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Patriot-News: The state legislature on TV

This ran for the Patriot-News of Harrisburg on Sept. 7

Next year, retiring state Rep. Jerry Nailor won’t have to listen live to the drum of the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s debate, which is lengthened by camera hogs, he said.

“There are a handful of legislators who say, ‘I am for motherhood and apple pie, and let me tell you why, and I will tell you why for the next 20 minutes,'” said Nailor, R-Mechanicsburg. “Because the camera is on.”

The Legislature’s floor debate has been broadcast on the Pennsylvania Cable Network for more than a decade. Its proponents say the channel makes government more transparent. But with viewership growing, some lawmakers said others in the Legislature abuse the free TV time. More.

See it on PennLive.com.

Geronimo surrenders on this day, go jump in a pool

Two hundred twenty-two years ago today, famed Apache chief Geronimo surrendered to U.S. and Mexican forces after 25 years of fighting. Now in mainstream culture his legend is reduced to jumping into pools or otherwise inanely leaping.

Do you want to make up for the brutal repression of a people and hundreds of years of neglect by learning why Geronimo is such an important historical and revolutionary – albeit ultimately unsuccessful – figure? Of course you do.

Oh, I’m sorry, did you say quote Wikipedia at length? Alright:

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My Commencement Address (Temple University: 5/22/08)

By Christopher Wink | May 22, 2008 | Temple University Commencement Address

Seventeen hours ago I got off a plane from South Dakota, having spent my last week as a Temple student working with members of the Lakota Nation. It was another lesson in community.

Temple University’s graduating Class of 2008, today, we are graduating together from a long series of such lessons. Indeed, we are not just graduating from a university, but an entire community, something I have learned with a wonderful intimacy through my tenure here.

As I have learned about community, I have learned of the true expansiveness of Temple. See, the neighborhoods of Philadelphia, too numerous for me to know in entirety, have taken on a richness and a vibrancy like I never before realized they could.

Continue reading My Commencement Address (Temple University: 5/22/08)

What is Labor Day?

Enjoying your day off and the end of summer but have no idea why?

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. [Source].

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My Pennsylvania State Capital To-do List: what you have to do in Harrisburg

Today is my last day in Harrisburg.

A buddy and I are packing up my life from a summer-long post-graduate internship covering state government in Pennsylvania’s capitol. After visiting the 30th annual Pennsylvania Chili cook off here in Harrisburg who knows when I’ll be back.

So, here’s my Harrisburg to-do list and how I fared this summer.

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The new Facebook sucks

I am new to Facebook – though I have gotten on my hustle to maximize readership output from it.

At the end of July, the social networking giant announced a new version they were rolling out. Since joining, I ignored the offer to voluntarily take it on – having found to like Facebook and heard rumors of the its next model falling short.

Well, on Wednesday night the trial ended, and I got the new version. Oh, the rumors are right – the new Facebook sucks. The social utility gets criticized all the time, for things like restricting user freedom, having once-revolutionary but now outdated news feeds, and its spam-like applications. Now it seems to have taken a step backwards.

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KYW: My radio report on State Attorney General contender's criticism

In December 2007, Easton police Chief Larry Palmer, left, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, center, and Capt. David Ryan are shown during a late afternoon news conference. (Courtesy PennLive)

KYW News radio Harrisburg bureau chief Tony Romeo kindly agreed to show me the rough ropes of radio reporting and production on Monday. Below hear my report – with his lede – and the script – with much credit to Tony.

[audio:http://christopherwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Morganelli-Wink.mp3]

The Democratic candidate for Attorney General today challenged the way his incumbent opponent has handled the so-called “Bonusgate” investigation of the Pennsylvania legislature. Christopher Wink reports…

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Best sports cities in the country

Looking for the best city to cheer for the blue team over the red team?

Forbes magazine begged for attention as it often does with a new list. This gets personal, ranking 29 sports metro areas in the country by winning percentages and ticket prices compared to cost of living.

What do sports fans spend the most time grousing about? Above all else, it’s lousy teams or high ticket prices.

Woe is the fan forced to put up with both at once. Who wants to pay premium prices to sit in the stands and watch the losses mount? Fans in Miami know about that. Over the past year, the city’s four major sports teams–the Dolphins, Marlins, Heat and Panthers–have combined to win just 40% of their games while fans have forked over money for tickets and accouterments at the seventh-highest rate among 29 major sports metros.

As the Inquirer points out today, Philadelphia was neither among the 10 worst nor the three best – no others were ranked.

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There's a baby with beer on my news story

A photo of an infant clutching a beer is currently paired with a story of mine on Google News, as seen above.

Google’s news aggregation tool couples top ranked news stories with photos from related stories that are similarly rated. So, while my story on college presidents calling for a dialogue on underage drinking ran with the Patriot-News, at a particular moment, the top rated photo came from the story covered by eCanadaNow, which chose its image to be one of a sleeping baby holding onto a bottle of Miller Genuine Draft, at right.

That can’t be great for my professional product, eh?

Still, these pairings change continuously, so we can hope it won’t last long.

Hey, you looked bored, check out an array of photos with children comically – read: irresponsibly – placed with alcohol.

Patriot-News: Brief on drinking age discussion

This brief ran online Thursday for the Patriot-News, prepping for yesterday’s front page story:

Some college presidents who recently asked for a national dialogue on the 21-year-old drinking age say the focus of their effort has been lost.

Some 123 university and college chief executives, including 15 in Pennsylvania, signed on to the Amethyst Initiative, a public statement urging a discussion since they say the 21-year-old drinking age is not working. But instead, much of the debate has turned to their suggestion that possibly the drinking age should be lowered… More.

See it on PennLive here.

Photo courtesy of 101.