Class today reminder

Hello all. Just a reminder that class starts at 5 p.m. today. See you then.

Multi-media PAR projects

Here's a strong in-depth look at the Milwaukee Courthouse - with some multi-media.

Here is a link to a crime map from the Baltimore Sun.

Here is a link to what is called the top 50 multi-media projects in 2010.

Here is a link to multi-media guru Mindy McAdams's blog with examples.

Getting a PhD

Fifth in-class writing

In-Class Writing Five: Courts

Review the federal grand jury indictment against Raymond M. Martin. Martin, 46, is a resident of Junction, Illinois. It is available here.

Please note that Martin was the sheriff of Gallatin County in Illinois at the time of the alleged crimes.

Write a brief (6-8 paragraphs) that will run in tomorrow’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Please double space and use 12 point font.

Please bring to class on Tuesday.

Binter document.

Hello. Here is a link to the story based on the Bitner document. Granted, you did not know about his political background but note the translation and writing style.

Civil Courts

Civil Courts

Here are the records for Seminole County foreclosures. Here is foreclosure process.

Here is Orange County foreclosure information.

Here is information about purchasing Orange County Court records.

Florida courts

Here is a chart of the Florida court system.

Here is an overview of the Florida circuit court system.

Here is information about the Ninth Circuit Court. Here is basic information about the docket. Here are some past annual reports.

Here is information about the Eighteenth Circuit Court. Here is docket information - not every judge posts his/her schedule.

Here is an overview of county courts.

Here is information about the Seminole County Clerk of Courts.

Here is information about the Orange County Clerk of Courts.

Here is information about the Fifth District Court of Appeals. Here are some recent opinions.

Here is information about the Florida Supreme Court.

Here is information about selection judges in Florida.

Here is a good resource for legal terms.

More court coverage

Covering courts

Leonard Charles accosted a woman at a video store on Christmas Day, then came back and threatened to kill the clerks. After being convicted at trial, would he get the maximum time in prison? He might have, if the proper paperwork had arrived.



Previously on “Common Law”, we heard preliminary hearing testimony from women who said they were threatened by Leonard Charles on Christmas Day at a west Wichita video store. When Charles went to trial, a jury found him guilty, though of a less serious crime than he was facing. His public defender Lacy Gilmour explains:



A woman is stranded. A man offers to help. Then he follows her home. It happened to Autumn McDowell at the Family Video store near 29th and Tyler. It was Christmas Day. She and the video store manager described their frightening experiences recently for Judge Jeff Goering at a preliminary hearing.

Testimony

On television court dramas, witnesses give clear answers to direct questions. After all, the entire story has to wrap by the top of the hour. In real life, testimony isn’t always so easy.

Put yourself in the jurors’ seat for this exchange between Kristen Neuhaus and prosecutor Barry Disney during the trial of George Tiller Monday. Tiller is charged with performing abortions in an illegal business relationship with Neuhaus, another doctor.

In the following video, Neuhaus appears to take pains to keep from saying she “worked” for Tiller, even has she compares what she did in Wichita to a doctor she “worked for” in Kansas City, Kan. This video lasts less than three minutes. Jurors have had to listen to days of this kind of testimony.

Trial Process

PAR Legal Terms

Covering cops

Friday is the last day to withdraw

Hello. This is just a reminder that Friday is the last day to withdraw. At this point, you have completed 37% of your grade. If you did poorly on your first exam and two beat stories, withdrawing is an option.

Veteran's Oral History Project

Here is a link to instructional videos about the oral history project.

News U Course

Hello. As noted in the syllabus, in place of class today, take the online NewsU course "Covering Cops and Crime." It is available here.

If you have never taken a Poynter NewsU course, you will need to register here.

Be sure to have the report sent to my email (voss.kimberly@gmail.com) when you finish the course.

See you on Thursday!

Meeting brief example

Hello. Katie was kind enough to let me post her brief as a strong example of what editors would be looking for when covering a meeting.

Seminole County School Board meeting brief

SANFORD-- The Seminole County School Board voted unanimously to approve nearly $21,000 in preconstruction costs for Lake Howell High School’s culinary arts program at its meeting tonight.

The approval was put on hold in November last year so the board could decide if it had the money to go through with the project, said Dede Shaffner, board chairman. The board originally proposed a half-cent tax raise to pay for the school repair, which voters rejected.

George Kosmac, deputy superintendent of operations, said the board approved $60,000 in architect fees last year for the project, some of which has already been spent. The renovations are currently estimated at about 750,000 tax dollars overall, he said, but the board won’t know the final cost for several weeks. Kosmac said members are hoping to complete renovations by August of this year.

“The program has grown so dramatically,” Shaffner said. “We have 700 kids in that program and we’re trying to get it completed before school starts.”

The school already has a building for its culinary arts classes, but renovations are necessary, said Shaune Storch, principal of Lake Howell High School. For example, one of the three culinary classrooms is a former art classroom and doesn’t have the necessary ventilation to support ovens and stoves.

The board will vote again on the final cost of the culinary building renovations in about a month and a half, Kosmac said.

Covering accidents

Election Resources

Here is a good resource for covering elections.

Here is another.

Here is a good resource for campaign finance questions.

Here is Orange County election information.

Here is Seminole County election information.

Covering elections

Budget Basics

Writing assignment for today

Hello all. Please ignore the information about the press release on your assignment sheet. It was a mistake. I copied & pasted from an old assignment sheet. I didn't give your class the press release. Thanks!

Covering local government

Local government story examples

Here is a city council story.

Here is a Public Works/City Council story. Here is another.

Here is an ordinance story.

Here is a zoning story.

Forms of City Government

There are three basic forms of local government - these are covered in chapter six.

1) Mayor-council
2) City manager-council

Here's a chart comparing/contrasting the two forms.

3) Commission - rarely used

Here's a link to one of the few cities that uses this form of government, Portland.

First beat story

Hello. Just a reminder that your first beat story is due today. Good luck!

Meeting reminder

Hello all. Just a reminder that in place of class today, you should cover either the Seminole or Orange County School Board meeting based on your beat community. Send me your meeting brief by email (voss.kimberly@gmail.com) after the meeting. Please bring the agenda to class. Good luck!

Good story pitch example

REDCAMS (Weiner) - "Currently our chief estimates it take two officers to run a red light enforcement detail," said Oveido's city manager at a city council meeting last month. But that fact alone isn't enough to make three proposed red light cameras, which would be the city's first, a no-brainer. At the meeting, the council approved - for some memebers, reluctantly - the city police to look into the cameras, taking the first step into a debate that in other communities has proven especially heated.

The city is basing its light system on nearby Winter Springs, where the cameras have been implimented successfully. Based on the Winter Springs model, according to Oveido's police chief, the cameras would not cost the city anything, but could coust motorists who run the lights quite a bit. The average violation caught on camera in Winter Springs runs $125, of which a whopping $40 goes to the company that provides the cameras.

Though the measure passed unanimously, at least two coucil members have expressed outright dislike of the idea. "I'm not a fan," said Councilman Stephen Schenck. Members of the council expressed concerns that the system could in fact cause accidents rather than prevent them. Studies conducted in other commmunities have shown as much as a 15 percent increase in rear end collisions at lights where the cameras are installed. However, Police Chief Jeffrey Chudnow dismissed those concerns as easily remedied.

"That can be mitigates with proper signage an some speed enforcement on those roads coming up to those lights," he said. There is still a log way to go before the lights could be installed, including negotiations with potential suppliers of the cameras, and an ordinance, which Chudnow said would be necessary to make the violations captured on camera non-moving violations.

Story would include interviews with all mentioned above. I realize that the content above reads more like a meeting brief than a story, but I obviously have only been working on this for a few hours. I'm just looking to get the pitch approved so that I'm sure of my game plan, as our first deadline draws near.

Blogging & Google Maps

The goal today is to have you create a blog in Blogger, create a Google.Map to show your beat communuity's schools and embed it. We'll get started in class and you can finish it on your own.

Next week we will post a photo so be sure to take at least one picture at your school board meeting.

Education Resources

Here is a link to great organization: Education Writers Association. The page includes links to education data.

Here is a link to the Florida PTA.

Here is a link to the Florida School Board organization.

Here is the Florida Department of Education. Here is information on FCAT - including school and district scores.

Here is information on Florida chater schools.

Here are the school report cards for Florida.

Covering education

UCF Closing

UCF is closing the campus and thus we will not have class today, Tuesday. There is no new homework other than getting to know your beat.

Covering legislation

Here is a link to all local laws/ordinances in Florida.

Here is a good explanation of how a law is approved at the state level. (Although it is not actually Florida, most state approval works the same way.)

Here is another good resource.

Meetings

Here is a meeting preview.

Here is an explanatory meeting preview story.

Here is an average story that came out of a meeting. (This is not an actual meeting story.)

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Beat Communities

Oviedo:
Katie Adams
Jerriann Sullivan

Sanford:
Adolfo Ceballis
Tim McGowan


Casselberry:
Sarah Wilson
Sarah Kezer

Winter Garden:
Amanda Friel
James C.

Chapter 3: Accuracy

Albert Brooks

Neighborhood Approach

Veteran's Oral History Project

Here is a link to the UCF Veterans' Oral History Project. The oral history you collect will be stored at the UCF Special Collection Archives and the Library of Congress.

Welcome to Public Affairs Reporting

Welcome to Public Affairs Reporting.

Over the next few class periods, you will receive your beat community - a self-governing city in Orange or Seminole County. You will cover this community for the rest of semester and pitch story ideas about what is happening. You will be competing with two classmates on these pitches. We will go over examples in class.

Your goal is to put public affairs reporting into practice. I am available for any questions along the way.