# What's the big local news story in your neck of the woods?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 9, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105 "2006-09-09T23:27:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/41 "2006-09-11T15:07:26Z")

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These are so interesting!

The police are trying to narrow down the “timeline” regarding Melinda and Trenton in the days before he was reported missing.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/42 "2006-09-11T16:20:27Z")

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[QUOTE=picunurse]  
Fire! I can’t remember how many wild fires are burning in the state, but, I think there are 5 in Western Wash today. We don’t usually have fires on this side of the mountains. One is within 2 miles of my cousin’s house.  
[/QUOTE]  
Yep, the fires are significant news here in the Seattle area, but like you say, really only because they’re closer to us than they usually are.

Along the same lines, there’s a major garbage-collectors’ strike going on, and yet the angle the local news is taking is that "it hasn’t affected Seattle metro proper so far _but it might soon!"_ :rolleyes:

And it’s faded for the moment, but over the last week or so there was a big kerfuffle about whether or not Republican Senatorial hopeful Mike McGavick’s having been arrested for driving while intoxicated (heavily, falling-down-drunk intoxicated) twenty-odd years ago should be a legitimate issue in his campaign to unseat incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/43 "2006-09-11T16:44:46Z")

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The previously no. 2 ranked Longhorns lost a football game this past weekend (to no. 1 Ohio State). The big story today seems to be the [moral victory](http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/09/11/11texfoot.html) that the coach is claiming.

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/44 "2006-09-11T16:49:41Z")

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[QUOTE=adam yax]  
The previously no. 2 ranked Longhorns lost a football game this past weekend (to no. 1 Ohio State). The big story today seems to be the [moral victory](http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/09/11/11texfoot.html) that the coach is claiming.  
[/QUOTE]

\<sneer\>“Moral victory” is merely a fancy word for “their @sses lost”. \</sneer\>

😉  
😃

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/45 "2006-09-11T17:02:44Z")

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[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor]  
\<sneer\>“Moral victory” is merely a fancy word for “their @sses lost”. \</sneer\>  
[/QUOTE]

True enough - they had only one chance to make it a game and coughed up the ball. But as a USC fan in Austin I have to say it is nice to see the egos of Longhorns fans deflated. Burnt orange is such a hideous colour.

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**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/46 "2006-09-11T17:34:25Z")

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Nothing interesting. The usual threats from the EU that if [insert pet cause of the day] doesn’t get fixed soon, no EU for you!

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**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/47 "2006-09-11T17:40:39Z")

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In Chicago, Mayor Daley vetoed the controversial “big box” law that would require large appliance stores to pay employees well above the minimum wage.

Last week, one of the big stories was former Governor George Ryan being sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on racketeering charges.

Not much lately on the Chicago ban on foie gras.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/48 "2006-09-11T18:40:21Z")

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Nestlé broke ground for a new drink mix plant here. In about a year, they will employ about 400 people. General Motors, once the biggest employer in town, has given three empty buildings to the city.

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/49 "2006-09-11T19:41:27Z")

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Over the last few weeks in Camden, north London, it’s been [The Night Bus of Danger](http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/080306/news080306_01.htm). Basically, it’s a late night bus service that’s had several stabbings and assaults in recent weeks.

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**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/50 "2006-09-11T21:57:03Z")

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Right now, it’s the [flash flood](http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060904/NEWS0107/109040040/-1/ARCHIVE) that happened on Labor Day. There’re lots of follow-up stories and heartwarming stories and all of that. No one was killed, and only two people were injured badly enough to go to the hospital. And I hurt my back pushing a stalled car out of potentially-rising water. But that last part’s not so newsworthy. 😉

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**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/51 "2006-09-11T22:26:32Z")

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A man now identified as [Robert W. Silver,](http://jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060911/NEWS09/60911004) was found dead in a local parking garage [on Friday.](http://jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060909/NEWS03/609090315/1004/LIFE0301)

Also, the Purdue football coach is under fire because the Boilermakers had to go to overtime Saturday to beat the [Miami RedHawks](http://jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/SPORTS020101/609100343/1037/SPORTS) of the Mid-American Conference, a league considered markedly inferior to the Big Ten, which counts Purdue among its eleven\* member schools.

- For those unfamiliar with USA college sports: The league kept its long-standing name even after Penn State joined [in 1990.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference)

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/52 "2006-09-11T22:52:32Z")

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From last week actually:

[A hydraulic excavator being hauled on an army transport slammed into a pedestrian overpass causing a massive traffic jam.](http://http://starbulletin.com/2006/09/06/news/story01.html)

Cost to dismantle broken pedestrian overpass: $150, 000+ ☹  
Cost to replace broken pedestrian overpass: $500, 000+ :eek:

The army personel driving the truck didn’t notice the three or four overhead highway signs they also hit. :dubious:

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/53 "2006-09-11T22:57:22Z")

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[QUOTE=ouryL]  
From last week actually:

[A hydraulic excavator being hauled on an army transport slammed into a pedestrian overpass causing a massive traffic jam.](http://http://starbulletin.com/2006/09/06/news/story01.html)

Cost to dismantle broken pedestrian overpass: $150, 000+ ☹  
Cost to replace broken pedestrian overpass: $500, 000+ :eek:

The army personel driving the truck didn’t notice the three or four overhead highway signs they also hit. :dubious:  
[/QUOTE]

This is actually cheap. Because they are just repairing the overpass, they do not have to follow the ADA rules, which would make replacement costs into the MILLIONS because this overpass is accessed by stairs.

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**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/54 "2006-09-12T16:11:18Z")

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London news from a [newspaper](http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/) and the [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/).  
Although neither of these sources are stressing it, the biggest single story is probably the transport authority racking up cash fares by a third for the tube, again.

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**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/55 "2006-09-13T19:38:48Z")

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[It’s gone national now](http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/13/D8K44SR01.html).

I think Melinda had something to do with Trenton’s disappearance.

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**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105/56 "2006-09-13T20:02:13Z")

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There are two that have been in the papers a bit lately.

The harvest season is upon us and this year there seems to be a real shortage of labor. [High-anxiety grape season](http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/NEWS/609130305/1033/NEWS01) - Not just grapes, there were a couple of articles last week about much of the pear harvest in Lake County basically falling to the ground and rotting.

And John Mark Karr was brought to town yesterday to face charges from 2001. - [Karr back in county to face porn charges](http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/NEWS/609130303/1033/NEWS01)

And can I just say that I absolutely LOVE the fact that readers can comment on news articles on our local paper’s website. The system has been in place for a few months now and it often makes for some of the funniest reading out there.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-local-news-story-in-your-neck-of-the-woods/372105.md?page=2)
