Exercise 1: Copy Editing
INSTRUCTIONS: Use the proper copy-editing symbols to correct all the mechanical,
spelling and AP style errors in the following sentences. None of the possessives have
been formed for you.
During the 1990s, a nine year old girl in Ruston Louisiana won a trophy, 5000 dollars, and a trip
to the United States Capital Bl;dg.
Thomas Shriver Junior an employee of the Roess Company in Fairbanks Alaska has a Ph.D. in
economics and will be here Mon, Tues., & Wed.
Prof. Rebecca Malone of Forty-two Fifth Avenue works in the History Department and shares an
office in Rm. 247 of the Humanities Bldg.
Afterwards, 7 persons, all United States citizens, testified that the US navy payed the
Westinghouse Corporation $14,200,000 dollars.
“The Washington Post” reported Tue. That the suspect is White, in her 30’s, about 5 ft., 2 inches
tall, and weighs about one hundred pds.
Only one media reported that the President of the National Rifle Assn. met with sixteen members
of the US Congress on August 23, 2008.
During the 1960’s, a committee of the United States Congress estimated that the program would
cost $7 to $8.4 billion dollars.
The boy, age 7, had 42 cents and said his mother, the Mayor, will attend the P.T.A meeting Nov.
28 if the temperature remains above 0.
It was an unusual phenomena. During the twentieth century, the odds were 9 to 1 that 80 % of
the Mayors would be reelected to a 2nd term.
Moving backwards, the 14 yr old babysitter in martin Tn. Said goodbye, then picked up the bible
and ran towards her home on Roe St.
Exercise 2: Copy Editing
INSTRUCTIONS: Use the proper copy-editing symbols to correct all the mechanical,
spelling and AP style errors in the following sentences. None of the possessives have
been formed for you.
During the 1990s, a nine year old girl in Ruston Louisiana won a trophy, 5000 dollars, and a trip
to the United States Capital Bl;dg.
Thomas Shriver Junior an employee of the Roess Company in Fairbanks Alaska has a Ph.D. in
economics and will be here Mon, Tues., & Wed.
Prof. Rebecca Malone of Forty-two Fifth Avenue works in the History Department and shares an
office in Rm. 247 of the Humanities Bldg.
Afterwards, 7 persons, all United States citizens, testified that the US navy payed the
Westinghouse Corporation $14,200,000 dollars.
“The Washington Post” reported Tue. That the suspect is White, in her 30’s, about 5 ft., 2 inches
tall, and weighs about one hundred pds.
Only one media reported that the President of the National Rifle Assn. met with sixteen members
of the US Congress on August 23, 2008.
During the 1960’s, a committee of the United States Congress estimated that the program would
cost $7 to $8.4 billion dollars.
The boy, age 7, had 42 cents and said his mother, the Mayor, will attend the P.T.A meeting Nov.
28 if the temperature remains above 0.
It was an unusual phenomena. During the twentieth century, the odds were 9 to 1 that 80 % of
the Mayors would be reelected to a 2nd term.
Moving backwards, the 14 yr old babysitter in martin Tn. Said goodbye, then picked up the bible
and ran towards her home on Roe St.
Exercise 3: Copy Editing
INSTRUCTIONS: Using the proper copy-editing symbols provided on the inside cover
of your textbook, correct the errors in the following stories. Except for some obvious
errors, the stories’ style (the abbreviations, punctuation and spelling, for example) is
correct. There is one exception, however. You will have to form all the
possessives. None have been formed for you.
Girl Scouts
the countys Girl Scout Council no loonger will acept any checks during its annual cookie
sale-a-thon.
During its last sale-a-thon, the council lost $4,284 due to worthlesschecks.
“That may not sound like a lot, but its a serious loss for us,” said Linda Goree, the Girl
Scoust county executive. “It cuts into our profits, but al so wastes too many hours of our
timme.”
Next year, Goree said, thecountys Girl Scouts will accept only cash
Two factors agravated the prov problem during the scouts last sale-a-thon, Goree
continued. first, more pepople paid by check. Second, a larger percentage of the checks teh
Girl Scouts received bounced.
“Some people pay by check beause they don’t have the cash, ” Goree said. “Or, they want
to place a large order. We have people who place orders for $100 or more, and thosse poeple
are especially likely to pay by check. we also receive checks for a little as one or two dollars.”
Scout leaders call people who signed the checks that bounce and, in most cases,ask them to
mail neW checks to the cty. office. The scout leadesr are unable to reach everyone,
however. Smoe People have moved. Other s do not have telephones—or do not seem to
answer their tele phones.
“usually its an honest mistake, ad andpeople are embarrassed when we call them,” Goree
said. “THey want to take care of the problem right away. Other people say they want to pay
but dont have the money, and we can usually work something out with them. Unfortunately,
there are other people who get mad at us, like its our fault or something, and refuse to pay. Or,
they write new checks that also bounce. It puts our leadess in a terrible situaton. A Girl Scout
leadershouldn’t have to deal with problems like that. Also, its not a good situation or example
for our girls, and that’s the reason for our ne w policy, why we’ll no longer accept any checks.”
Men’s Longevity Being a middle-aged man and single can be deadly, too sociologists at
your college warned today
The sociologists, Margo Matos and LeeAnne verkler, found that middle-aged men who
remain single double their chances of dying.
For 10 years, Matos and verkler tracked one thoussand men in the state. All of the men
were 40 old years at the start of the study, and half were married. Matos and Verkler fuond that
11.7 percent of the men who remained unmarried died before their 50th birthday, compared to
only 5.9 percent of themen who remained married.
Some of the maried men were divorced or widowed during the study, and 7.1 percnt of
those who remainedd alone for at least half the period also died.
“We arent sure of all the reasons,” verkler said. “That’s what we’ll look at next. WE think
poor diet plays a role. Also the use of alcohol, smoking, a lack of exercise and low incomes. Men
who live by themselves seem to do more drinking and smoking, and many don’t PREprepare
good meals for themselves. Plus there’s the absence of social support. It ehlps to have
someone to talk with, someone who shpares your li fe and is there to provide help when you
need it.”
Matos and Verkler found that men also live longer if they have a roommate. “It doesn’t
matter who the persn is, a parent, child orfreind,” Verkler said. “We’ve found, however,that none
of the alternatives are as conducive to a long life as a stable marriage. those are the man who
live the longest, the men who are happily marrried.”
Outstanding Teacher
Wilma DeCastro is an English teacher at Kennedy High Schol and, six months ago, was
named the city’s “Teacher ofthe Year.” Today she resigned.
“All my life I wanted to be a teachher,” DeCastro said. “Ive really enjoyed it, but I have
two little girls and Can’t afford it any longer. I want a good live for may family, and now wecan’t
afford to buy a decent house in a good neighborhood, a newcar, nice clothes, or so many of the
other things we want. wee skimp on everything, even food.”
There years ago, DeCastro began to sell real estate during her sumer vacations. For th e
last year, she has continued to sell real estate part-time, primarily weakends
“I can’t do it any longer,” she said. ”I can’t wrok two jobs, do a good job at both of the jobbs,
and a.lso have time for my daughters, so I’ve decided to go into real estate full time. I can
triple salary my salary. INN a few years, if I work hard, I should be able to do even better than
that. eventually, I’d like togo into businss for myself.”
Greg Hubbard, superintendent of the city’s school system, said: “Of coures we’re sorry to
see her leave. We’d like to keep her, to be able to pay all our teachers mr more, espec ially our
best teachers. But there’s no moneey for higher salaries. NO one wants to pay higher taxes.”
DeCastro is 28 and started teaching at the high schoo0l six years ago. she aws named
“Teacher OF The Year” because of her popularity, but also because she inspired several
studentsto start a literary maga zine that has won adozenprizes
Heroic Girl
while walking to school this moningmorning, an 11-year-old girl noticed a gunman
robbuing two clerkS in a convenence store on Colonial Drive
The girl, Kathryn Kunze of94 Jamestown Drive, raran to a nearby telepone, dialed 911,
then returned to the store and noticed an empty car par ked naearby withits motor
running. she reachedd inside, shut off the cars motor and took the keys.
“Imagine what the rober thought when he ran out of the storee, jumped into HIS car and
realized the keys weregone,” said Sgt. Tammy Dow. “she was one smart girl, and Brave, too.”
The Gunman went bavck into the stoer and asked the clerks there for the keys to there
cars. Bothclerks, however, said that they had walked to work and did not own a car.
The gunman then walked to a near,by park, and the police Aarrested him there five
minutse later.
William j. Chuey, 27, of 57l0 michigan Ave was charrged with armed robbery.
Polic e officers later questioned the girl at school. “I saw this man with a gun, just like on
telivision” she said. “Then I saw thecar. It was running, and I just figured it was the robbers, so
I took his keys and ran here.”
Kathryn’s mother, said she was p””proud—and frightened—by her daughters actions.
“I’Mm proud she thought so quickly,” Mrs. Lauren Kunze said. “But I don’t wnat her to trfy
anything like that ever again.”
Roadbed Trails
RAilroads have abandoned hundreds of m iles of old roadbeds in the state, and the
governortoday revealed plans to convert the roadbeds into trawils for bicyclists hikers,
horseback riders and runners.
The govenor said her budget for nxextt year will include an extra $10 million for the
Departmentof natural Resources, which will use the money to ac quire and maintainn the
trials “The initial outlay is modest,” the gov. said. “But we hope the program will expand
so, in five or 10 years,we’ll have hundreds of miles of these trials. Eventually, the people using
themshould be able to hike or ride from one end of the state to another.”
A representative for the states railrods said that most will probably agree to sell their
abandoned roadbeds tothe state, provided they receive a fair pricee,
“We aren’t us ing the roadbeds for anything,” he said, “and there aren’t many other
buyers. they were our leasst profitable routes, and that’s why we abandoned them.”
During a press Conference this mohningthis morning, the governor added: “We need more
land for recreation, and this is the prefect solution. wee think we can acquire the roadbeds for a
reasonable price, annd we’ll start with some of the mmost scenic. We’llalso concentrate, at least
initialy, on roadbeds near the state’s population centers, os they’re conveni ent for a majority of
the people using them.”
THE governor said the
biggest expense, after acquiri;ng the roadbeds, will be improving their bridges.. “We’ll need
better flooring and railings to protect the public, and that will cost some money,” she said. The
railoads havve already tor n up the tracks,o selling them for scrap.
Repossessing Cars
Police Chief Tony sullivan Wants to ebgin seizing t he cars driven by drunken drivers.
While testifyingbefore a legislative commmittee in the state capital this morning, Sullivan
said police oficers in the state need the authority to to seize the vehicles used by motorists
convicted three or more times of drunken driving. Sullivans pproposal would al so apply to
motorists convicted of driving with a license suspended or revoked because of drunken drving—
and to motorists convicted of driving undre the Influence of drugs.
“Were runninng across too many repeat offjenders,” sullivan said. “They ignore the laws
now in eff ect, and its time to do something about it. It doesn’t do any good to just take away
their lcenses. They’ll drivewithout one.”
Sullivan said some motorists in the statehave been convicted of drunken driving more than a
dozentimes . “Weve gott peopel who’ve served a year in jail, some who’ve served five years,”
Sullivan said. “It doesn’t seemtodo any good. weather they have a liense or not, they star”t to
drink and drive again as soon as they get out. If wetake away their cars, they’ll havetostop. U
nless they’re ultra-rich, there’s a limit to howmany cars they can afford to buy.”
Tobacco Ban
Beginning next fall, students in the citys public shcools will have to leave their cigarettes
and other tobaco products at home.
The School Board last night voted 6 to 1 to BAN the possession and use of all obacco
tobacco products on school grounds.
“The boards policy will apply to evferyone,” said gary Hubbard, superintendent
of schools. “its not just for ourstudents. The policy will also apply to our teachers, other school
personnel and, in addition, to any visitors using our facilities.”
Students found smoking on school property will be reprimanded for a firs t ofense,
detained for a secnod and ex;pelled for three days for a third. School personnel will be
reprimanded by their principal. Other people wlil be asked to stop using the tobacco products or
to leave the school grounds.
“Previously,” hubbard said, “we allowed stud ents to smokee inn some designated areas
both inside and outside our bldgs.: in our football stadium s, for example. Its badfortheir health,
and we decided last night that we weren’t being consistent. It doesn’t make any sense for us to
tell students, in their classes, about the dangers of smoking, andthan to allow them to
smokeunder our supervision. Besides, We were geting a lot of complaints from nonsmokesr.”
Exercise 4: Writing Complete News Stories
INSTRUCTIONS: Write complete news stories based on the following information.
Critically examine the information’s language and organization, improving it whenever
possible. To provide a pleasing change of pace, if there is quoted material in the
information provided, use some quotations in your stories. Go beyond the superficial;
unless your instructor tells you otherwise, assume that you have enough space to
report every important and interesting detail. Correct any errors you may find in
grammar, spelling, punctuation and AP style. Refer to the directory in your textbook
for the proper spelling of names.
1. There’s a totally new idea starting to be implemented in your city. Some call it "a pilot
program." Others call it "a satellite school." Your School Board likes the idea because it
saves the board money. Businesses like it because it helps them attract and retain good
employees. There was a meeting of your citys School Board last night. Greg Hubbard,
superintendent of your citys school system, recommended the idea, and the School
Board then proceeded to vote 6-1 in favor of trying the new idea. Whats the idea? Its to
mix companies and classrooms. Recently, plans were announced to construct a major
new General Electric manufacturing plant in your city. The plant will employ a total of
more than 600 employees, many of them women who will work on assembly lines,
helping make small appliances for the new General Electric plant. To attract and retain
qualified women, many of whom have young children, the plant wants a school to be
located on its premises. It offered to provide, free of charge, free space: to construct a
separate building on its premises with 3 rooms built according to the School Boards
specifications. Its the wave of the future, Hubbard told the School Board last night. Its a
win-win situation, he added. He explained that it is a good employee benefit, and it helps
ease crowding in the districts schools if some students go elsewhere. The details are
being negotiated. To start with at first, the school will have three rooms and serve about
60 kindergarten and first-grade children of employees. The school district will equip the
classrooms and pay the salaries of a teacher and a teachers aide for each classroom. At
this point in time there are only approximately 20 school districts in the entire country
trying the idea. Students will eat in the factorys employee cafeteria and play on a
playground also provided by the new factory. Parents will provide transportation to and
from the facility. Equipping each classroom will cost in the neighborhood of
approximately $10,000. The price is about the same as for a regular classroom. Hubbard
said if the program is successful, it will expand to other companies. A company will have
to supply a minimum of 20 children to justify the cost of the program which could, if
successful, serve young students in 2nd and possibly 3rd grades as well. The program is
thought to attract and retain more employees-to reduce the rate of attrition, thus saving
companies the cost of training new employees. That is especially important in industries
with many low-paying positions in which there is often a high turnover. Its also a
solution to working parents who feel there is never enough time to spend with their
children. Hubbard said one of the nice things is that many will have the opportunity to
ride to and from work and also have lunch with their children.
2. They’re all heroes, but no one knows exactly how many of them there are, nor all their
identities. They were shopping late yesterday evening at the Colonial Mall in your city.
The mall closes at 10 p.m., and it was about 9:50 pm when the incident occurred. There
was a serious incident: a robbery. Among the other stores in the mall is a jewelry store:
Elaine’s Jewelry. An unidentified man walked into the store and, before anyone could
respond, pulled out a hammer, smashed two display cases, and then proceeded to scoop
up with his hands handfuls of jewelry, mostly watches and rings. Elaine Benchfield is the
owner of the store, and also its manager, and she was present at the time and began
screaming quite loudly. People heard her screams, saw the man flee, and, according to
witnesses, 8 or 10 people began pursuing the man through the mall. As the chase
proceeded, the posse grew in number. "Things like that just make me mad," explained
Keith Holland, one of the shoppers who witnessed the crime and joined the posse. The
chase ended in one of the shopping malls parking lots. Once outside in the parking lot,
even more people started joining the posse, yelling at and chasing the man. Asa
Smythe, a jogger who says he jogs a distance of 20 miles a week, said he knew the man
might out-sprint him for a short distance, but that he also knew he was going to follow
the man to hell if he had to. "He couldn’t lose me, no way he could lose me," Smythe
said. Smythe is a former high school football player and Marine. He succeeded in
catching up with and tackling the man. More shoppers, an estimated 15 or 20 by police,
then surrounded the man, holding him there in the parking lot until police reached the
scene. The people stood in a circle around the man, threatening him, but also
applauding and shaking hands among themselves, proud of their accomplishment. The
suspect has since then been identified by police officers as Todd Burns, age 23, of 1502
Matador Dr., Apt. 302. He has been charged with grand theft and is being held on
$25,000 bond at the county jail. Police officer Barbara Keith-Fowler, the first officer to
reach the scene, said she thinks Burnes was happy to see her. Burnes was not armed,
and was apparently frightened, police said, by the crowd. At one point in the chase he
threw them the bag of loot, apparently hoping they would stop following him. A
bystander retrieved the bag and returned it to Blancfield, who said it contained
everything stolen from her store. A grateful Blanchfeld then proceeded to tell you, when
you called her on the phone, that the people who helped her were a super bunch of
people and made her feel wonderful. Blanchfeld added that she thinks "people responded
as they did because they are sick and tired of people getting ripped off."
3. Its a most unusual controversy. It involves an act at a circus the Shriners in your city
put on to raise money for their charitable activities. In addition, the Shriners, who put
the circus on every year at this time in your city, invite free of charge hundreds of the
citys ill, mentally handicapped and needy children. One of everyones favorite acts
involves six cats that look like rather typical household pets. The circus opened last
Friday, with shows to continue every nite at 8 p.m. this week through this coming
Saturday evening. There will also be a show at 2 pm Saturday afternoon. After seeing
the first shows last weekend, some people began to complain about an act put on by
Sandra Kidder of Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Kidder travels from city to
city with the circus and explains that she enjoys traveling and loves her animals, all cats.
The cats dive through flaming hoops, and thats what people have complained about. Her
cats do it for love, Kidder said when you interviewed her today. They’ll do anything for
her, she said, because she loves them and they love her. Someone, however, filed a
complaint with the citys Humane Society. The complaint charges that Kidder terrifies and
starves her cats, endangering their lives to get them to do the trick. Annette Daigle, who
filed the complaint, resides in her home at 431 E. Central Blvd. Her complaint states that
the cats are forced to perform highly unnatural behaviors for them-that the last thing a
cat wants to do is go near fire. Diagle said she is not the only one concerned about the
cats welfare but that other people who also feel the way she does that the cats are being
starved, terrorized, endangered, and abused don’t want to get involved in the
controversy. Kidder responded to you that she feeds her cats one good meal a day at
the end of their performance. She couldn’t do it sooner, she said, because, if they had
just eaten, her cats would fall asleep in the middle of their act. Kidder then went on to
add that she would never do anything to hurt or endanger her cats. In addition to
jumping through flaming hoops, her cats during each act also leap from stool to stool;
jump high in the air; stand on their hind legs; stand on their front legs; sit on their
haunches in the begging position like dogs; and walk across a stretched wire, like tight-
rope walkers. She calls them her "fabulous flying felines." They’re professionals, she
concluded. Finally, in addition, Kidder added that its easier for her cats to jump through
the flaming rings than to master many of the other, simpler-looking tricks. They’re not
scared of the flaming hoops, she insists. They’re only scared if someone is mean to
them. They need to feel that you love them. The hardest thing for them to learn to do is
to stand up on their hind legs. Its not natural for them, but they’ll do it for her. She also
further revealed that they’re not special cats. Friends gave her some. She picked up
others at a pound. Renee Chung-Peters, head of your citys Humane Society, said she is
in the process of investigating the complaint. Chung-Peters said she will watch tonights
show and hopes to examine all the cats immediately after the show. When you contacted
Kidder, she said that she has no objections to that.
4. An estimated 12,000 people in your city and surrounding area will be affected by the
news. A chain of health spas called "Mr. Muscles" is closing. Its the areas largest spa,
with 6 clubs located throughout the city. It closed without warning. The company is
owned by Mike Cantral of 410 South Street. Normally, the spas open at 6 a.m. and,
when people went to them today, they found a simple notice taped to the doors at all 6
saying, "Closed Until Further Notice." Cantral was unavailable. His attorney, Jena Cruz,
said the company is bankrupt and she doesn’t expect it to reopen. She said she will file a
bankruptcy petition for the spas in federal court, probably early next week. Hundreds
and hundreds of regular members showed up at the clubs today and found the doors
locked, the lights out, and the equipment inside sitting unused. Employees, estimated to
total 180 in number, were also surprised. They said they did not know the spas were in
trouble and had no inkling they were about to close. Several said they are worried about
whether or not they will be paid for their work during the last two weeks. They are paid
every two weeks, and their normal payday is tomorrow. Some members paid up to $499
a year for use of the facilities. Some have paid for 3 or 5-year memberships. An
undetermined number bought lifetime memberships for $3,999. The clubs have been
open for more than 15 years. The state Department of Consumer Affairs is investigating
the closing. Kim Eng, director of the department, said "I do not know if any members
can get refunds on their memberships but if the company goes bankrupt that seems
unlikely." Cruz said the clubs were losing a total of $3,000 a week. She added that there
is no money left to return to members. The state attorneys office is also investigating
members complaints. The company opened its first spa in 1981, then began an
aggressive expansion program. Atty. Cruz said, "The company borrowed money to buy
land for its spas and to build the spas, each of which cost a total of well over a million
dollars to build and equip, and it has not been selling enough new memberships in
recent months to make the payments on all its loans."
5. It was a dreadfully tragic incident and involved a 7-year-old girl in your city: Tania
Abondanzio, the daughter of Anthony and Deborah Abbondanzia. The girl was admitted
to Mercy Hospital last Friday morning. She was driven to the hospital by her parents.
She was operated on later that morning for a tonsillectomy. She died Saturday morning.
Hospital officials investigating the death announced, during a press conference this
morning, that they have now determined the apparent cause of death: that the girl was
given the wrong medication by a pediatric nurse. They did not identify the nurse, saying
only that she has been suspended, pending completion of the investigation. The girls
parents were unavailable for comment. Tania was a 2nd grade student at Washington
Elementary School. Her physician, Dr. Priscilla Eisen, prescribed a half milligram of a
pain reliever, morphine sulphate, after surgery. Hospital records show that, somehow,
by mistake, the nurse gave the girl a half milligram of hydromorphone, a stronger pain
reliever commonly known as Dilaudid. The victim was given the drug at 2:30 p.m. Friday
afternoon and developed severe respiratory problems at 2:40 p.m. She also complained
of being hot and went into an apparent seizure. An autopsy conducted over the weekend
to determine the cause of her problems showed results, also announced during the press
conference today, that were consistent with the hospitals report, police said. Police are
treating the death as accidental. After developing respiratory problems, the girl was
immediately transferred from the medical facilitys pediatrics ward to the intensive care
ward and remained in a coma until Saturday morning, when doctors pronounced her
brain dead. She was then taken off a respirator and died minutes later at 9:40 a.m.
Saturday morning. The nurse involved in the unfortunate incident noticed she had
apparently administered the wrong drug during a routine narcotics inventory when the
shifts changed at midnight Friday. She immediately and promptly notified her
supervisor. The two drugs are kept side by side together in a locked cabinet. Hospital
officials said a dosage of a half-milligram of hydromorphone is not normally considered
to be lethal, not even for a child. Dr. Irwin Greenhouse, hospital administrator, said in a
statement released to the press today that, "Our sympathy goes out to the family, and
we will stay close to them to provide support." He declined to comment further.
Hydromorphone, a narcotic used to treat pain, is six to seven times more potent than
morphine. Children sometimes are given a half milligram of hydromorphone to control
coughing, a druggist you consulted said. The druggist added that the dosage did not
sound outrageous to her, but rather sounded very reasonable, as a matter of fact. The
drug is generally used for pain relief after surgery or as medication before an operation,
the druggist also informed you, asking that she not be identified by name, a request that
you agreed to honor.
6. A lone man robbed a bank in the city. He entered the Security Federal Bank, 814 North
Main Street, at about 2:30 p.m. yesterday. Bank officials said he first went into the bank
with the excuse of obtaining information about a loan, talked to a loan officer and then
left. When he returned a few minutes later, he was brandishing a pistol and demanded
money from the banks tellers. Glady Anne Higginbotham, the banks manager, said he
forced two tellers to lie on the floor. He then jumped behind a counter and scooped up
the money from five cash drawers. As the gunman scooped up the money, he also
scooped up a small exploding device disguised to look like a packet of money and stuffed
it into his pockets along with the rest of the cash. The device contains red dye and tear
gas and automatically explodes after a specified amount of time. The length of time
before the explosion is determined by each individual bank using the device. The device
is activated when someone walks out of a bank with it. As the gunman left the bank, he
ordered four customers to lie down on the floor. Most of the customers were unaware of
the robbery until told to get down on the floor. Witnesses believe the gunman sped away
from the scene in a pickup truck parked behind the building. Police say they found a red
stain in the rear parking lot and surmise that the device exploded just as the robber was
getting into the truck. An eyewitness told police he saw a late-model black pickup truck
a few blocks away with a red cloud coming out the window a few moments after the
robbery but was unable to get the license number. Detective Myron A. Neeley said, "That
guy should be covered with red. The money, too. Just look for a red man with red
money. You can’t wash that stuff off. It just has to wear off. It explodes all over the
place-in your clothes, in your hair, on your hands, in your car. Its almost like getting in
contact with a skunk." An FBI agent on the scene added that many banks now use the
protective devices in an effort to foil bank robbers and that the stain will eventually wear
off humans but stays on money forever. He estimated that the man will be covered with
the red dye for at least the next two or three days. The man was described as a white
man. He is between the ages of 25 and 30 years of age. He is about 6 feet tall. He
weighs about 180 pounds. He has long blond hair. His attire includes wire-rimmed
sunglasses, a gold wedding ring, a blue plaid shirt, blue jeans and brown sandals.
Philippines culls 7,000 pigs in outbreak of African
swine fever
Infected pigs found in two towns near capital Manila, as country
becomes latest to be hit by disease
Bibi van der Zee and agencies
@bibivanderzee
Mon 9 Sep 2019 10.46 BSTFirst published on Mon 9 Sep 2019 08.21 BST
Pork is a critical market for the Philippines and accounts for 60% of meat consumption in the
country. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
The Philippines has reported its first cases of African swine fever, becoming the
latest country hit by the disease that has killed pigs from Slovakia to China, pushing
up pork prices worldwide.
The virus is not harmful to humans but causes haemorrhagic fever in pigs that
almost always ends in death. There is no antidote or vaccine and the only known
method to prevent the disease from spreading is a mass cull of affected livestock.
Over the last year ASF has spread rapidly in Asia. The first official outbreak was in
China in August 2018, but it has since spread to Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar,
Cambodia, Mongolia and North Korea.
The Philippine outbreak began with the identification of infected pigs in two towns
near the Philippine capital, Manila, and authorities have culled more than 7,000
pigs within a one-kilometre (0.6-mile) radius, said the agriculture minister,
William Dar.
He said the country was not facing an epidemic and urged Filipinos to continue
eating pork, which is a critical market and accounts for 60% of meat consumption
in the Philippines.
The Asian country is the world’s eighth biggest pork producer by volume and its
swine industry is estimated at 260bn pesos (£4bn), according to the agriculture
department.
Dar said 14 of 20 samples sent to a UK laboratory tested positive for African swine
fever, but it would take a week to confirm how virulent the strain is.
The virus was first recorded in Rodriguez town, six miles east of Manila. Other
undisclosed areas are being closely monitored for possible infection, he added.
“We have never been in an epidemic, just to highlight that. We are responding to
the increased number of deaths of pigs,” Dar said.
Authorities suspect the swine fever cases stemmed from backyard hog raisers who
feed pigs “swill”, leftover food scraps from hotels and restaurants.
The ministry added the virus could also be traced to smuggled frozen meat and
returning overseas Filipino workers who brought back infected meat products.
China has been hit particularly hard by the virus; a report by Rabobank last week
estimated that by the end of 2019 the national pig herd could halve as a result of
the outbreak. There are suggestions that China will open up their emergency frozen
pork reserves in order to deal with the problem. Prices there have doubled
since July.
In countries like the US and Australia where the disease has not yet appeared,
governments are stepping up checks at airports and dispersing advice on
biosecurity. Experts estimate an outbreak in Australia would cost the country
US$34bn (£27bn).
The head of the UK’s National Pig Association, Zoe Davies, has repeatedly
warned of the dangers of ASF entering the UK. “We have always maintained that
the biggest threat to the UK pig herd is from infected meat products that are
illegally brought in from infected regions that then find their way into the UK pig
herd or feral boar population,” she said recently.
“There’s a possibility that [ASF’s] here already, perhaps in somebody’s fridge,
because our checks on most of our borders right now are not very good. The risk is
high – and it’s a big concern for us as an industry.”
In May, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization said pork prices had risen by
up to 50% both in China and on the Chicago futures exchange.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
Polio outbreak in the Philippines
On 19 September 2019, an outbreak of polio was declared in the Philippines. All
children in the Philippines are at risk of lifelong paralysis because of this outbreak.
The Philippine Department of Health and partners are working together on a
comprehensive outbreak response, including mass polio immunization rounds from
October 2019. All children, regardless of whether they are covered by the mass
immunization campaign or not, should be vaccinated according to the routine
immunization schedule.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is supporting the Philippine
Government’s response. The GPEI is a public-private partnership led by national
governments with five partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. Its goal is to eradicate polio worldwide.
WHO is providing technical advice on the outbreak response, on-the-ground
monitoring and support for risk communication.
Feature: Essence of Batang Pillarian
Science: Polio Outbreak in the Philippines
African Swine Fever
Editorial:
