homework - Parkour!

Click HERE to watch the movie. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Manhattan - (5/25/2010) - Parkour is a physical discipline that seems to combine gymnastics, climbing on buildings and the monkey bars. It started in France more than 20 years and looked cool in the James Bond movie "Casino Royale".

There's also a group of practitioners called New York Parkour that trains in parks around town. But what exactly is parkour?

"Simply put, it's a way to basically train your body to overcome obstacles," says "Owais," a New York Parkour member.

People who do parkour call it a way to get from Point A to Point B in the most creative way possible.

"My favorite thing about parkour is that I can just go out whenever I want and when I feel like it. I can do what I want, there's no real structure to it," says Thomas Dolan of New York Parkour.

Despite that, those who practice parkour say it can be a great workout...

It does look a little on the dangerous side, but members say people should stay within their own physical limits.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) What is Parkour?

4) In which country was Parkour started?

5) How many years ago was it started?

6) What do you think of Parkour? Is it cool or not?

Info fron NY1

Homework - Worst Party Ever!

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Queens, NY (5/23/2010) - Police are searching for the man responsible for opening fire on a Queens street early Sunday morning, killing one man and injuring five other people during a party.

Investigators say shots rang out around 2 a.m. at 182nd Street and 145th Drive in Springfield Gardens.

Dane Freeman, 20, was shot once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other men were hit in the leg, another man was shot in the back, a woman was shot in the shoulder, and another woman was shot in both hands.

They were all taken to local hospitals.

No-one knows why the man started to shoot.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) How many people died?

4) How many people were injured and taken to the hospital?

5) What was the name of the guy that died?

Info from NY1

homework - No More Free Lunch for Students

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

New York City (5/19/2010) - There's no free lunch in the public schools anymore -- at least for principals who now have to pay when the kids don't.The federal government pays for 73 percent of students. The rest are supposed to pay $1.50, but many don't and get fed anyway.

The Department of Education says it's no longer willing to foot the bill --They lost $7 million last year alone -- and recently emailed 500 principals to say their school budgets will be docked the outstanding lunch fees.


The DOE says it lost $35 million from 2004 to 2009 from uncollected lunch fees. But principals NY1 spoke with say the system puts too much responsibility on the schools. They say they can't afford to have their budgets docked for continuing to feed students when parents don't send money.

While many principals have written letters to the DOE objecting to the new policy, the department says it's now each school's responsibility to either collect the money, take it out of their school budget, or stop giving away meals altogether.

So when your teacher gives you the paper for your parent to fill out to get the free lunch, you need to bring it back or else you might not get lunch!

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) How much does school lunch cost?

4) How much money did the DOE lose last year because the students did not pay?

5) Who is going to have to pay if the money is not collected?

6) What do you think, if a student does not have $1.50, should the school leave him hungry?

Info from NY1

homework - Co-op city balconies unsafe

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

New York City (5/18/2010) - If you live in Co-op city, don't go out on your balcony!

The Department of Buildings is issuing a warning about unsafe balconies at over 12 apartment buildings across NYC.

They started a city-wide inspection of buildings because a 24 year-old man fell to his death when his balcony gave way in March 2010 in Murray Hill.

The Department of Buildings found that 3 buildings in Co-op City in the Bronx have unsafe balconies and have told the people in the buildings to stay inside.

Residents of Co-Op City say they're disappointed they won't be able to use their balconies with summer approaching.

Co-op city officials said that the work will be done in 2 years and then the residents will be able to use the balconies.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) How many apartment buildings are unsafe in NYC?

4) Why did the department of buildings start inspecting buildings in the city?

5) How many buildings in Co-op city are unsafe?

6) How long will it take to fix Co-op city?

Info and video from NY1

Homework - Bomb in Afganistan

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

KABUL, Afghanistan (5/17/2010) — A Taliban suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital Tuesday, killing six soldiers, five of them American, officials said. Twelve Afghan civilians also died – many of them on a public bus in rush-hour traffic.

The NATO convoy is a bunch of cars and truck carrying soldiers.

The powerful blast occurred on a major Kabul street. It wrecked nearly 20 vehicles, including five SUVs in the NATO convoy, and scattered debris and body parts across the wide boulevard. The body of woman in a burqa was smashed against the window of the bus.

5425 American soldiers have dies in the Middle East since we started this conflict.

Questions:

1) Where did the story take place?

2) When did the story take place?

3) How many soldiers died in the suicide bomb?

4) How many soldiers have died in the middle east since we started this conflict?

5) How many Afghan civilians died in the bomb?

6) How do you feel about this war anyway?

Info from Huffington post and MSNBC

homework - WiiCane

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Manhattan (5/15/2010) - Instructors at the Jewish Guild for the Blind on the Upper West Side have found a new use for Wii technology. They are testing out a new device called the "WiiCane" to see if it can help improve mobility training and use of the regular cane in young children.

One of the biggest challenges for blind people is trying to learn how to walk in a straight line. Blind people tend to stray either to the left or to the right when they are walking. They have to be trained to stay straight. The WiiCane helps with this training. The WiiCane beeps when the blind person stays straight.

"One of the greatest challenges for an [orientation and mobility] instructor, which I am, is trying to teach a student to travel and walk outdoors in a safe line, in a straight line. And one of the greatest issues is to try to prevent the students from veering which means angling left, or right off their straight line," says Stuart Filan of the Jewish Guild for the Blind. "So the WiiCane is like a super idea. It's a great indoor training device to have our students get the feeling of what it feels like to veer and how, independently, in real time, to correct that situation."

The training tool is being developed by the New York City-based design team Touch Graphics. It uses Wii motion-tracking technology to help students get the feel for not only walking in a straight line, but practice turns. A computer receives movement data and dings if the student remains on track or moves in the right direction.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) What does the WiiCane do?

4) What school is using this technology?

5) What company is developing the technology?

Info from NY1

homework - Drug Kingpin

Click HERE to watch. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Bronx ( 5/13/2010) - Police officers from several different agencies swooped into 1571 Undercliff Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx Wednesday and arrested several people for allegedly running a major drug operation.

"Innocent men, women and children had to live in fear of the drug dealers who used 11 apartments to stash, sell, and cook drugs for street level sales," said DEA agent Wilbert Plummer.

A total of 11 apartments were raided, along with three other Bronx locations in what was called Operation Siesta. In all, 15 people were arrested and indicted. Officers on the federal, state and city level investigated the case for six months.

"We worked together on this using wire tapes and confidential informant information," said DEA agent Glen Coughlin.


Agents say the crew's leader is Jose Delorbe a.k.a Culebra -- which means "snake" -- is being held without bail. Officers say they also have him on video carrying a gun into the building after a shoot out last November. He will be the first alleged drug dealer to be tried under the state's new drug kingpin statute which could carry a life sentence behind bars.

Under the law, a kingpin is someone who oversees the sale of more than $75,000 in drugs over six months. Authorities say this crew's take was a lot more, with about $50,000 in sales and purchases a day in the Bronx and in other states.

"What it was that we seized was one day's work for this organization. They turned over the narcotics very quickly. If they brought in a kilo of cocaine they sold that kilo very, very quickly," said Bridget Brennan New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

People who live in the building and surrounding block say they have known for years that 1571 has been a hot spot for drug dealing.

Those who spoke with NY1 did not want their faces to appear on camera, saying they fear drug dealers will target them for speaking out.
"It got to be so bad that I'm scared to come in my apartment," said one neighborhood resident.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) What is the address where the raids took place?

4) How many apartments were raided?

5) What is a kingpin?

6) How many people were arrested?

7) Why were the people who lived in the building afraid?

Info and video from NY1

homework - New Games

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Manhattan (5/12/2010) - "Skate 3" is a new skating game that is trying to be different from everyone else by letting players cooperate.

Players have the ability to play with others either on the same console or online to take on challenges together or in head-to-head skating competitions. Up to six skaters can play at once.

Gamers can also form teams working to work their way up the skating world by selling boards, creating skateparks and facing completing challenges. They also have a skate school that teaches you some skating moves.

"Skate 3" is rated "T" for Teen and just hit shelves this week for the Xbox 360 and PS3 for $60.

Meanwhile, players can get a starring role in the new DSi fighting title "Photo Dojo."

The martial arts download puts you in the game by first having you assume a bunch of different poses, then snap pictures of yourself in those poses. Then you record a bunch of sound effects and you are the lead character trying to defeat as many of the bad guys as possible.

"Photo Dojo" is a Nintendo DSi exclusive which is absolutely free before June 11. Afterwards, it will cost about $2.

Questions:

1) Where does this story take place?

2) When does this story take place?

3) What are the two games in the story called?

4) How many players can play at once in the skating game?

5) What game system is Skate 3 for and how much does it cost?

6) What game system is 'Photo Dojo' for?

7) How long is 'photo dojo' free?

8) Which one is better, photo dojo or Skate 3?

Info from NY1

homework - Landslide in Canada

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Canada (5/1o/2010) - All four members of a Quebec family whose home was swallowed by a landslide were found dead Tuesday night.

A landslide is when a large piece of land breaks off and goes downhill.

As the sun was setting, rescue workers northeast of Montreal made the grim discovery in the farmhouse caught in a landslide on Monday.

Richard Prefontaine, his wife Lyne and their daughters Amelie, 11, and Anais, 9, were reportedly enjoying Monday night's matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins when the earth beneath their home suddenly gave way in a massive mudslide.

There was no warning, and no time to escape.

The bodies were found late Tuesday, after searchers broke through the top of the house.

"We found them in the television room in the basement . . . where we were told that they would be," said Michel Dore, the associate deputy minister of Quebec's Civil Security Department.

The family was likely caught offguard by the slide, he said. At least two were found still seated on the couch in front of the television.

Questions:

1) Where did the story take place?

2) When did the story take place?

3) How many people died in the landslide?

4) What is a landslide?

5) What were the names of the people that died?

6) Where in the house were the bodies found?

Video from MSNBC. Info from the Calgary Herald

homework - Tornado hits Oklahoma

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Oklahoma (5/10/10) - Deadly tornadoes ripped across Oklahoma on Monday, killing five people, injuring dozens and damaging homes and businesses, including an airport.

A tornado is a violent, spinning column of air. Tornado wind speeds are usually between 40 miles an hour and 110 miles an hour. They usually move over the ground for a few miles and then dissolve. Some really bad tornadoes can have wind speeds of up to 300 miles per hour!

At least 57 people were treated at hospitals in Oklahoma. Two were in critical condition.

More than 35,000 people are without power because the tornadoes ripped down some major power lines.

Forty to 50 homes were destroyed and 30 to 40 were damaged, officials said.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) What is a tornado?

4) How fast are tornado wind speeds usually?

5) How many people died in Oklahoma?

6) How many people are without power?

7) How many people were treated in the hospitals?

Info and video from newsok.com. Image from makli.com (google image)

Homework - Oil Spill Clean-up....

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

GULF OF MEXICO (05/7/2010) - A mission to the bottom of the sea to try to stop the oil leaks in the Gulf of Mexico started early today. A 100-ton concrete-and-steel box was close to being placed over the oil leak on the Gulf floor to try to capture the oil.

A crane late Thursday lowered the box that will collect 85 percent of the oil spewing into the Gulf and funnel it up to a tanker. Eventually the crane would give way to underwater robots that will secure the contraption over the main leak at the bottom.

If all goes well, the box could be working by Sunday.

The BP gas company says that the box is the best they can do but it might not work.

BP is in charge of cleaning up the mess. It was leasing the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that exploded 50 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers on April 20 and blowing open the well. It has been leaking 200,000 gallons a day ever since.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) How is BP going to capture the oil that is leaking into the ocean?

4) If all goes well, when will the box be working?

5) What did BP say about the box?

6) How many gallons a day of oil is leaking?

7) How many workers died in the original explosion?

Info from MSNBC, Video from Guardian

homework - NYC to layoff 6700 teachers!

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Manhattan, NY (5/6/2010) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg is set to announce plans to layoff 6,700 teachers when he talks to the press about the city budget later today.

The city has not seen cuts like this since the 1970s.

Under union rules, teachers are laid off according to seniority which means the newest hires will go first.

Some people think the seniority rules are good and some people think the seniority rules are bad.

People, like the teacher's union, who think the rules are good say that seniority rules are necessary to protect the older teachers from getting fired just because they make more money than newer teachers. For example, if you have been teaching for 20 years then your salary is about what 2 brand teachers would make. So the principal could fire the old teacher and keep 2 new teachers. This is not fair to the old teachers.

People, like the Mayor, who think the seniority law is bad say that there are some really good new teachers who should not get fired just because they are new in these hard times when the city is broke. They say that some of the young teachers are doing a great job and should be kept in the classroom. They say that if a school has a good young teacher who is doing a good job and a old teacher who is doing a bad job, then the principal should get to keep the person who is doing a good job.

The proposal could mean that class sizes will rise and programs like art education will be cut.

Meanwhile, NY1 has also learned that the New York City Police Department will largely be spared the budget cuts. The mayor's budget in January had called for 892 officer cutbacks in the police department but since the bombing attempt in Times Square and a rise in crime, the city has decided to keep the police around.

Questions:
1) Where did this story take place?
2) When did this story take place?
3) What do the seniority rules say?
4) Why does the Teacher's Union think the seniority rules are good?
5) Why does the Mayor think the seniority rules are bad?
6) What do you think? Are the seniority rules good or bad? Why?
7) How many teachers will get laid off?

Info and video from NY1

homework - MTA to layoff 500 people

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Manhattan, NY (4/5/2010) - About 1,000 members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) gathered for a rally on Tuesday by Pennsylvania Station.

They gathered to protest the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) plans to layoff people and cut train service.

To 'layoff' people means to let them go from their job because you don't have enough money to pay them anymore. The MTA says that it just does not have enough money so they have to layoff 500 people.

The MTA workers who gathered on by Penn station say the MTA's plans to cut 500 station agents. They say this will cause more subway crime and people who jump the turnstile because there will be nobody to keep the stations secure.

"I just don’t like the way it was handled. You know, we weren’t given a sufficient amount of time to prepare ourselves for this," said one protesting union worker. "I have a family, I’m getting married Friday, so it’s unfortunate that I have to plan such a beautiful event around this time."

Questions:

1) Where does this story take place?

2) When does this story take place?

3) Why were the workers protesting?

4) How many people are going to lose their jobs?

5) What will happen in the stations if there are less agents in the station?

6) What does 'layoff' mean?

Info and video from NY1

homework - Times Square Bomb Suspect Arrested

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Queens, NY (5/3/2010) - A man has been arrested in connection with the failed Times Square car bomb plot.

The suspect's name is Faisal Shahzad. He was arrested last night around 11:45 p.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

A 'suspect' is a person that the police think committed a crime but has not been to court yet.

Shahzad is a U.S. citizen but was born in Pakistan. He was identified by customs agents while trying to take a flight to Dubai.

Shahzad is being held in New York. He is expected to be brought up on formal charges later today in Manhattan federal court.

Shahzad's arrest comes just days after a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder packed with explosives was found abandoned on 45th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Shahzad had been living in Bridgeport, Connecticut and recently returned from a five-month-long trip to Pakistan.

They say he found the SUV on Craigslist and paid cash to buy it in Stratford, Connecticut about three weeks ago.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) When did this story take place?

3) What is the name of the suspect?

4) What does the word 'suspect' mean?

5) Where is the man they arrested from?

6) What website did the man buy the SUV from?

Info and video from NY1

homework - Bomb in Times Square

Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.

Story:

Manhattan (5/1/2010) - NYPD officials late Sunday night released a video showing a possible suspect in Saturday's attempted bombing in Times Square.

The video shows what appears to be a white man in his 40s in Shubert's Alley, about a half block from where the police found a parked SUV filled with explosive materials.

In the video, the man takes off a shirt, revealing another underneath. He is also seen looking back toward where the vehicle was parked, and putting the first shirt in a bag.

The NYPD's bomb squad found eight bags filled with a fertilizer-like substance in the SUV.
They also found three propane tanks, two filled five-gallon gasoline containers, two clocks with batteries and some electrical wire.

When asked about the car bomb's potential, the police commissioner said the explosion would have caused a "significant fireball."

The investigators are looking at the video to find out who was behind the wheel of the vehicle. They believe it is a man in his 40s who was seen in Shubert Alley near where the vehicle was parked.

Investigators say it all began around 6:30 p.m. Saturday when a t-shirt vendor noticed smoke coming from a Nissan Pathfinder parked and idling on 45th Street just off Seventh Avenue.

The vendor then alerted NYPD mounted officer Wayne Rhatigan, who cleared the streets of thousands of people.

Questions:

1) When did this story take place?

2) Where did this story take place?

3) Describe the man the police think planted the bomb.

4) What kind of stuff was in the SUV?

5) Who told the police about the suspicious car?

6) What was the name of the police officer who cleared the streets?

Info and story from NY1