Public Documents

1. To look for a staff report from the Los Angeles City Council I went to the Los Angeles City Council website and clicked on their reports. Every report they post has blue links which go to further information whether it's email or another website. The City Council website is here.

2. I started out by going to the GAO website, the General Accountability Office. I clicked on the reports and testimonials tab. That brought me to a list of reports created. An interesting report is on the characteristics of kidney transplants.

3. The California Public Records Act can be found anywhere on the internet. It is found on leginfo website.

Free Blog

I was looking up information on the fires by my house and one of the fires that forced me out of my home was on the Los Angeles Fire Dept. Blog Spot! I found that to be very interesting. I did not even think they would have one. These fires have been so stressful on my family and me. I'm glad I stumbled on their blogspot because I trust what they have been saying. They give a map and phone numbers and information on what to do if you evacuate. If I only saw it before I wasn't allowed to go home...

Fav Blog

My favorite blog is mlb.com/blogs. But I really like Todd Helton's.

He has been doing his blog since his team made the playoffs. The blog has been about what he has been going through, how excited he is to play, how the fans make a big impact, and the winning streak the team is on. It is always fun to watch a team win on television, but to read what a player goes through and know his actual feelings is even more awesome.

Here are some examples:

Wow. A 2-1 win and we’re going on to meet Arizona in the National League
Championship Series.
To get where we’ve always wanted to go, I knew we had
to win at least one of these close, low-scoring games. I’ve watched the playoffs
on TV for years. You always have close games like this in the postseason.


I want to talk about the more than 50,000 fans that helped us. I hope
they're loud and crazy and I hope they enjoy themselves, because we're going to
be playing hard and enjoying ourselves.

There's going to be a lot
of anticipation in the stadium. But when you get into that whole atmosphere, you
really have to calm down.


Seeing the fans, seeing the look in my teammates’ eyes, knowing that we
actually set goals that we were able to accomplish -- that’s the unthinkable, to
come back from where we were at, most people would just pack it up and make
plans for the offseason. We kept battling. Now we’re celebrating.

Internet Treasure Hunt

1. This is Assembly Bill 381
The bill is a Medi-Cal bill that she proposed. It is for low income people, like on Welfare, so they can receive reimbursments and get health benefits if they have a Medi-Cal ID card.

2. Find out how much money Jack Weiss has recieved in contributions here
L.A. Councilman Jack Weiss has raised about $$135,094.66

3. Check out "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" info
The movie was released in 1961 and the director was Val Guest.

4. Here is a source for water rationing in Southern California
His name is Glen MacDonald and he works for the Department of Geography at UCLA. His contact info: Department of Geography, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524 Phone: 310-825-1071 FAX: 310-206-5976 E-MAIL: macdonal at geog.ucla.edu This is his website.

5. Want to know facts about California. Look here
The median age in California is 33.3 years old.

Narrative Story

this is the link to a narrative story

Breezie James' last memory on June 14, 2006 is eating chili with her
step-grandfather Bud Jevyak in a diner around 7 p.m. The next thing she
remembers is five days later, waking up in a hospital bed, tubes and needles
sticking out of her everywhere.

For The Master's College volleyball player,
what happened in between
those two memories turned out to not only be a
life-threatening experience,
but a life-changing one.

Driving on Interstate
80 in Cozad, Nebraska on the way to a family
reunion in Iowa, James was sleeping
in the back seat of an old Explorer
while Jevyak was driving. Jevyak was 79, and
didn't really believe in
wearing seat belts. James was sleeping, so she didn't
have one on either.

At 4:30 a.m. on June 15, the rear passenger tire blew,
and though Jevyak
tried to get the car back under control, it went airborne.
Jevyak was thrown
from the vehicle after the first flip and died instantly.
James endured five
rotations in the air before being ejected.

The list of
James' injuries is longer than most would want to have over
an entire lifetime,
let alone all at once.

Her nose was completely crushed, as well as her left
eye socket. She
broke five ribs, and her jaw was broken in three places. James
lost two
teeth and broke 17 others. She suffered a punctured lung and fractured
both
of her shoulder blades.

The plot line is her being able to live a normal life and play volleyball again when people said she would not be able to. Even though she went through a horrific accident, she overcame it all and can live her life the way she wants to.

community story

The streets of downtown Newhall were filled with the sounds, smells and sights
of an artistic renaissance Saturday as masters and novices worked side by side
to create temporary masterpieces for the third annual Street Art Festival.

Inspired by traditional Italian street painting, the city of Santa Clarita's
two-day outdoor festival showcases the artwork of professional chalk artists and
guest participants, lined in rows along San Fernando Road for visitors to see.

The festival, taking place on five blocks closed off to traffic of San
Fernando Road between Lyons Avenue and 5th Street, includes live performances by
dance groups and bands, an arts and crafts area, fine arts and crafts vendors
and a makeshift theater where visitors can view a series of short films hosted
by the Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival.

This is a community feature story from Santa Clarita. It is a human interest story because it reflected on the street fair that was open to the public. The story described what happened at the event and who was at the fair. It explained where it was and that it also helps people understand other cultures.