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	<title>The City Desk &#187; news</title>
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	<link>http://thecitydesk.net</link>
	<description>Fictional urbanism.</description>
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		<title>Odds-On Favorite Retires From Column</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/08/04/odds-on-favorite-retires-from-column/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/08/04/odds-on-favorite-retires-from-column/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[gambling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonard Pierce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newspapers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=286</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, the News celebrates the 50th anniversary of its longest-running feature, the “I Make the Odds” column penned since July of 1958 by Harvey Preakston. Preakston, a graduate of City College and the son of former rugby impresario Reginald Preakston, joined the paper in 1955 as a young sports reporter who was assigned to cover Mighty Elms games. However, he soon proved to be somewhat uncanny as a prognosticator, and his reputation as being able to lay astonishingly precise odds on upcoming sporting events soon spilled over from the office to his column. So accurate were his predictions that he was thrice investigated by the city’s police department and once by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who compelled him to sign a statement that he was not acting in cahoots with any organized crime syndicate. After correctly predicting the winner of every World Series from 1955 to 1958 within one month of the start of the season, his astonishing ability to figure the odds netted him his very first column. Thanks to ongoing suspicions regarding the pernicious influence of gamblers and other shady criminal types, the News was obligated to include, at the top of every “I Make the [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Friday Facts: That Which Rests On One&#8217;s Shoulders</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/02/01/friday-facts-that-which-rests-on-ones-shoulders/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/02/01/friday-facts-that-which-rests-on-ones-shoulders/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[television]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2008/02/01/friday-facts-that-which-rests-on-ones-shoulders/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Number of police districts which accounted for 65% of the city&#8217;s violent crimes in 2007, according to a report released this week: 7 :: Total number of police districts in the city: 21 :: Channel 8 weather report reader Destiny Edwards returns on Monday morning&#8217;s program, which will also feature the winner of the &#8220;Guess the Weight of Destiny&#8221; contest. Viewers were invited to take a stab at guessing how much more svelte she would be after her 4-week stay at a &#8220;nutrition camp.&#8221; :: Fire engine numbers which have been &#8220;retired&#8221; over the years: 23, 8, 39, 2, 10 :: Number of these which were retired due to their association with a horrible tragedy: 1 (No. 23) :: Popular rock act R.E.M. has not visited this city in its last 11 tours. :: Number of Hindu temples offering a car blessing service: 2 :: From 1889 to 1973 tobacconists were prohibited from also selling men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s fragrances. - RJ White]]></description>
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		<title>Why Your Beer May Taste Awful</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/25/why-your-beer-may-taste-awful/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/25/why-your-beer-may-taste-awful/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Craig Gaines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/25/why-your-beer-may-taste-awful/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There’s something funny in the water. Well, actually, it’s in the beer. And, really, it’s more potentially blindness-inducing than funny. Skyrocketing copper prices have resulted in various forms of black-market activity around the city. This mostly means the theft and resale of copper components ripped from abandoned or newly built homes, including a devastating hit on Phase IV of the Walden Cliffs subdivision. But the scallawags have hit another sector, and it’s having a direct effect on Joe Six-Pack. Beer kegs, which are traditionally lined with copper, are being stolen from distributors or rented from party stores and not returned. The copper pirates sell their booty to various buyers all over town: Carrie’s Dicker-and-Deal, Ye Olde Trash Heape, and Copper &#38; Copper among them. This has led, in just a few months, to a severe citywide keg shortage, according to the City Taverns and Spirits Merchants Association (CTSMA). Popular watering holes like the Cracker Box, Captain Mortimer’s, and The Parrot &#38; the Palm have been forced to offer only bottled or canned brews, leading to grumpy patrons and overworked bar backs. And the cultural implications have weighed just as heavily upon some establishments. “When I opened this place 12 years [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Friday Facts: &#8220;Bleeping Kids, Bleeping Bleep Ducks&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/22/friday-facts-bleeping-kids-bleeping-bleep-ducks/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/22/friday-facts-bleeping-kids-bleeping-bleep-ducks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:30:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newspapers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transit]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/06/22/friday-facts-bleeping-kids-bleeping-bleep-ducks/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Number of times that there have been cited (by the FCC) instances of accidental profanity on local newscasts- 31 :: Number of these which have resulted in the firing of a local anchor/reporter- 1 (Arthur Stevens, in what has come to be known as the &#8220;4-H Incident,&#8221; 1983) :: Advertising on public transit, by type- 45% Health Care/Rehabilitation Facilities, 30% Legal Services, 12% Fast Food, 5% Entertainment/Movies, 2% Public Transit, 6% Other. :: Number of restaurants classified specifically under the &#8220;Chop Suey&#8221; catrgory in local directories: 1, University Chop Suey :: Years that Sparman&#8217;s Records (closing for good this Sunday at 10pm) has been in business- 58 :: Years Sparman&#8217;s has been in their current University Center location- 56 :: Starting Monday, the City News Vendors Association (CNVA), a loose conglomeration of 213 newsstand operators enacts a new regulation &#8220;to obscure excessive cleavage and/or sexually suggestive content on the covers of periodicals within plain view of the public.&#8221; As a compromise, judgment on what should be covered will be left to individual CNVA vendors. - R. White]]></description>
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		<title>Urgent News: Baby Food Recall</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/23/urgent-news-baby-food-recall/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/23/urgent-news-baby-food-recall/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:30:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[bulletin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/23/urgent-news-baby-food-recall/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a public service to our readers, we offer the following news item: The City Department of Health Services has announced the discovery of several cases of food contamination in the area. The culprit appears to be a microbe, a potentially fatal large, gram-negative bacillus with features consistent with the botulinum toxin-producing Clostridium genus which has contaminated a number of jars of baby food manufactured locally by Healthy Infant Organic Foods, Ltd. Healthy Infant has issued an immediate recall of jars with lot numbers 00001 through 07659 manufactured between November 2006 and April 2007. This accounts for over 50,000 containers sold under the brand names Tummy Hugs®, Bright Future® and Mommy’s Sweet Angel®. Any such jars matching this description should be returned to Healthy Foods ASAP for immediate incineration. Do not, repeat, DO NOT attempt to open the jars without wearing at least Class IV respiratory protective equipment. Consumption of contents is also not advised. At a press conference held Friday, Chief Health Commissioner Rudolph “Guy” Fenimore stated: “If any individuals who have had access to the tainted product are seen displaying any of the following signs of illness, do not panic, but take him or her to the closest [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Behind the Headlines</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/02/21/behind-the-headlines/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/02/21/behind-the-headlines/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:26:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newspapers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=79</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the years, the News, our local tabloid format daily paper, has become well known for its front page banner headlines. Some call them brilliant, some call them tasteless, but whatever your opinion, it&#8217;s a fact that the News is the city&#8217;s most profitable daily newspaper, so the headlines must work. We were lucky enough to get the paper&#8217;s copy chief, Michael Bradburn, to give us his thoughts on a few of our favorites from over the years. LEAD ZEPPMAN (January 25, 1998) &#8220;Oh yeah- this was the Arthur Zeppman thing. Classic- retail magnate found in his Downtown loft with his mistress, shot about thirty times. I think it was someone on the features desk who came up with the Led Zeppelin angle. Then we started riffing album and song titles, but realized- the band name was the only one that fit. We got some letters.&#8221; QUOTH MAYOR JACKSON: &#8220;YOU F%#&#38;ING F%#&#38;&#8221; (June 9, 1987) &#8220;We went back and forth on this- How many letters to replace? Should we leave the &#8216;k,&#8217; or take it out? Will people still know what he said? I still think using &#8216;quoth&#8217; was a nice touch.&#8221; WHY, JOHNNY CAN READ! (May 28, 1984) &#8220;Oh, [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Urban Legends: Kiddie TV Murder, Satanists in the City</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/02/05/urban-legends-kiddie-tv-murder-satanists-in-the-city/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/02/05/urban-legends-kiddie-tv-murder-satanists-in-the-city/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:29:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Matt Vermeulen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban legends]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=70</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is an overview of some of the most well-known urban legends to haunt our city—none are true, but they reflect the fears and excitement of bygone times. Kiddie TV Murder (1957) Mystery has long swirled around the death of children’s TV personality Samantha Smith, who was found murdered in her home on June 28th, 1957. Smith was the host of the smash hit Dominick and Doofus, which featured two feuding puppets and poorly animated cartoons. After missing that morning’s broadcast, Smith was discovered in her bedroom nude, with marionette strings wrapped around her throat. The lurid details of her death quickly found their way to the front page of every paper in town. The police investigation was soon stymied, and rumors about the identity of her killer ran rampant. One often repeated allegation featured &#8220;happily&#8221; married Sen. Phinneas DeMink, a state legislator who had been linked romantically to Smith. It was believed that she had been killed because she was about to go public with their affair, thus ruining DeMink’s political career. There was no truth to this rumor, and DeMink was eventually cleared, but the incident did end his career in politics. Another scenario circulated involving the producers [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>Metropolis: &#8220;The Vanishing Class&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/12/05/metropolis-the-vanishing-class/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/12/05/metropolis-the-vanishing-class/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:21:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[misc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[other sites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=39</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Though this story focuses upon New York, the same thing is happening in cities across the country. In June the Brookings Institution released a study called “Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America.” It found that middle-income neighborhoods constituted 58 percent of all urban neighborhoods in 1970, but that the figure has now dropped to 41 percent. Poor people are now more likely to live surrounded by poor people, and rich people by rich people. Maybe that doesn’t sound noteworthy, but the Brookings researchers argue that middle-income neighborhoods are vital because they foster upward mobility. The report reinforced my gut reaction to the panel discussion, and it dovetails with abundant anecdotal evidence. The New York papers have been full of stories lately about how Metropolitan Life is trying to sell off Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, two massive developments built as housing for returning vets in the postwar era, long considered oases of middle-class life in Manhattan. The assumption is that a new owner will turn the 11,250 apartments into luxury condos, and it’s unlikely that anyone will build a middle-income enclave to replace it, at least not in Manhattan.]]></description>
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