Jaws story #4: The Final Conquest

AMITY- Beaches on Amity Island will reopen just in time for the visitors for Fourth of July weekend. After being closed for 24 hours for a shark hunt, the mayor would like to reassure that the beaches are now safe.

            Because there were 2 deaths recently due to shark attacks, visitors were weary about the waters safety. The shark was caught and killed, and the Amity Island town’s people would like to open their arms to visitors.            

            When the shark was brought ashore a marine biologist from Woodshole Oceanographic Institute inspected what was pronounced a tiger shark.

            Although the beaches are now safe, to ensure the safety of all swimmers, there will be a number of forces out patrolling the water. The Coast Guard, Marine Patrol, Massachusetts State Police, U.S. Navy, Homeland Security, FBI, and many local municipal and county police agencies will protect the waters.        

            Amity Island will recreate the beach atmosphere with exciting water games and visitors are urged to have fun and enjoy vacation. As the mayor hopes the vacationers will come and experience the fun of the island he wishes them a happy Fourth of July. “Swim and have fun!” said Vaughan. 

Jaws story #3: Town meeting strikes up discussion

AMITY- Town meeting strikes debate over beaches being closed after young Alex Kintner was killed by suspected shark attack. A $3,000 reward bounty was put by boy’s mother and is for the man or men that kill the shark.

            Police Chief Martin Brody declares beaches to be closed while the members of Woodshole Oceanographic Institute come and check out the scene of the crime. While the members of the institute are here, they will also be examining the body of teenager Chrissie Watson.

            Chrissie Watson’s mangled body was washed ashore after she went missing while swimming late one night out by the buoy. Police deputy Jay Hendricks found Chrissie’s body early Monday morning.

            After the shocking first discovery, people believed that it couldn’t have been a shark attack, but after the body of Kintner was never found, the hunt for the shark is on.           

            During the town meeting, Mayor Larry Vaughan states that this will not be affecting the island break season. “Only 24 hours” said Vaughan. The beaches will only be closed for the minimum amount of time.  

            The meeting was interrupted when Ben Quint dragged his fingers down the chalkboard to call attention to what he had to say. “I can find a shark for $3,000, but to kill it it’s going to cost $10,000” said Quint.

            The mayor and rest of the town are speechless and as Quint leaves the office, the mayor says they will think about the offer. 

getting interviews

Getting interviews for stories are hard. There are so many steps that go into good interviews, but it is so hard to master because people can be so unpredictable. While trying to interview people for stories, the first step is think of the questions you want to ask, and what view you want your story to take. That within itself is difficult because even when you think you are asking awesome questions, when it comes time to string them into your story, they could be completely useless, or they could flow flawlessly. Another part of interviewing that is a pain is actually getting ahold of the people you need to interview. People's schedules are hectic and no one has time to meet up to answer questions. It seems so easy to just shoot them an email, but sometimes those get lost, or people just simply don't check them. It also may be easy to call people, but that also can get sticky because after a little people tend to not care anymore or they get inpatient. The last thing that is difficult about getting interviews is having the confidence. To be able to approach, call, or even email someone that you don't know can be very overwhelming. Making sure your nerves don't mess up what you have to get done is really hard to push to the side and sometimes it gets the best of you. Although I have been doing this for a whole semester now, it still can make me feel very stressed and I know that it will continue to be stressful. All I can do is practice and hope that as my career in news writing continues, I become more capable of having a productive, and successful interview.

Reading in the Boston Globe

Reading the story in the Boston Globe about Bitcoin is really interesting because it is about an app used on a phone that is a virtual currency used around the world. This app varies in value and sometimes the money drops to even lower than real money value. It said that when a man tried to use it to pay at a restaurant, the value was so low on money that he would be over paying and it would make sense to use real money. The value varies all the time, "At the start of 2013, a single bitcoin was going for $15. After zooming past $200 over several months, the currency tumbled to about $50 less than a week later. Since then, it’s once again climbed, and as of Monday was valued at $142." said the article. It is interesting that this app can be used to buy just about anything when the value of the dollar fluctuates so often. The article says that users can obtain the bitcoins by trading them through online exchange with other users. Money can also be free if the users solve a mathematical problem. Reading this article is very interesting because it is saying that only 2 establishments are accepting this form of currency in Boston and a few are using it in New Hampshire since this program has been out since 2009. This form of paying is scary though because the value of money is continually fluctuating and it is going to be hard to depend on if more companies start accepting it. 

Jaws story #2: 2 Deaths by the Sea

10-year-old Alex Kintner doesn’t return to shore after kids scramble out of the water when shark was seen. This happens to be the same day the body of 17-year-old Chrissie Watson was found dead on the beach due to unknown attacker.

As the raft that Kintner washes up to shore, a large bite was taken out of the raft, and the surrounding water was tainted with blood, mom begins to panic.

Before this tragic event, the beach was full of happy, playful, tourists enjoying the warm sunny day. Kids, including Alex, were begging parents to swim longer. After mother lets son go back into the water, many kids follow to play.      

As kids were playful, a man and his dog were on shore playing fetch. The dog continued to run in and out of the water fetching the stick. Once the crowd begins to scream and get everyone out of the water, family and friends search to find everyone they are with.           

            During the moment dog owner calls out to dog Pippet, and there is no response. All that is seen is the stick that was once being played with, floating in the water.   Pippet is declared missing as well as Alex.

Jaws story #1: Shark Attack takes a bite out of Amity Island

AMITY- Police Deputy Jay Hendricks makes a horrendous find Monday morning on the fine beaches of Amity Island. The mangled body of Chrissie Watson, 17, was washed ashore and the attacker is unknown.

            Watson was last seen leaving a beach party late Sunday evening with Trinity College student Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III. Police have been told that both teenagers were heavily drinking and possibly smoking marijuana.

            Watson was a member of the varsity swim team at Amity High School and also a lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs. When Watson left the party, she decided to go swimming.

            Entering the water in the remote section of South Beach near the Shoal bell bouy, the water was calm and weather was clear. After not returning from the water, Hoggenbottam notified the police at 6 a.m.

            After finding Watson’s dismembered body at around 8 a.m. according to police, she was then taken to the coroner’s office for an autopsy. There are no signs of this being an attack from another person, nor signs of foul play, so no charges have been filed.

            While talking to Police Chief Martin Brody, he seemed very confident that this was not a shark attack. “There had never been a shark attack before,” said Brody.

            Because this island is known for its Fourth of July weekend, Police wants to assure that the beaches are still safe. “The water is perfectly safe to swim” said Brody, and then went on to say, “I’d let my own kids go in and they are very young”.  

Police continue on with the investigation and although a shark attack has not been completely ruled out, beaches at this point in time are free of danger. All beaches will remain open for swimming. “Always use caution, but there is no reason not to go in the water on any of the beaches so far” said Brody. 

Reading the Boston Globe

While reading the Boston Globe today, the first story on the website was "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, bombing suspect, charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction" and it was really interesting. It talks about how the bombing suspect that is still alive, but in critical condition, was given his trial today while in the hospital. The way the trial played out, the suspect would shake his head and answer with yes or no questions, while the judge was in his hospital room. I think it is pretty crazy that they are willing to send the judge into his room at the hospital to get the court case started, instead of waiting until he has recovered enough to be out of the hospital. While during his trial they believe that Dzhokhar was planning to bomb for mass destruction. His older brother was shot in the shoot out, and Dzhokhar was shot multiple times. It is good to see that this incident is taken seriously, and that the US doesn't want to waste any time convicting him for creating this tragic event. The outcome seems to be leaning towards life in prison or the death penalty.