Practice News Story 6: Speech

Lincoln Dedicates Gettyburg Cemetery

Posted: 4:51 p.m., MST, November 20, 1863

Yesterday at the once bloody battlefield of Gettysburg Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a cemetery to the men who fought and died there, but it also seemed like it was for the nation as well. The President spoke of the war, the legacy of the founding fathers, the men who fought in the battle, and finally bringing a resolution to the great war between the states.
He began with a prophetic statement from the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal.” After that his attitude took on a very labored, somber and exhaustive tone, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” The President said that he had carefully chosen the words of his two-minute speech, and he also said he “felt inspired,” about the ideas and words he had written.
The President also talked about the horrific events of the four-day battle that took place there only a year ago. He struggled with the thought that anything anybody did to dedicated the battlefield could not come close to what the 15,000 brave soldiers of both the north and south who died on the field did to dedicate and consecrate the newly formed cemetery. But above all the speech of President Lincoln was almost symbolic to the national mood, it seemed that most of the 15,000 audience members wanted to see this war die, and be buried in the nation memories. Which was made evident when President Lincoln said “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Above all the Presidents speech was heralded as maybe the best he has ever composed and delivered. His eloquence, composure and emotion were heartfelt, and very powerful. We only hope that the Presidents vision of a healed nation will come to fruition soon.

Michael Jackson Dies at 48

Practice News Story 5: Obituary

Posted: February 15, 2007, 9:23 p.m.

The world of popular music has lost their king. The “king of pop”, Michael Jackson was pronounced dead yesterday Feb. 14 at 11:37 a.m. at the UCLA Medical Center. Mr. Jackson was undergoing breast augmentation surgery when, due to complications of anesthesia, he died on the operating table. There has been no word as to why Michael wanted to perform this surgery, or the precise cause of death. It seemed too many of his fans that loved him, his untimely death is a tragedy, they said he had so much more to accomplish, Jackson was only 48.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in the small town of Gary Indiana. He was the second youngest-brother of seven, and eight of ten children born to Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Michael started his illustrious career in music at a very young age when in 1966 he was co-lead with his brother Jermaine in their families group, the Jackson Five. In 1980 he finally won his first three music awards for his first solo album. Many more awards would soon follow. In 1983 while performing “Billie Jean” at The Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow concert Michael debuted what he is most famous for, his signature moonwalk. Thousands of pre-pubescent school boys were trying to master Michaels style and poise in the hallways of their school the next morning to no avail, it seemed as though he was magic. Then in February of 1984 Michael was nominated for twelve Grammy awards, of which he took home eight, he shattered the record for Grammy awards won in a single year. All of his awards stemmed from his groundbreaking album Thriller, which stayed at the top of Billboards Hot 100 list for months to come. Some said he was perfect in every way musically, Michael once said, "I believe in perfection, and I try to create that in everything we do. We never seem to totally get there, but I believe in perfect execution. And when we don't get at least 99.9%, I get really upset..." Although many did not agree with Michaels personal habits later in his life, almost all loved his music.

Michael will also always be known for all his humanitarian work through the entire world. His 1985 collaboration with Lionel Richie brought us, “We are the World”. This single, devoted purely for charity, helped raise money for the widespread famine in East Africa, and also gave Jackson the Grammy award for “Song of the Year”. Finally in 1989 Elizabeth Taylor presented Michael with the award for “Artist of the Decade”, and dubbed him, “the true king of pop, rock, and soul.”

Michael Jackson is survived by his two ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley, and Deborah Jeanne Rowe, his two sons, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., and his daughter Paris Katherine Jackson. He is also survived by his close family: Joseph, Katherine, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Janet, La Toya, Rebbie, Randy, and of course all the fans that loved him dearly.

Practice News Story 4: Court Case

Two Boys Charged with Church Break-in

Posted: 4:51 p.m., MST, Febuary 7, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - The charges were finally been passed down in the January 31st break in of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel. Jim Michaels was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of breaking and entering, vandalism, and a felony charge of burglary. Mr. Michaels pleaded not guilty in todays preliminary court hearing. Defense attorney Robbie Cochran said that his client would keep his plea of innocence until the March 21st hearing according to his knowledge. His accomplice, a minor whose name has not been released, was arrested at the same time as Mr. Michaels, but has not been charged with any thing at this time. District Attorney Noel Mayfeild said that she had both fingerprint, and past criminal history evidence to bring appropriate charges to Mr. Michaels. The two men were arrested February 3, 2007, just four days after the break in. According to Sheriff deputy Geoffery Hasty they had already sold the stolen computers to a local pawnshop. Both men were at Mr. Michaels home when the police arrested them, Sheriff Hasty said it was a, “peaceful apprehension.” Mr. Michaels posted bond at 5,000 dollars to get out of his jail time.
The two men came in through the open window of Bishop Lawrence Shirks office and stole two computers. As they were trying to leave the building they dropped the monitors in the front foyer, shattering both. This is what Evelyn Braithwait heard early January 31. Evelyn even knew the exact time of the crime, “I sat up and looked at the clock, it was 1:45 a.m.”
Robert Knotz, the local building maintenance manager came by the church at around six o’clock later that morning to fix some damaged ceiling tiles. When he walked through the door there on the floor sat the two broken computer monitors. He immediately called the police. According to Mr. Shirk both computers in his office held no crucial personal information. He told reporters that the computers only held his own personal documents and letters, but nothing that could be used in identify theft.
Evelyn Braithwait has lived in the area for over fifty years, and has never seen something like this. Thinking about the break-in she commented, “I feel pretty safe here.” There are no suspects at this time.