Assignment for Wednesday

As I mentioned, you all have a story due Wednesday in class.

I will paste the details from today's handout in this post and then your story should be double-spaced, print out and between 300 and 350 words. Bring the completed paper to the beginning of class on Wednesday.

Basic story lab

JOUR 270

Write a news story based on the following. Assume that the story will run statewide in tomorrow’s newspapers.

The Montana Highway Patrol reported the following today:

• There was a school bus crash early today on U.S. Highway 91 near Judith Gap, Montana.
• The bus was heading to the State B and C wrestling tournament in Billings.
• The accident was discovered by a bus of Fairfield High School wrestlers, who were on their way to Billings for the tournament.
• Some parents of the wrestlers were following the bus and they arrived on the scene early, too.
• Fergus County Sheriff Tom Kilham was among the responders. He said the coaches did a pretty good job of keeping people calm. “The coaches had things pretty well in hand by the time we showed up.”
• Warmer conditions had covered the snow-packed roadway with a watery glaze.
• Uninjured wrestlers were taken by a bus from Lewistown to the wrestling tournament.
• Trooper Kelly Mantooth, the investigating officer for the Montana Highway Patrol, said four people were injured.
• The 49-passenger bus carried 16 people: a driver, two managers, three coaches and 10 high school wrestlers from Cascade and Simms high schools.
• Two of the injured were wrestlers, one of whom was flown by helicopter to a Great Falls hospital with a possible neck injury. He was later discharged. The other wrestler suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to a Lewistown Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
• The accident was attributed to slick roads and high winds. The driver lost control about nine miles south of Eddies Corner.
• The other two injured people were a coach who suffered a broken arm and an unidentified person who had a minor head injury. The coach was treated and released at Lewistown. The other person was treated and released at a hospital in Harlowton.
• The bus spun clockwise, slid off the road, went through a ditch and a fence, and then rolled onto its left side.

Keep in mind structure and write a strong lead.

Good luck.