‘Alternative story telling’? No — just telling the story

Sometimes reporting, editing and producing a breaking news story can be frustrating, because two new developments land on your doorstep before the last one has made it through the production process.

That’s what happened when a gunman entered a real estate office in Valparaiso, Ind., today and took about 10 hostages.  So in parallel with writing msnbc.com’s running main story, which you can read here, I also set up a Storify stream, immediately publishing news, images and local reaction as they came in. By the end of the day, it was a lively, largely unintermediated narrative of the entire drama as it unfolded:

Police Blotter of the Day: Bull shot to death after daring meat-plant escape

Cross-posted from msnbc.com, where it originally appeared:

By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

An animal control officer shot and killed a bull Thursday after it escaped on its way to a Maryland meat processing plant, charged a sheriff’s deputy and damaged a patrol car, authorities said.

The bull escaped Thursday morning in Mount Airy, Md., about 50 miles north of Washington, as it was being led from a truck into the plant, said Brian Horton, a spokesman for the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the sheriff’s incident report, the bull broke free, charged a bystander and ran off in the general direction of a day care center. Deputies followed him into a nearby field, where he then charged one of the deputies.

“Fearing for their safety, a deputy discharged two rounds from a shotgun, striking the bull, and causing him to retreat into a wooded area,” the report said. A county animal control officer then finished him off with two more shots.

Besides the bull, the only casualty was the taillight on a deputy’s cruiser, which the bull slammed into as he eluded attempts to corral him. The body of the bull — presumably no longer fit for human consumption as it was by then lead-contaminated — was released back to its owner.

Police Blotter of the Day: Eggnog thief at large!

Police said someone smashed a glass door at a state liquor store in downtown Pittsburgh early Tuesday morning and stole two bottles of egg nog worth a total of $31.48.

Full story (WTAE-TV of Pittsburgh via msnbc.com)

Reporting: New diet rules curb Meals on Wheels

Cross-posted from msnbc.com, where it originally appeared.

Federal guidelines meant to help Americans eat healthier foods are straining Meals on Wheels and other nonprofits already laboring to make sure the elderly get enough to eat at all.

Lanakila Meals on Wheels in Honolulu, Hawaii, already has a waiting list of 90 people, most of them elderly, who have asked for food the organization can’t afford to provide.

The program can always use more volunteers, but what it really needs now is money.

Police Blotter of the Day: Bay Area man accused of skinning, eating bobcat

Where I come from, that verb would be “applauded for.”

Investigators said the bobcat made five of Henry Arnibal’s 50 roosters into a tasty meal.

Arnibal was not pleased with the bobcat eating his roosters, so the Morgan Hill man shot the big cat with a .22-caliber rifle and turned the tables, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney said.

Prosecutors said Arnibal used tools to skin the bobcat before eating it.

Eating a bobcat is not illegal, but it is against the law to kill one, Lowney said.

Prosecutors said Arnibal was high on methamphetamine when he killed and ate the bobcat.

Full story (KCRA-TV of Sacramento, Calif.)

Unfortunate Food Headline of the Day

Don’t think too hard about how that might be pronounced.

Police Blotter of the Day: Masked teens ‘just wanted to have fun’ at McDonald’s

“Police surrounded the restaurant while the boys were still ordering their food and at least eight officers waited with guns drawn for the boys to come out.

“‘They had all types of guns out; AK-47[s] and stuff, it was crazy,’ said a witness.

“Police did not expect to see two teenagers coming out of the restaurant, with food in hand.

“‘They said they just wanted to have fun. These kids came out with masks on and we had guns drawn and it could have gone in a bad direction. Luckily things worked out,’ said Sgt. Kirk Zilke.”

Full story (WFTV-TV of Orlando, Fla., via UPI)

Police Blotter of the Day: Cheese Danish road rage attack

“The video shows a man get out of his car, approach the victim with a cream cheese Danish pastry in his hand. He proceeds to smear it on the man’s windshield while sharing a some choice words before he gets back in his car and takes off.

“‘He’s chewing on it walking toward his car. At that point he starts smearing his Danish all over my windshield, and I’m just like, “Yeah, alright. Good for you,”‘ he said. …

“Turns out the man with a temper when it comes to transportation works for the Department of Transportation, directing traffic on the very ferry route Schiller takes everyday.”

Full story (KING-TV of Seattle)

Police Blotter of the Day: Woman tries to trade salad for drugs

“A 33-year-old woman was charged Monday with trying to trade an undercover police officer $2 and a box of salad from the Salt Lake City Olive Garden for $10 worth of cocaine. …

“[T]he woman told the undercover officer … that she would also return later with more money or Olive Garden gift cards in exchange for the cocaine, charging documents state.”

Full story (Salt Lake Tribune)

Schools cut lunch options for kids who struggle to pay

New federal nutrition regulations are in the works that could put an even bigger strain on the finances of already-struggling school meal programs. To encourage eligible children to sign up for federally subsidized free or reduced-price meals, some meal programs are serving them shrunken “alternate” lunches, often just two slices of bread, a slice of cheese and a 4-ounce juice cup.

If a school can get more eligible children enrolled, its direct costs go down because the federal government picks up more of the bill. Slenderized lunches, administrators say, are simply part of an aggressive campaign to make families aware of the benefit and get them signed up.

“If they need assistance, we give them assistance,” said Wayne Nagy, the Lee County district’s food and nutrition services director. But “if they don’t need assistance, we expect them to pay.”

Is that a creative way to address a shortage of school funding, or is it just punishing lower-income children? Hit the comments and let me know.

Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)

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