Internet access in the United States this year; 53 percent of residential users are now using broadband – source is Nielsen/NetRatings.
Why: Prices of broadband dropped. Elaboration: Surveys from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 69 percent of broadband users go online on a typical day, compared with 51 percent for dial-up. Broadband users who went online averaged 107 minutes surfing the Web, checking e-mail and otherwise engaged, 21 minutes longer than dial-up users. The United States trailed 12 of the 15 top countries, including Canada, in broadband penetration, according to a September report from U.N. International Telecommunication Union analyzing 2003 data. South Korea topped the list at more than double the U.S. rate.

The broadband users have surpassed the number of dial-up users and they are making their time worthwhile.


9. Who: Princeton University. What:Initiated a crackdown on high grades. When:This school year. Why:To stem grade inflation. How:The university put a cap on the number of A’s that can be awarded. Previously, there was no official limit to the number of A's handed out, and nearly half the grades in an average Princeton class have been A-pluses, A's or A-minuses. Now, each department can give A's to no more than 35 percent of its students each semester.

Princeton University put a cap on the number of A’s that can be awarded to stem grade inflation this year.



10: Write a hard-news lead from this news release: According to the National Sleep Foundation, approximately 70 million people in the United States are affected by a sleep problem. Approximately 12 million Americans have restless legs syndrome, a sleep and movement disorder characterized by unpleasant (tingling, crawling, creeping and/or pulling) feelings in the legs, which cause an urge to move in order to relieve the symptoms. As many as 47 million adults may be putting themselves at risk for injury, health and behavior problems because they aren't meeting their minimum sleep need in order to be fully alert the next day. And, sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are estimated to cost Americans over $100 billion annually. Many experts agree on common sense sleeping tips such as avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bedtime, getting proper exercise, setting up a regular bedtime routine, and setting up a quiet, comfortable bedroom environment for proper sleeping conditions.

According to the National Sleep Foundation approximately 70 million people in the United States are affected by a sleep problem.

dead soldier

Army Spec Michael Mills returned home from Iraq to a sea of tears— grief, not joy.

The small town of Panora, Ia. mourned the loss of fallen hometown boy Mills, who was one of 28 people killed when an Iraqi suicide bomb exploded on Feb. 25.

There were 525 mourners who packed the United Methodist Church, as cars were tightly strung together from the church to the West Cemetery outside of town.

The flag draped at half-staff and there were red, white and blue ribbons tied to the flower sprays that surrounded the altar, all in the honor of a lost American soldier.

The 23-year-old carried on a family tradition by joining the Army, but to the town of Panora he was simply a hometown boy.

And what was a somber contrast to the joyous reunions held for returning troops throughout the country, the town of Panora still welcomed home an honorable soldier.

One-hundred and ninety-one American have died in the war thus far.