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Welcome to Current Events !

 

Issue 18 News Updates

  • The death toll from the February 5 tornadoes reached 57, according to The Associated Press. Another swarm of tornadoes hit the South on February 17. Some of the worst damage from the latest round of storms was in Prattville, Ala., where about 200 homes were damaged and about 50 people were injured. More home were damaged by tornadoes that hit Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. Unlike the February 5 storms, no deaths were reported.

  • The screenwriters represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) had until February 25 to vote by mail on their new contract with the producers. After the vote was counted, the union announced that the deal had gone through with nearly 94 percent approval. The contract "establishes a beachhead on the Internet and in new media that will guarantee our share of a potentially vast and bountiful future," Patric Verrone, president of the WGA-West, told members. Read more at www.wga.org.

  • Movie and television directors who are member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) ratified their new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on February 20. The next contract, between the producers and members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), which represents nearly 120,000 actors, expires on June 30.

  • The Current Events Eyewitness to History Contest is under way! Have your students interview someone who personally witnessed a historic event. Then submit their stories in question-and-answer format to CE. Each interview can run up to 1,000 words long and should include a paragraph in which the student explains what he or she learned from the process. All entries must be postmarked by March 7. Click here for all the instructions and some interviewing tips.

    • For more issue-related updates and web-only content, check out the CE News Blog.
    • The Issue 18 Teacher's Guide is now available online.
    • Click on "Resources," above, for more activities and the latest Smart Stuff.

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