Clips of the Week

Hard to believe we’re entering the final month of the semester. Here are some of the latest results of our reporters’ continuing hard work:

• Joshua Cinelli wrote an article for City Hall about local efforts to boost the economy by luring more foreign investment.
• We all know quitting smoking saves lives and money – Francesca Levy offers a state-by-state look at the dollars kept by kicking the habit in this article-and-slideshow package for Forbes.
• Heather Chin reaped the benefits of hopping on a breaking story with her video piece about the New York Times hoax edition distributed last week. Her video accompanies an article put together in short order by the News Service class.
• Joe Filippazzo’s News Service story about Bobby Fischer’s FBI file was picked up by El Nuevo Herald, and got many blog links.
• Karina Ioffee profiled a popular sari tailor for the Queens Courier. (Note: as of this writing, the link seems to be broken. I’ll check into it.)
• Sergey Kadinsky wrote about incumbent Assemblymember Marge Markey’s reelection for the Queens Tribune (I have a copy in my office – feel free to come by for a look.)
• If you missed our latest podcasts during the week, check them out here: Health Pods, produced by Loren Bonner, Shuka Kalantari, and Djenny Passe-Rodriguez; and This Place Called Home, produced by Linnea Covington, Celina Fang, and Tyler Mitter.
• Collin (Hoops) Orcutt predicts great things for the Lakers in his latest Men’s Fitness blog post.
• Busy Barry Paddock shared a byline on this Daily News story about a drunk driving tragedy.

The weather is getting cooler, but our hot streak continues. Here are some of the latest pieces:

• It’s not even Halloween, buy many of us already are beginning to think about holiday travel plans. Before sure to check out these Forbes.com pieces by Francesca Levy  about the best and worst times to fly and  how to save on holiday travel.
• Joshua Cinelli tackles the potential impact of Wall Street’s woes on public pension systems for City Hall.
• Jenni Avins’ story about a former temple that’s been reborn as a mosque made the Queens Courier.
• H’Rina DeTroy’s article about East Village anger over the slow pace of a playground rebuilding project was featured in The Villager.
• H’Rina was joined in The Villager by Matt Townsend, who wrote about a pedestrian mall improvement plan along Allen Street.
• Megan McGibney put together a video piece for nypost.com on the race Staten Islanders seem to care about most this year: the contest to replace disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella.
• Abi Ishola’s been hosting the News of the Week segment for CUNY TV’s Independent Sources, a new show, produced by Prof. Prout, about the ethnic media. Abi’s segments are usually about 17 minutes into each show. But be sure check out the full broadcasts – it’s a great way to learn more about what’s going on, and to pick up story ideas and pinpoint more potential outlets for your work.
• Annie Shreffler’s been added The Huffington Post’s OffTheBus masthead for a feature she started, called Eyes and Ears, which solicits fun election-related items.
• Barry Paddock covered a heartbreaking fatal fire story for the Daily News.
• Caitlin Drexler dished up some food-world news for Saveur’s Word of Mouth blog.
• If you missed this week’s live audio webcast of Health Pods – produced by Loren Bonner, Shuka Kalantari, and Djenny Passe-Rodriguez – check it out here.
• Vinita Singla’s timely TV piece about voter registration drives and her companion print story made the News Service.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

There’s no “I” in team — but there is one in “clip.” I’m not even sure exactly what I mean by that, but I happily noticed that teamwork played a role in some of this week’s work. Here’s a sampling:

• Dan Macht found a great local angle to the story of the week (and likely beyond). He wrote a piece for Crain’s  New York Business about the impact Lehman Brothers’ fall could have on charities and foundations. Dan gave himself a head start: he began researching and pitched his article before the bankruptcy was official. Rosaleen Ortiz snapped an eerie nighttime photo of Lehman’s headquarters to go with Dan’s story.
• Barry Paddock and Matt Townsend also worked the Lehman story, talking to shell-shocked employees for the Daily News.
• Matt contributed to a local primary story package for City Hall that also included pieces by Joshua Cinelli and our Class of ‘07 pal Andrew Hawkins.
• Francesca Levy shows — and tells — what kind of digs a million bucks will get you in cities around the world in this story/slideshow package she put together for Forbes.
• Mathew Warren scored a solo byline and some prime real estate in the Times’ Metro Section with his fun takeout on circus and sideshow performers who bring their acts to clubs and private parties.
• Walking along 41st Street just isn’t the same anymore. Valerie Lapinski captured that spirit and more in her radio story about the closing of “Rent.” Her piece was featured on WNYC.
• Rebecca Harshbarger weaves some great information and images into her first-person piece for The New Vision about the Seven Wonders of Kampala.
• Here are some amazing numbers: One man, 20 cannoli, six minutes. Megan McGibney hit Little Italy for this fun nypost.com video piece on the annual cannoli-eating contest
• Sarah Trefethen witnessed lots of pie eating when she headed upstate to cover a boating festival. She focused, of course, on the local angle: The South Street Seaport Museum’s W.O. Decker took Tugboat of the Year honors. Her story and photo made Downtown Express.
• On his first day out for the Daily News, Stephen Bronner covered a dramatic rescue story.
• Speaking of the Daily News, Lee Hernandez scored a clip with his interview of actress Dania Ramirez, who spoke about the upcoming season of “Heroes.”

Congrats to all — and keep ‘em coming!

• It’s still too damn cold out, but a couple of our colleagues are helping the Sun shine (sorry, I can’t help the puns).
  Check out Fritzie Andrade’s story in the New York Sun about a chef with an unusual hamantaschen recipe and her piece about upcoming foodie events, including the always fun Ninth Avenue International Food Festival.
• Fritzie and Jessica Firger combined on a comprehensive guide to springtime family activities in the city.
• Joshua Cinelli wrote about a medical van that’s supposed to help Bronx veterans – but is stuck in a parking lot 361 days a year. Check out his story in the Norwood News.
• Eliot Caroom chronicled a raucous community board meeting for the Greenpoint Star. Eliot’s story about the fight to preserve school funding made the News Service.
• Lakshmi Gandhi covered filmmaker Mira Nair’s keynote address at the South Asian Women’s Leadership Forum for SAJA Forum.
• Cristina Alesci reported on a new gold rush for the Daily News.
• In our alumni corner, Carolyn Nardiello told New York Times readers about a deer tick extermination plan set for Shelter Island and Fire Island.

• Our Team New Hampshire — Eliot Caroom, Joshua Cinelli, Claudia Cruz, Lakshmi Gandhi, Daniel Macht and Matt Townsend rocked the Granite State, contributing print pieces, pictures, slideshows and videos to offthebus.com, an off-shoot of the Huffington Post. (Their fine work, by the way, is the latest product of a relationship forged with Off the Bus at Prof. Jarvis’ October Networked Journalism conference.) Check out results of one wild weekend — including Joshua’s video of the Bill O’Reilly-Obama aide tussle.
  • Paulites Raid Their Piggybanks To Support Ron Paul
  • Obama Takes Subtle Jab At Hillary In NH
  • Kucinich Attacks ABC News And Decries “Dittos”
  • Bay Buchanan, Tom Tancredo Shill For Romney
  • Off the Candidate Track: Voices from Plymouth, New Hampshire
  • Steelworkers Sold on Edwards
  • One Latino Voter For Obama
  • Michelle Obama Poaches Voters From Rival Camps
  • Chewing the Fat at Munce’s
• Loren Bonner proved the value of follow-up in this piece for the Brooklyn Paper about the effect of Victory Memorial Hospital’s turmoil on moms-to-be.
• In just his second day out, Barry Paddock scored the wood (front page story) for the Daily News, contributing to this piece on the surging Giants.
• Barry’s neighborhood beat piece about a dispute over a community garden in East Harlem made yesterday’s paper.
• Maureen Ker also notched a Daily News clip by reworking her live-in piece about a Flushing fortune teller.
• Chika Osaka had a TV piece about bringing French to public schools and Megan Kelty had one about using laser surgery to battle a serious eye problem suffered by diabetics – both among the latest additions to the News Service.
• Heather Appel went far beyond the general findings in a report on infant mortality and turned in this great story for the Daily News.
• In the you-saw-it-here-first department. Remember our Election Day photo project? Check out this New York Times link.

• Marlene Peralta got the wood again — this time in today’s Newsday — for her great follow up story on the driver who was critically injured in the Lexington Ave. steam pipe blast. She also contributed to another headline grabber: the murder of a Queens dentist.
• Heather Appel showed some range this week with an environmental story for the Daily News and a Bronx murder tale for the Norwood News.
• Claudia Cruz wrote about holistic health practices (PDF) in Washington Heights for the Manhattan Times.
• Amy Goldstein’s piece about efforts to rename a school after a beloved principal, Nadia Zonis’ article on controversial plans for a new hotel on a deserted Bronx street, and Joe Hirsch’s takeout on Citgo’s/Hugo Chavez’ latest involvement in the Bronx helped enliven the pages of the Mount Hope Monitor.
• We also contributed some eminently fit-to-print news at the Times: Mariel DiSibio wrote about a land dispute between The villages of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.
• Carolyn Nardiello chronicled the protest over new requirements for animal owners on Long Island.
• Georgia Kral wrote about Connecticut’s lawsuit against the FAA.
• Tanzina Vega contributed to the Times’ coverage of the slain dentist.
• Mathew Warren was all over town for the Times, contributing to several stories, including this breaking news building collapse piece.
• Clark Merrifield hit the stats and found that there’s a big problem with water main breaks on the Lower East Side. The Villager picked up his story.
• Joshua Cinelli notched two pieces in the Norwood News: One about community concerns about plans to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory and another about a senior citizens protest of the war.
• Eliot Caroom wrote about a Bronx salvage yard’s efforts to go green for the Hunts Point Express.
• Dan Rivoli told Daily News readers the show will go on for a Croatian rock band accused of glorifying the Nazis.