News Value Exercise

There was an accident occurring in your subrb at 7.10 this morning  at the intersection of Post Road and Rollins Avenue. Charles Welles was driving north on Post Road and proceeded to enter the intersection in his van at a speed estimated at 60 km/h. His van struck a fire engine responding to an emergency call, with its lights and siren in operation. Two firemen aboard the vehicle were hospitalised; however, their condition is not known at this point in time. Welles was killed instantly in the serious and tragic accident. Authorities have not yet determined who was at fault. The fire engine was travelling an estimated 40 km/h and responding to a report of a shop fire. However, it was a false alarm. Welles’ van was totally destroyed. Damage to the truck was estimated at $90,000.

An accident occurred at the intersection of Post Road and Rollins Avenue this morning, causing a van driver to die at the scene, while two firemen were hospitalized.  

There was a report issued in Canberra, today. It came from the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It shows that there are advantages to driving big cars. A study by the institute found that small two-door models and many small or midsize sport or specialty cars have the worst injury and repair records. Many of these small cars show injury claim frequencies and repair losses at least 30 per cent higher than average, while many large cars, station wagons and vans show 40 per cent to 50 per cent better-than-average claim records. According to the analysis, a motorist in a late model four-door Holden station wagon, for example, is 41 percent less likely than average to be hurt in an accident.

Driving big cars has advantages over smaller ones, a report from the Highway Loss Data Institute has found.

An article appeared today in the Journal of the Victorian Medical
Association. The article concerns the dangers of hot dogs. "If you were trying to design something that would be perfect to block a childs airway, it would be a bite-size piece of hot dog," says a researcher. He concluded that children under 4 should "never be given a whole hot dog to eat," and that hot dogs should never be cut crosswise. The hot dogs are so dangerous that every five days, it is estimated, someone, somewhere in Victoria, chokes to death on them. Other risky foods for young kids up to 9 years of age include: lollies, nuts, grapes, apples, carrots and popcorn.

An article from the Journal of the Victorian Medical Association has highlighted the dangers of children eating hot dogs, which could lead to choking.  

It’s another statistical study, one that surprised researchers. For years, researchers thought that advanced education translated into greater marriage stability. Then they discovered that marital disruption is greater among more highly educated women than any other group (except those who haven't graduated from high school). Now a sociologist at The RMIT University has conducted a new study which explains some of the reasons why women with graduate degrees are more likely to be graduated from their marriages as well. The key fact seems to be timing. Women who married early, before they began graduate school, are more likely to have established traditional family roles which they find difficult to change. When the wife goes back to school and no longer wants to handle most of the housework, it causes resentment on the part of the husband. If the husband refuses to pitch in and do his share, it creates tension. Such unhappiness on both sides often leads to divorce. Indeed, a third of the women who began graduate school after they were married ended up separated or divorced. By comparison, only 15.6 percent of those who married after they had finished an advanced degree ended up divorced or separated. They seem more likely to find husbands supportive of their educational goals.

Women who are highly educated have a higher risk of getting divorced, a study has shown.

The Department of Justice, as it often does, conducted a crime-related
survey. It questioned long-term prisoners. It found that new laws limiting the ownership of guns do not discourage handgun ownership by career criminals. The report concludes, however, that even though curbs on legitimate retail sales of guns have failed to attain the goal of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals, the laws still may serve other useful functions. The report explains that criminals get their weapons most often by theft or under-the-counter deals. The department surveyed 1,874 men serving time for crimes in 11 state prisons and found that 75 percent said they would expect little or no trouble if they tried to get a handgun after their release from prison. Fifty-seven percent had owned a handgun at the time of their arrest. Thirty-two percent of their guns had been stolen, 26 percent acquired in black market deals, and others received as gifts from family and friends. Only 21 percent had been bought through legitimate retail outlets.

New laws are failed to control handguns; however, functions might still be useful, a survey from the Department of Justice has found.

Thomas C. Ahl appeared in the County Court today. He pleaded guilty last week to robbing and murdering two restaurant employees. In return for pleading guilty prosecutors promised not to seek the death penalty. He was sentenced today. Ahl is 24 years old, and the judge sentenced him to two life terms, plus 300 years. It is the longest sentence ever given anyone in your state. Ahl will be 89 before he can be considered for parole. The judge explained that Ahl had a long history of violence and brutality, and that the public deserved to be protected from him. There had been no reason for him to shotgun the two employees to death. Ahl himself admitted that they had not resisted him in any way.

A 24-year-old man was handed the longest sentence in Victoria’s history in the County Court today.

The International Standardisation Organisation, which is composed of
acoustics experts, today opened its annual convention. The convention is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from 51 countries are attending the convention, which will continue through Sunday. An annual report issued by the organisation warned that noise levels in the world are rising by one decibel a year. If the increase continues, the report warned, "everyone living in cities could be stone deaf by the year 2020." The report also said that long-term exposure to a noise level of 100 decibels can cause deafness, yet a riveting gun reaches a level of 130 decibels and a jet aircraft 150.

The International Standardisation Organisation has warned about the continuously rising noise level, which could cause deafness, at the annual convention.

A 19-year-old shoplifting suspect died last Saturday. Police identified himas Timothy Milan. He lived at 12 Huron Avenue and was employed as a cook at a restaurant in the city. A guard at Dimmy’s Department Store told police he saw Milan stuff 2 jumpers down his pants legs, then walk past a checkout line and out of the department store. The guard then began to chase Milan, who ran, and 3 bystanders joined in the pursuit. They caught up with Milan, and, when he resisted, one of the bystanders applied a headlock to him. A police officer who arrived at the scene reported that Milan collapsed as he put handcuffs on him. An autopsy conducted to determine the cause of death revealed that Milan died due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Police today said they do not plan to charge anyone involved in the case with a crime because it "was a case of excusable homicide." The police said the bystanders did not mean to injure Milan or to kill him, but that he was fighting violently—punching and kicking at his captors and even trying to bite them—and that they were simply trying to restrain him and trying to help capture a suspected criminal, "which is just being a good citizen."

A 19-year-old shoplifting suspect was accidentally killed on Saturday by a bystander who tried to restrain him.

Several English teachers at primary and high schools require their
students to read the controversial book, "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith." The book was written by Thomas Keneally. Critics, including some parents, said last week that the book should be banned from all schools in the city because it is racist. After considering their complaints and discussing them with his staff, the superintendent of schools, Gary Hubbard, announced today that teachers will be allowed to require reading the book in high school English classes but not in any junior high school classes. Furthermore, the superintendent said that it will be the responsibility of the high school teachers who assign the book to assist students in understanding the historical setting of the book, the characters being depicted and the social context, including the prejudices which existed at the time depicted in the book. Although the book can no longer be used in any junior high school classes, the school superintendent said it will remain available in junior and senior high school libraries for students who want to read it voluntarily. The book describes the of a man of half-Aboriginal ancestry, is pushed to the breaking point by the racist oppression perpetrated by the British in their rule of Australia in 1900, and by his inability to acclimate to Western culture.

The superintendent of schools, Gary Hubbard, announced the book “The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith” will only be allowed to be read in high school English class, after receiving complaints that the book is racist.