A. Gas Leak

     A railroad tank car carrying chlorine gas has been cracked by a collision with another train on a siding four miles east of Freeport, and the gas is seeping out of the tank. The sheriff's office, which is responsible for the area outside the city limits, has ordered an evacuation of the area in which there are 15 residences with a total population of 70 persons.
     The first word came at 7:20 a.m. from the Union Pacific office, the sheriff says. One trainman, Albert Funster, 25, of Redding, Calif., was overcome by fumes. He is in Fairlawn Hospital, where his condition is reported as not serious.

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Your editor at www.freenews.com wants a news bulletin now. You check the railroad, and an official estimates it will take no more than a few hours to clear the track.

     "We will put the families in a few motels, even if it is for a few hours," says the spokesman, Francis Praxton, of the local rail office. You have to write the online story with this information.
     As you prepare your story for the final edition, the police reporter calls you and says a family of four has just been taken to Fairlawn Hospital in serious condition from chlorine inhalation. You call the hospital and learn their names: David Lewin, 35; Alice Lewin, 34; their son, Freddie, 7; and their daughter, Barbara, 3. They are listed by authorities as being in critical condition. They apparently live near the tracks. A hospital official says, "We understand there are several houses along there and that they are making a house-to-house search. I think the gas was seeping in all night."
     You call back the railroad spokesman and he verifies that they believe the accident occurred during some siding activity last night. You tell him about the family in the hospital. He has no comment.
     You call the sheriff's office again and ask about the search. He confirms it. All available officers have been sent to the area, and a contingent of state troopers—about a dozen—was sent out. The Red Cross emergency unit and some fire equipment are there.
     As you are again ready to write, the police reporter calls and says a body, unidentified, has been removed from a house on U.S. 58 and taken to the North Funeral Home. It is a middle-aged woman. "We think there are more coming," he says.

     It is midnight. You have no more time and must write. Write a story for The Freeport News or channel 17 or www.freenews.com.

B. Rain

     You work for a wire service in Houston and are told to send out a story about a rainstorm that has struck the city. You are told to write about 200 words. The information:

1. Rain began to fall at 1 p.m. Continued for seven hours. Total fall, more than 7 1/2 inches, which people say is total rainfall for the year in some parts of Texas.
2. Hardest hit area southeast of Houston where Texas Medical Center is located.
3. Creeks and bayous flooded out of banks and streets were flooded and motorists stranded. Still too early to tell if there are any casualties, but no word of any so far.
4. To baseball fans, this was a disaster. For first time in the history of Astrodome, built in 1965, the Houston Astros baseball team had to call off the game. Not because of wet grounds; dome covers field. But only a couple of hundred hardy fans reached the park.
5. "We couldn't have gone on anyway," says a dome official. "Half the players weren't here before the game either. The bat boy would have had to bat cleanup if we'd played."