A. Arrested

     The Freeport police announce the arrest of Carl Morton on a charge of murder. He was sought for six days in the slaying of Mildred Miller, 47, a pianist who lived at an inexpensive hotel, The Plaza, where Morton also had a room. The police announced at the time of her slaying that she had been raped and strangled. The slayer also had set her bed afire and took a television set and radio.
     Det. Sgt. Richard Raskover said that Morton, an unemployed truck driver, had been sought because Mrs. Miller's radio was found in his room. His girlfriend, who was not identified by the police, said Morton had left the night of the slaying after depositing the radio in their room and telling her he had just sold a television set and was going out to buy some food.
     When she asked Morton where he had obtained the radio and television set, Raskover said, he told her not to tell anyone about them.
     Morton was picked up at another downtown hotel this morning. Police would not disclose how they learned of his whereabouts. But it is a well-known police procedure to question hotel clerks about new guests.
     Raskover says that Morton will be questioned about several other deaths in The Plaza. Four other women died there within the past six months under strange circumstances. All were past 60.
     He did not resist arrest. No bail is set on capital charges.
     You ask if Morton has a record and Raskover suggests you obtain that information elsewhere. Through a contact, you learn Morton is 39 years old, was arrested in 1988 on a robbery charge and sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in the state penitentiary. Three years later, he was sentenced to 90 days on a misdemeanor, loitering. In 1993, he benefited from plea bargaining, being sentenced to 90 days for attempted theft following his arrest for robbery in the second degree and criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies. In 1996, he was sentenced to two years for burglary.
     Write a 300-word story.

B. Cookies

     Your editor likes short features—she calls them "brights"—from the police beat, and the following information from a crime report sounds like a good "bright":
     The day-care center of the Freeport School District holds its classes in the basement of the United Methodist Church, 850 Brighton Ave. During the evening, a basement window on the north side of the building was broken and the basement entered. Margaret Reeder, the director of the center, said all that appeared taken was a carton containing four boxes of chocolate cookies. She says the cookies were so stale the children wouldn't eat them and the center was planning to return them.

C. Crime Reports

     Total crimes, Precinct No. 2.

	Last Year	Previous Year
Total crimes reported	1,844	1,753
Auto thefts	262	202
Theft from motor vehicles	556	468
Burglaries	673	610
Purse snatching	55	55
Robbery	265	378
Murder	6	6
Rape and attempted rape	16	18
Possession of dangerous drugs	11	16

     The Freeport police department released citywide totals on crimes reported for last year which your newspaper ran yesterday. You go to Precinct No. 2, in which St. Mary's University is located, in order to write a piece on crime in that area because it was the subject of intensive police action after a record number of crimes, 3,299, were reported in the precinct three years ago. The year following the transfer of additional officers to the precinct, the number of crimes dropped to 1,753. Last year, the number inched upward.
     Police Captain Stanley Solomon tells you that the situation in the precinct is "steady," that the figures "reflect a citywide trend over the past two years of more property thefts in middle- and upper-income areas. We have always been a prime area for auto thefts. These foreign cars are attractive for some reason. Also, people around here tend to be absent-minded, and there are always the newcomers who think they're back home where they never locked their car doors. Anyone with a stereo or a camera in full view inside a car is asking for trouble."
     Precinct No. 2 covers eastern Freeport. In the immediate area around the university, described as Police Post No. 3, total crimes reported went from 148 two years ago to 220 last year, the largest increase in the precinct. Most of the crimes involved thefts from motor vehicles (81) and burglaries (103). Write 300 words for The Freeport News. Then write the first four paragraphs of a story for the campus newspaper.

D. Bite

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In making routine checks of major Freeport hospitals, you are told at 2 p.m. that a police officer has been admitted with a severe dog bite. The admitting clerk at Community Hospital identifies the officer as William Trevor, age 39. His condition is good. His injury is a dog bite to the right wrist. He was brought to the hospital by ambulance at 1:15 a.m. (today) after being picked up at his home. That is all the information she can give you.

     Next you reach the public relations office at the hospital and ask for additional information. In response to questions, and after checking with others at the hospital, Beverly Collins, the director of public information, tells you that Officer Trevor has been treated with antibiotics to ward off infection from inch-deep bites to the bottom and top of his wrist. The bites reached the bone. He has been given a sedative and is resting quietly. He is expected to be released from the hospital tomorrow. He is not to take shots to prevent rabies, because the city's standard dog-bite form, which was completed by ambulance attendant K. L. Ross, indicates that the dog has been seized by an animal control officer and is being held for observation in the city dog pound. You are told that the officer is asleep and cannot be disturbed by a telephone call.
     You go to the police records room, where you learn there is a written report of the incident. It was prepared by Patrolmen B. J. Kirby and A. M. Dunning. It is headed "Attempt Burglary." It says that at approximately 12:45 a.m. (today), an attempt was made to burglarize Apartment 205, the home of William Trevor. The body of the report reads as follows:

     Victim states that he was in the bedroom when he heard the balcony door open. Door is sliding type and was unlocked. Victim got out of bed, turned on light situated on bedside table and obtained service revolver, .38 Police Special, from holster in chair. On entering living room victim spotted white male, age approx. 30, in room. Victim stated, "Hold it right there," and suspect turned and ran out of sliding door. Victim aimed revolver to fire, but as he was about to fire victim's dog became excited and bit victim. Victim taken to Community Hospital with dog bites to right wrist.

     The report describes the suspect as wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and blue jeans but no shoes.
     You check with the personnel department of the police department and are told there is no William Trevor on the local police force. You recheck the offense report and note that Trevor's business address is listed as "Clovia P.D." You call the police department in Clovia and reach the police chief, Irving Scillicide. He confirms that William Trevor is a member of his police force. He is assigned to the K-9, or dog unit. You ask Scillicide if he knows what happened. He tells you, "It's my understanding Bill surprised a burglar in his apartment and struggled with him, and Rusty bit Bill instead of the burglar. It's a damn shame when a police dog bites the wrong person."
     Write 150 words for www.freenews.com.

E. Chen Arrest

     Police reported the arrest of Dong Lu Chen, 51, 1658 Broadway, a janitor with the B.C. Krebs Co. He was arrested last night in connection with the death of his wife, Gian Wan Chen, 50, last night.
     A police spokesman said the woman suffered a number of blows to the head from a hammer. Her death followed a domestic quarrel, police said.
     His wife and two children, a son, 18, and a daughter, 16, have been living in Freeport since 1992 when they and Chen came to this country from China. He was unable to find work then and moved to Maryland. But six months ago he moved back to Freeport. Write 150 words.