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Here are two sets of facts
for news stories that lend themselves to feature-style
leads. That means you don't need to have the 5W/1H
in the lead. So try to think of something snappy,
fun -- a short "bright" lead. Then complete the
rest of the story.
Fact Set #1: A Squirrelly Situation
Dateline: NEW YORK
Key players: A squirrel, the Metro-North Commuter Railroad
and the Monday afternoon mass transit commute in Manhattan.
What happened: Power was lost. There was a huge tie-up
affecting 47,000 rail commuters. Trains not running
-- they couldn't get out of Manhattan. Service was restored
by crews by Tuesday morning.
How: Squirrel climbed onto the
Metro-North Commuter Railroad power lines.
Result: Electrical
power surge. That weakened an overhead bracket. Because
of the weakened bracket, a wire from the overhead bracket
dangled down and got wrapped up in a train passing
underneath (think of a more descriptive way to say 'wrapped
up'). That ended up tearing down all the lines.
More Info: Commuters waited for hours. Trains never came.
Here's one
fact I want you to attribute: the squirrel was electrocuted
while running around (don't use 'running around' in your
story be creative) on the power lines. That's the word from
Metro-North spokeswoman Donna Evans.
Fact Set #2:
An Alarming Event
Dateline: TULSA, Okla.
Mabel McCullough
is about to turn 95. There was a birthday party. It
was put on the by First United Methodist Church women's
group. McCullough will turn 95 on Sept. 27. They had
a carrot cake for her birthday cake. On it were 95
candles. With help, McCullough blew them all out. And
that created a big cloud of smoke.
"There wasn't an
inch to spare. By the time we had them all lit, it
looked like a torch." That's a quote from Eddi Carlin,
one of the guests. She also said, "We had just sat down
to eat when we saw them in the doorway."
She's referring
to 24 firefighters. The smoke from the blown-out candles
set off a smoke alarm. As a result, five engines and
two ladder companies arrived.
"In my 23 years on the
job, I've seen a lot of thing set off a fire alarm,
but I don't think I've ever heard of one going off
because of a birthday cake." That's a quote from Fire
Chief Lonnie Lamb.
The firefighters didn't stick around
to eat birthday cake. They did have their pictures
taken with McCullough.
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