Journ. 133: Prof. Craig: Headline Exercise, Part 1
For today's exercise, here are the groups:
1 2 3 4 5 Mohammad Najimi
Madison WilberNick Orozco
Christian VieyraTaylor Shepherd
Nick AustinSaturn Williams
Alejandra GalloGabrielle Barnes
Vincent RupenaFor this exercise you will choose ANY FOUR of the stories listed below, and provide the following for each:
- Five to 10 key words about the topic that could be included in a headline
- A suggestion for one or more standard headlines
- A suggestion for one or more creative headlines
You will be placed into groups to create these, and we will reconvene in a few minutes to discuss them. Please save these into a document -- you'll need them for the second part of the headline assignment.
- WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced new automobile emissions standards Wednesday that officials called the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
The new rules relax initial tailpipe limits proposed last year but eventually get close to the same strict standards set out by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The rules come as sales of electric vehicles, which are needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry cited lower sales growth in objecting to the EPA’s preferred standards unveiled last April as part of its ambitious plan to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
- RIDGELY, Md. — A small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has suspended its entire police force pending the results of an investigation by state prosecutors, a largely unexplained decision that has left residents shocked, skeptical and on edge.
In a statement posted to the town government’s website last week, officials said Ridgely’s three-member commission had “suspended with pay the entirety of the Ridgely Police Department,” and that the Office of State Prosecutor — which handles cases of public misconduct, election fraud, ethics law violations and more — is investigating.
But Ridgely Director of Operations David Crist declined to provide even basic information about the suspensions, including the number of officers on the force.
The department made headlines several years ago when its then-chief was involved in the 2018 death of Anton Black in neighboring Greensboro.
Black, an African-American man, died after officers pinned him down for more than five minutes as they wrestled him into handcuffs and shackles. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit and received a $5 million settlement from three Eastern Shore towns, including Ridgely, whose off-duty chief helped restrain the 19-year-old.
- SAN JOSE — After more than two weeks of counting ballots, state Assemblymember Evan Low leads Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian by just three votes in California’s Congressional District 16 race.
The two veteran lawmakers are vying for a spot in the November general election to face former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who safely secured first place last week among the crowded field wanting to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.
Simitian started out ahead on election night, but last week, Low was able to close the gap and move into second place. Yet another lead change occurred on Friday when Simitian surpassed Low. Then on Tuesday, Low eked ahead again by three votes, out of more than 170,000 cast.
As of Wednesday evening, the margin between the two — less than one-tenth of a percent — was at its smallest to date.
- BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University suspended the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority Tuesday evening following reports of alleged hazing incidents published that morning.
A 19-year-old student alleged that her pledge class was hazed by older sisters last year during the chapter’s Big Little Night, an annual event when pledges find out which older member of the sorority is their "big sister" and mentor.
She said pledges were taken to a dark basement and told they must choose between doing a line of cocaine or performing oral sex on fraternity men. Two other women present corroborated key details of Willoughby’s story. One said the sisters told the pledge class this was their punishment “for being the worst pledge class ever” before telling them it was a joke.
Two more women from different pledge classes said they had similar experiences on Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Big Little Night.
- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Cafes across several Gulf Arab states started selling coffee and other cold drinks in baby bottles this month, kicking off a new trend that has elicited excitement, confusion — and backlash.
The fad began at Einstein Cafe, a slick dessert chain with branches across the region, from Dubai to Kuwait to Bahrain. Instead of ordinary paper cups, the cafe, inspired by pictures of trendy-looking bottles shared on social media, decided to serve its thick milky drinks in plastic baby bottles.
Lines clogged Einstein stores across the Gulf. People of all ages streamed onto sidewalks, waiting for their chance to suck coffee and juice from a plastic bottle. Pictures of baby bottles filled with colorful kaleidoscopes of drinks drew thousands of likes on Instagram and ricocheted across the popular social media app TikTok.
Soon, however, online haters took note — the baby bottle drinkers and providers faced a barrage of nasty comments.
Last week, the anger reached the highest levels of government. Dubai authorities cracked down. Inspection teams burst into cafes where the trend had taken off and handed out fines.
- PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a mother and daughter accused of illegally accessing hundreds of student accounts to rig a vote and crown the teen daughter as her school's homecoming queen.
Laura Rose Carroll, 50, and her daughter, 17, are charged with offense against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices; unlawful use of a two-way communication device; criminal use of personally identified information; and conspiracy to commit these offenses.
The alleged scheme took place at Tate High School in Pensacola, where Carroll’s daughter was enrolled. Carroll worked as an assistant principal at an elementary school in the same district at the time.
In October 2023, hundreds of votes for Tate High School’s Homecoming Court were tagged as fraudulent, with 117 votes originating from the same IP address linked to Carroll’s phone.
Carroll’s daughter was still crowned homecoming queen, however, video and pictures online show.
Multiple students later reported that Carroll’s daughter described using her mother’s access to Focus, the student information system, to cast votes from students’ accounts.
- NEW YORK — Doctors in Boston announced Thursday they have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient.
Massachusetts General Hospital said it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.
The experimental transplant was done at the Boston hospital on Saturday. The patient, Richard “Rick” Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, doctors said Thursday.
The announcement marks the latest development in xenotransplantation, the term for efforts to try to heal human patients with cells, tissues, or organs from animals.
- LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles man is suing over 50 women for negative posts they allegedly wrote about him on social media, claiming the messages are false and defamatory.
Stewart Lucas Murrey is suing the women on a variety of charges including defamation, sex-based discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel, invasion of privacy and more.
The lawsuit stems from posts and comments the women are accused of writing in a Facebook group called “Are We Dating The Same Guy?” The private group involves members sharing dating advice while warning others about men who are potentially harmful, dangerous or not to be trusted.
Murrey alleges the women posted a variety of false things about him including that he is suspected of murder or involved in a murder case, that he had several domestic violence charges against him, that he had tried to extort money from women he dated, that he had sexually-transmitted diseases and that he lied about being an attorney.
MONROE, Washington -- Not satisfied with the amount of money they found in a Starbucks safe, two robbers allegedly went to work filling coffee orders and pocketing the proceeds.
The pair served at least 18 unsuspecting customers over a half-hour period early Friday morning and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, Cmdr. Rick Dunn said.
The holdup early Tuesday began before opening time, when a woman was allowed to use the shop's restroom, Dunn said. After her accomplice also entered, the two approached the manager with guns, demanded that the safe be opened and took the money.
The man then donned a Starbucks apron and he and the woman ordered an employee to assist them at the drive-up window, where they filled orders from 18 to 25 customers before fleeing. The other two employees were confined to a back room.
- OKLAHOMA CITY – Management of a south Oklahoma City mobile home park urged its residents this week to not speak out about a 13-foot-long cat-eating albino python still in the neighborhood. Residents claim that the park’s management knew about the python since January and did nothing.
“The only reason they finally did something was because a resident snapped a picture of it,” said a resident wanting to remain anonymous in fear of eviction from management. He had been living in the park for ten years. “Them sending out a warning to us to not talk to media, it’s intimidation all the way.”
Over the last couple of months, residents say they’ve been concerned at the amount of cats missing from the neighborhood. Then a picture of the yellow albino python slithering near one of the homes gained traction online.
The snake was originally thought to be five feet long and a ball python. But when an expert was hired, he found that it was a reticulated python and was around 13 feet long eating the cats.
On to Part 2 ->