Last Updated: March 01, 1997
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Let's lead off with this issue's Double Play Award, the best headline-lead combination in my stack of submissions. The winner comes from Cleveland.
Rotary phones
don't give a bleep
Though surcharges are disappearing, some dialers cling to old technology
"Nowadays, a ring just takes a few pings. But some people still use brrrpp's. Decades into the ping dynasty, a few local telephone customers still have rotary service."
(Headline by Bill Meyer, lead by Grant Segall, of the Plain Dealer.)
Another sound headline from Cleveland:
Boom,
boom,
boom,
bust
As car drivers blast
stereos, city police
pump out tickets
(By Chris Raider.)
Must-skip TV: What's with the NBC re-runs?
(By Wallace Baine, Santa Cruz County (Calif.) Sentinel, on a piece on how the network was saving new episodes of its top shows for "sweeps week.")
Finding the right person Fast
in Mountain Lake gets Harder
(By Ed Thoma, Mankato (Minn.) Free Press on a feature about the challenge for a postmaster in a town of 2,000 where there are 46 families by the last name of Harder and another 40 whose name is Fast.)
Speedway makes
quick oil change
Pennzoil acts in a hurry to fill void
(By Kevin Lane, Indianapolis Star, on an article about a new "official" motor oil at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.)
Drink in this lead:
"When police officer Roy Paz says, "Freeze!" kids listen.
Then they grin and slurp it."
(By Nanette Woitas, of the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, on Operation Chill, in which police are armed with coupons for free frozen Slurpee drinks at 7-Eleven shops.)
Another fluid lead from Tampa:
"Take out a $20 bill and slap it on the table.
"There. You've just bought about a minute's worth of time from the lawyers fighting over water in a hearing that could plod through six weeks of testimony."
(By Neil Johnson, on a dispute over well-field permits that has legal costs flowing at $1,200 an hour.)
Imagine first lady
in New Age crowd
You may say she's a dreamer,
- but she's not the only one
(A lyrical headline by Craig Howard, Houston Chronicle, on a story putting into perspective reports of Hillary Clinton's /imaginary conversations with historical figures.)
Here's an attention-grabbing headline, also from Houston, from a story on high-tech efforts to secure good-old-fashioned votes:
http://www.looking.for.cybervotes
Candidates going online to attract voters on the Internet
(By Tony Trowbridge)
Finally, for most papers, the explosion of TWA Flight 800 was a national story. But for the Asbury Park Press of Neptune, N.J., it was local news. A follow-up story on the tragedy carried this lead:
"At the spot where TWA Flight 800 hit the ocean, there were no signs of life. But all around, there were signs of lives."
(By Wayne Parry, with an assist from copy editor Jeff Linkous.)
Do you think it would be a hassle to contribute to The Write Stuff? It need not be.
Here's the recipe: Address 8 1/2 x 11 envelope to The Write Stuff. Place it on a corner of your desk. Then, when you spot a well-written lead or headline in your paper, simply circle it, indicate the (headline) writer's name and stuff the tear sheet in the envelope.
Apply postage and mail.
Repeat frequently. 
Cooper is executive editor of the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald. Contact him at P.O. Box 688, Dubuque, IA 52004-0688 or bcooper@wcinet.com
