Newspaper Circulation Down, Web Readers Up

Daily circulation fell 2.5 percent at U.S. newspapers in the six
month period ending in March, according to data released Monday,
reflecting the industry's ongoing struggle to retain paying
customers amid competition from the Internet and other media outlets.

The Newspaper Association of America, analyzing data from the Audit
Bureau of Circulations, also reported that Sunday circulation fell
3.1 percent at the 610 newspapers reporting those figures. The 2.5
percent decline in average paid weekday circulation was based on
data from 770 newspapers reporting to the Audit Bureau.

The overall decline in both weekday and Sunday circulation were
approximately the same as those given in the previous six-month
reporting cycle for the period ending last September.

Newspaper circulation has been in general decline for years as many
people, particularly young adults, turn to other media outlets
including cable TV and the Internet for news and information. Also,
tougher rules on telemarketing have forced newspapers to find other
ways to attract new readers.

Despite the decline in paid copies, newspapers are seeing a greater
number of visitors to their Web sites. The NAA also reported Monday
that newspaper-run sites had an overall 8 percent increase in
viewers in the first quarter.

The data from Nielsen/NetRatings found that newspaper Web sites
averaged 56 million users in the period, or 37 percent of all online
users in the period, the NAA said.

Revenue from online advertising is growing quickly — about 25
percent to 30 percent a year — but still makes up a relatively small
portion of newspapers' overall advertising revenue at about 5
percent, John Kimball, the chief marketing officer of the NAA, told
reporters on a conference call.

On the whole, most newspapers are showing declining circulation.
John Murray, the NAA's vice president of circulation marketing, said
on the call that just one in four newspapers showed increases in
weekday circulation in the latest reporting period, while one in
five had gains on Sunday.

The largest newspapers held up relatively well, with Gannett Co.'s
USA Today notching a 0.09 percent gain to 2,272,815 copies,
remaining the top-selling newspaper in the country. The Wall Street
Journal, published by Dow Jones & Co., was second with 2,049,786,
down 1 percent, and The New York Times was third, with an increase
of 0.5 percent to 1,142,464 copies.

Several other major papers reported declines, with the largest by
far coming at the San Francisco Chronicle, where average paid
weekday circulation fell 15.6 percent to 398,246.

Patricia Hoyt, a spokeswoman for the Chronicle, said the newspaper
began cutting back on certain kinds of circulation at the beginning
of last year such as copies paid for by advertisers and then
distributed for free. The cutbacks involve copies that "advertisers
didn't value, were quite costly and essentially had no impact on our
readership."

The Chronicle, which is owned by Hearst Corp., reported a similar
decline in paid circulation for the previous six-month reporting
period that ended last September.

Several other top newspapers reported declines, including Tribune
Co.'s Los Angeles Times, down 5.4 percent at 851,832; The Washington
Post, down 3.7 percent at 724,242; the New York Daily News, also
down 3.7 percent at 708,477. News Corp.'s New York Post slipped 0.7
percent to 673,379.

Among other large papers, The Boston Globe fell 8.5 percent to
397,288, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fell down 6.7 percent
to 365,011. The Globe is owned by The New York Times Co. and the
Journal-Constitution by Cox Enterprises Inc.

Besides USA Today, a handful of other major newspapers also reported
modest circulation gains: Tribune's Chicago Tribune, up 0.9 percent
at 579,079; and The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., up 0.9 percent at
398,329. The Star-Ledger is owned by Advance Publications Inc.

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

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Policeman's Son Shoots Self With Dad's Gun

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. -- The 10-year-old son of a New York City policeman
shot himself in the head while playing with a gun, and was
hospitalized and on life-support Monday, authorities said.

Tyler Dunne's mother and 8-year-old sister were home with him when
he got hold of the .38-caliber gun, hidden in a basement closet,
around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Lt. Dennis Farrell, commander
of the Nassau County Homicide Squad.

The boy had used a step ladder to reach a top shelf in the closet,
apparently looking for a ball his mother had taken away from him
earlier in the day, when he happened upon the loaded gun, Farrell
said. He and his sister were playing with the gun when it accidently
fired.

Their mother heard the shot, ran to the basement, discovered her
wounded son and called 911. Tyler was listed in critical condition,
according to Shelley Lotenberg, spokeswoman for the Nassau
University Medical Center in East Meadow.

Their father, Joseph Dunne, 38, a 14-year veteran of the NYPD with
Midtown North, was at work when the accident occurred.

Dunne often carried the privately owned and licensed gun when he
traveled to and from work, but he did not usually bring it into the
house, according to Farrell.

Neighbors, who said the boy used to play ball with his dad outside
their home, were saddened by the shooting.

"It's terrible," Ernie Anspake said. "Horrendous. It's unbelievable."

From WNBC.Com

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NYC Blaze Called Biggest Since WTC Attack

A raging fire laid waste to a complex of seven old warehouses on
Brooklyn's waterfront on Tuesday, sending a huge plume of acrid
smoke over Brooklyn that evoked memories of the World Trade Center
attacks nearly five years ago. Shortly after the walls of one five
story brick warehouse collapsed, Fire Commissioner Nicholas
Scoppetta said the cause of the 9-alarm fire would be investigated
as possible arson.

"We're calling it suspicious in origin," he said in a street news
conference two blocks from the scene. "The buildings were fully
involved with fire when the first units arrived. That plus the fact
that it started early in the morning are indications of a suspicious
fire."

Eighty units and more than 400 firefighters joined the battle, using
several tower ladders on three street sides while five fireboats
pumped water on the flames from the East River, a technique the
department calls "surround and drown."

More than 6 million gallons of water were poured on the blaze,
Scoppetta said, and the fire was "holding but not under control" by
noon, more than six hours after it erupted. The ninth alarm was
posted about an hour later.

Scoppetta and Chief of Department Peter Hayden said eight
firefighters had suffered minor injuries but no civilians were hurt,
nor was there any need to evacuate the area. Scoppetta identified
the warehouse owner as Joshua Guttman, but had no other information.

John Mulligan, a department spokesman, said the fire was the
biggest, exclusive of the World Trade Center, since a 19-alarm fire
at Brooklyn's St. George Hotel in 1995. He said the WTC disaster was
so large that the department quit counting alarms.

The site is on the waterfront in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood,
a mixture of 19th century and small shipping and manufacturing
firms. The famed Civil War ironclad, USS Monitor, was built in a
shipyard that adjoined the warehouse property. The nearest homes are
at least a block away.

The flames were clearly visible from the east side of Manhattan,
where rubberneckers slowed morning rush hour traffic on the FDRDrive
past the United Nations buildings. The acrid smoke, smelling at
times of wood, rose in a huge black cloud visible for miles.

The fire started just after 5:30 a.m. and blazed furiously for six
hours. At midmorning, the partial collapse of the largest of the
seven warehouses caused utility wires to tug on nearby poles, one of
which vibrated as if about to split. The crashing brick walls left
only the corners of the five-story building still standing. Flames
also spread to a storage lot where at least one rental truck was
destroyed.

Area residents, watching from behind yellow tape, said the
warehouses were destined to be torn down, for a park or other
development. Some parts of Brooklyn's long-neglected waterfront have
been targeted for new housing or other purposes.

"They're going to save a lot of money on demolition," said Yuda
Geller, a real estate agent who lives in Greenpoint.

"A block away, you could feel the heat," said Filip Mielnicki, 17, a
neighbor watching the blaze with his friend, 18-year-old Wojciech
Wasilewski.

The two, students at Manhattan's High School for Environmental
Studies, said they had often "hung out" in the warehouse that caved
in. It contained a lot of old clothing and boxes of blank checks but
was otherwise unused, Mielnicki said.

They, among others, remarked on the smoke cloud's resemblance to the
pillar that drifted across Brooklyn for two days after the Sept. 11,
2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center's twin
towers.

Fire officials said the warehouse complex on West Street between
Quay and Noble streets - measuring 200 feet by 800 feet - was
officially unoccupied, though it was unclear whether squatters were
living there. Bales of cloth burned in one of the warehouses,
Scoppetta said.

Written by Associated Press

Courtesy of © 2006, YellowBrix, Inc.
http://www.firefightingnews.com/article.cfm?articleID=9281

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A Search for the Truth (part 3)

Last week we had some good responses as well as some good questions
brought up. Yet last week we merely presented the facts stated in
the autopsy reports. This week I would like to start taking you
through the events leading up to the homicide of the three boys. We
will be following up with the events after the homicide, including
facts about the investigation, the (what appears to be) cover up,
interviews with people involved with the victims and more. Upon the
completion of presenting the facts and statements of the case, we
will be asking for our readers to submit their input and/or request
to have the case reopened.

There are a lot of things to cover and it may take a few weeks to
get it all out. I need to ask that everyone try and base their
comments on the article of the week. Suggestions for things to look
into are also requested and we ask that they be posted in the
comments area as well. Please put “Suggestion” at the head of your
comment if it applies.

I would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation.

As we get into the events leading up to the homicide, I would like
to bring into focus something that was not mentioned yet. The fourth
boy (a brother to one of the victims), yes there was a fourth boy
that was not shot. He even seen the shooter, but was never permitted
to testify in front of the grand jury (we will get into that when we
review the facts of the investigation). For those of you that are
long time fans of law and order, CSI and shows of that nature, I ask
you to take what you have learned through your TV and start applying
it from here on in. This is where we will need your comments and
ideas the most.

On Friday March 26, 2004 Jason, Scooter and Daniel all took a half
day off work. Daniel and Scooter, met up with Jason and Russell (the
fourth boy, Jason’s brother). They met at Jason’s in a town called
Beauregard, Alabama, a community of approximately 3000 families.
Beauregard is an old farm town, though it is building now a days,
there are still families there dating back generations. Until the
events of March 26, it was thought to be a place you would move to
for the kids’ sake.

The day started out at around 11:30 am when the boys got together
and headed out with their 4-wheelers. The location they headed for
was a dry lakebed located directly behind Jason and Russell’s
mothers property. They have ridden on this lakebed before with the
condition that they "don't make new trails back there, use the ones
already made." Being that permission was given a few times in the
past and they were neighbors, the boys were under the impression
that they still had permission to ride on the lakebed.

A retired Col. Bernard W. Vaughn had recently bought the property,
which included the lakebed.

Russell was declared the errand boy on this trip and was sent home
numerous times to get items needed such as water and a lug wrench.
Being the errand boy is what saved Russell’s life.

Upon returning from his last trip back to the house, Russell
returned to see a man standing over Scooter with a rifle as Scooter
was dying. In panic he started screaming for Jason and Daniel and
got no response. As he looked around he spotted them across the lake
(almost in the tree line) dead.

The shooter made eye contact with Russell and casually walked back
to the tree line. Russell raced back to the house and made the first
set of parents aware that the boys were dead. At this point I think
it should be known that Jason's farther is a former Vietnam vet and
worked with the sheriffs dept for 5 years. I will try and set up an
interview with him for a ltaer date.

The reports as to just who was first to arrive on the scene vary.
The most common is that the first responder was Deputy Ralph Hall
who was a volunteer. Though only a volunteer, Mr. Hall must have
been pretty devoted. He had all the fancy lights on his truck, the
siren, and the headlights even blinked. He never would even go
anywhere without his police scanner. I think I am pretty impressed
at this kind of devotion, if it was devotion that is.

From the word going around it seams that Mr. Hall has taken his
devotion to an extreme. Racing through the streets every time he
hears something on the scanner, becoming an annoyance to his
neighbors and now thinking he is qualified to make judgments as the
first responder on this crime scene.

Now if it is fact that Mr. Hall was the first on the scene (this is
one of the answers that needs to be answered). As a volunteer deputy
he should have secured the scene and waited for the sheriff to
arrive. There is nothing else that he should have to do with the
case except be a witness to what he seen upon his arrival.

Mr. Hall apparently liked the spot light though, cause he was quoted
in the local paper and seen on TV regarding the case. He did have
one statement that seams to be coming form everywhere I ask about
the case (this statement was made both on TV and in the papers), it
has been quoted that he said “if the boys were on my property, I
would have shot them too”.

I find it interesting how there seams to be no public knowledge of
any disciplinary actions as a result of this statement.

I think we have raised a few issues that will open discussion for
this week. Please post your comments and questions below.

Next week we will have an interview with Daniel’s mother. I have
been in contact with Jason and Russell’s farther, as well as another
party involved we will try and set up an interview with them for a
later date.

Thank you,
A.Wallace

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311 is it a service or a scam?

In the New York area there have been commercials running for 311.
The commercials I am referring to are about help to quit smoking.

If you have watched the commercials it tells how the city will help
by supplying patches to those why qualify. As a smoker that would
like to quit, this sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

About 6 people (including myself) ranging from (disabled) elderly
with low income to working and in the early forties have called. All
varied with income, insurance coverage and health conditions. All
were asked a number of questions then told that they do not qualify
and referred to a clinic (they would have to pay for). Sound
questionable yet?

I decided to look into the qualifications for this service. After
reviewing the NYC Gov. web site and going over it in great detail, I
came up with only to things about the qualifications. First being
that you have to be over the age of 18, second being that you need
to meet other qualifications. Nowhere does it mention what the other
qualifications are.

This sounds to me as if the 311 services are being used as a way to
gather data on the smokers in the NYC area and raise business for
the clinics.

So, I pose the question, is it a service or a scam?

If you or someone you know has tried to contact the 311 services
about the stop smoking offer, let us know. We would like to hear
some good news about the offer. However until we hear from some
people that actually received help through the service, we have to
view it as a scam ran by our local government.

Thank you,
A.Wallace

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