Maryann Batlle · Storify

Shoot First: Mattress Fire at Westward Ho

Maryann Batlle — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:26:52 GMT

While studying at the second floor library in the Cronkite building, I noticed a swarm of emergency vehicles line Central Avenue and Fillmore Street outside of the Westward Ho high rise. I left the library with my iPhone, checked out the scene and started tweeting.

Storified by Maryann Batlle · Wed, Oct 26 2011 23:19:14

A whole bunch of fire trucks at Westward Ho ... #PHX http://yfrog.com/ntsjswj · MaryannBatlle

There was a faint scent of smoke in the air.

From the Cronkite parking lot, I counted about a dozen emergency response crew cars and trucks, the bulk of which were from the Phoenix Fire Department.

Then a couple of local camera crews showed up.

News trucks have arrived to the emergency site, too ... #PHX http://yfrog.com/nx763ikj · MaryannBatlle

I crossed the street to get closer to the building, and I spoke to an officer who told me there had been a fire in one of the apartments.

There was a fire in the building but it's under control now. "They're just cleaning up," an officer told me. #PHX http://yfrog.com/kgrkbwaj · MaryannBatlle

I left and returned to the library where I searched Twitter for more information.

The Arizona Republic tweeted that it may have been a mattress fire.

Phoenix FD: Possible mattress fire in the Westward Ho retirement apts. Stay tuned. RT @eleditor: Do you know what's happening?
— azcentral · Sun, Oct 02 2011 17:00:43

I later found the online videos and articles from both of the aforementioned television stations.

As a result of the fire, the building was evacuated and two people were treated for smoke inhalation, according to the stations' reports.

Mattress fire sparks in Phoenix high rise

PHOENIX - Investigators are looking into what started a fire at a downtown Phoenix landmark Sunday. Dozens of people were evacuated from the Westward Ho after a mattress on the fourth floor caught fire. Resident John Matthew told ABC15 flames could be seen coming out of a window before firefighters arrived.

Fire at Downtown Phoenix High-Rise

The former mayor of Nogales has his name on plaques around the … FOX 10's Diane Ryan has the details on an ID theft summit … Down in the standings or down to their last out, the Arizona … A Yavapai County woman is facing 12 years in prison for … Four people were involved in a crash near 67th Avenue and Van …

After all of that snooping, I decided to follow Joe Henke's brilliant suggestion ...

@MaryannBatlle I call that a shoot first if you still need one. #bcxi
— JoeHenke · Sun, Oct 02 2011 16:52:23

@JoeHenke Good idea -- totally Storifying it! :D
— MaryannBatlle · Sun, Oct 02 2011 16:57:46

"We are not evacuating Rikers Island": New York City Mayor's decision gets mixed reviews

Maryann Batlle — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:35:42 GMT

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose not to evacuate Rikers Island -- where ten inmate detention facilities are located -- before Hurricane Irene made landfall. Human rights organizations and many Twitter users criticized the decision throughout the weekend.

Storified by Maryann Batlle · Thu, Oct 27 2011 00:10:49

While Hurricane Irene swirled toward New England during the weekend, a storm of criticism aimed itself at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) over his evacuation plans.

Despite ordering a historic mandatory evacuation of some 300,000 people who live in low-lying areas of New York City, Bloomberg decided not to evacuate the Rikers Island correctional facilities, which house about 12,000 inmates at any given time.

No Evacuation Planned at Rikers Island

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week that there is no plan to evacuate prisoners on Rikers Island, the city's main jail complex on 400 acres of land in the East River.

Locked Up at Rikers Island? NYC Irene Evacuation Plans Don’t Include You - TIME NewsFeed

As many as 370,000 people have been ordered to evacuate low-lying areas of New York City, But if you belong to one segment of New York's population you will be staying put, despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg's instructions. Bloomberg has been frequently echoing his call for people to get away from Hurricane Irene's path as soon [...]

Rikers Island Prisoners Left Behind to Face Irene

"We are not evacuating Rikers Island," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference Friday. Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, including a shutdown of the public transit system and the unprecedented mandatory evacuation of some 250,000 people from low-lying areas.

Bloomberg outlined the city's final evacuation plans at a press conference on Friday and encouraged everyone in low-lying areas to be out by 5 p.m. Saturday citing potential dangers to public safety.

"Nature is a force more powerful than any of us, and it really is better to be safe than sorry," Bloomberg said.

Mandatory Evacuations In New York City! Mayor Bloomberg Press Conference

August 26, 2011 CNN http://MOXNews.com

According to evacuation plans, the city has three different flood zones.

NYC evacuation zones map legend · flickr.com

(Image courtesy of Google Maps)

More areas were added to the plan -- including the Rockaways, which is in Zone B -- but Rikers Island was not.

Below is a map of the plan and the map's legend. Rikers Island (circled in red) is not shaded as an evacuation area despite being surrounded by orange and yellow.

(Click the image to enlarge.)

NYC evacuation zones Map · flickr.com

NYC evacuation zones map legend · flickr.com

(Images courtesy of Google Maps)

The City of New York Department of Corrections website announced via a bolded headline at the top its homepage that visits and property pick up were suspended Saturday and Sunday, however.

(Click the image to enlarge.)

City of New York Department of Correction homepage · flickr.com

Solitary Watch (@solitarywatch), a group that keeps an eye on "solitary confinement and other forms of torture in U.S. prisons," was one of the first organizations to speak out against Bloomberg's decision on its website.

Solitary Watch

"We are not evacuating Rikers Island," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference this afternoon. Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, including a shutdown of the public transit system and the unprecedented mandatory evacuation of some 250,000 people from low-lying areas.

From the web post:

"According to the New York City Department of Corrections' own website, more than three-quarters of Rikers Island's 400 acres are built on landfill -- which is generally thought to be more vulnerable to natural disasters. Its ten jails have a capacity of close to 17,000 inmates, and normally house at least 12,000, including juveniles and large numbers of prisoners with mental illness -- not to mention pre-trial detainees who have yet to be convicted of any crime. There are also hundreds of corrections officers at work on the island."

At another press conference, Bloomberg defended his decision by citing that Rikers Island is allegedly on higher ground.

Tell us what you really think: "#F---YouWashington" goes viral on Twitter

Maryann Batlle — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:49:13 GMT

An f-bomb hashtag aimed at Washington, D.C. politicos went viral on Twitter thanks to one man's social media crusade. [Warning: This report contains profanity.]

Storified by Maryann Batlle · Thu, Oct 27 2011 00:48:59

The stalled debt-ceiling talks pissed Jeff Jarvis off.

On his Twitter timeline last Saturday night, Jarvis, a journalist and an associate professor at CUNY, sent an explicit communiqué to Washington, D.C. politicos.

Hey, Washington assholes, it's our country, our economy, our money. Stop fucking with it.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 16:58:35

He urged others to express their own outrage.

People, it's time to get fucking pissed off.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:02:09

Can we start a Twitter chant: FUCK YOU, WASHINGTON! Pass it on.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:04:17

After finding his catchphrase, Jarvis centralized his message and promoted it.

FUCK YOU WASHINGTON. Come on, people.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:04:42

Jarvis' foul language led one of his followers to take him to task.

@jeffjarvis OK, now you're actually starting to be unprofessional.
— jlgolson · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:05:19

But Jarvis did not retreat.

Nobody pays me to tweet so it is fucking unprofessional. RT @jlgolson: @jeffjarvis OK, now you're actually starting to be unprofessional.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:06:15

FUCK YOU WASHINGTON. C'mon, people. Let's hear it.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:06:38

My dream is a virtual chant rising up in volume hour upon hour: FUCK YOU WASHINGTON!
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:08:11

Time for Washington to grow up and do its fucking work.
— jeffjarvis · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:09:57

Another user suggested turning Jarvis' impassioned malediction into a hashtag.

.@jeffjarvis Hashtag it: #FUCKYOUWASHINGTON
— boogerpussy · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:10:01

Doing so turned a single person's complaint into a collective campaign aimed at making "#F---YouWashington" a trending topic.

I would open my window and scream it, but that would let the air conditioning out. So I'll stick with hashtags. #fuckyouwashington
— andrewbrust · Sat, Jul 23 2011 17:37:43

Why this is smart. Web=nuance. Terrible in politics. Twitter=loud and simple. Like a bumper sticker. #FuckYouWashington
— Crowdsourcing · Sat, Jul 23 2011 18:01:21

Doing my part. #fuckyouwashington #fuckyouwashington #fuckyouwashington #fuckyouwashington #fuckyouwashington #fuckyouwashington
— danielbachhuber · Sat, Jul 23 2011 18:01:32

Turn the Other Tweet: Governor Rick Scott's Communications Director and a Journalist Spar

Maryann Batlle — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:01:35 GMT

After Marc Caputo reported that Governor Rick Scott used stimulus money in the Florida budget, Scott's Communications Director, Brian Burgess, went on the offensive against Caputo on Twitter. The two tweeted accusations and insults at each other for about an hour for all their followers to see.

Storified by Maryann Batlle · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:30:24

While the Miami Heat faced off with the Dallas Mavericks on the court in the first game of the NBA finals, a Miami Herald journalist and a Florida government official hosted their own brawl on Twitter.

Marc Caputo, a political reporter for the Herald, and Brian Burgess, Governor Rick Scott's communications director, shared their disdain for each other 140-characters at a time.

Governor Scott, who has publicly denounced the use of federal stimulus dollars at the state level, kept $370 million of such funds in this year's budget, according to Caputo.

Caputo broke the story for the Herald and the St. Petersburg Times this afternoon.

After bashing President Obama’s stimulus program, Scott includes federal money in state budget - Political Currents - MiamiHerald.com

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott campaigned against President Obama's "failed stimulus" program - yet the freshman politician kept nearly $370 million of the federal cash in the Florida budget he signed last week. Scott's decision to keep the stimulus money stands out in a year when the governor touted record budget vetoes of up to $615 million.

From the Article:
"The stimulus money Scott and Republican legislators approved touch every corner of the state: $290 million to improve electronic medical records, $4.2 million to aid disadvantaged children, $3.2 million for fighting wildfires, $12.5 million for drug courts, $8.6 million for county health departments, $1 million to fight infectious diseases, and $4.4 million to help public defenders and prosecutors." (Source: Miami Herald)

Gov. Rick Scott includes 'failed stimulus' money in budget - St. Petersburg Times

By Marc Caputo, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau In Print: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Rick Scott campaigned against President Barack Obama's "failed stimulus" program - yet the freshman politician kept nearly $370 million of the federal cash in the Florida budget he signed last week.

Caputo also posted video on Naked Politics, the Herald's political blog, that he claimed shows Scott engaging in a dreaded "flip flop":

Video: Rick Scott's stimulus flip flop | Naked Politics

Gov. Rick Scott is against Obama's stimulus program. But he allowed $370m of the federal money to stay in the state budget. And he doesn't really explain why.

He tweeted a link to the news story earlier in the afternoon and another to the accompanying video later:

After bashing President Obama’s stimulus program, Scott includes $370 million from the feds in state budget http://bit.ly/iybspN
— MarcACaputo · Tue, May 31 2011 14:26:15

Video: Rick Scott's stimulus flip flop http://bit.ly/iTqqZZ
— MarcACaputo · Tue, May 31 2011 18:13:50

After Caputo released the video link on the social media site, Scott's Communications Director, Brian Burgess, engaged in a public twitter-spat with Caputo.

Proof that @MarcACaputo cares little for the facts. Video: Rick Scott's stimulus flip flop #LastYearsBudgetNews
— brianjburgess · Tue, May 31 2011 18:18:29

Aware that others were probably taking note, Caputo responded with a meta-tweet that addressed both Burgess and the larger audience:

@brianjburgess what fact/s are wrong? All, please note what the gov said from his own lips http://bit.ly/iTqqZZ
— MarcACaputo · Tue, May 31 2011 18:20:42

Burgess then attacked Caputo's journalistic integrity ...

@MarcACaputo -that you're just now asking is proof you're unprofessional and engage in "gotcha" journalism w/out fact-checking.
— brianjburgess · Tue, May 31 2011 18:36:52

... which led Caputo to defend his ethics and reporting.

@brianjburgess U made the accusation. Name 1 fact that was wrong. U've ducked the question once. We asked the gov, showed his response
— MarcACaputo · Tue, May 31 2011 18:38:58

But Burgess was unconvinced.

Instead, he accused Caputo of yellow journalism and decided to end his participation in the spat.

@MarcACaputo -we offered to give you a response 10 hours ago. You refused because you already had your story made up in your head.
— brianjburgess · Tue, May 31 2011 18:50:24

@MarcACaputo -headline is false right out of the gate. No need to go deeper.
— brianjburgess · Tue, May 31 2011 18:53:14

Osama Bin Laden Killed; Social Networks Spread the News

Maryann Batlle — Wed, 04 May 2011 05:02:53 GMT

Twitter broke the news about Osama bin Laden's death. How it all spread ...

Storified by Maryann Batlle · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:58:47

After more than a decade of hunting, the United States government got its man — Osama bin Laden.

As the reported head of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda, bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian financier, infamously took credit for the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which killed more than 3,000 people. He was also involved in other plots, including the 1998 bombings of two embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that resulted in the deaths of about 224 people.

For 13 years, bin Laden has been the FBI's most wanted criminal — and its most elusive.

But Sunday the terror suspect was killed after Obama authorized a special-ops military raid of bin Laden's hideout: a million-dollar* compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

[*NOTE: The latest reports about the value of the house and other details conflict some of the original information released. I have updated this report wherever possible to reflect these inconsistencies.

As more time passes, the details continue to shift. Garance Franke-Ruta, senior editor at The Atlantic, calls these shifting narratives a "slippery slope": http://bit.ly/mQ0Zhw ]

FBI — USAMA BIN LADEN

Murder of U.S. Nationals Outside the United States; Conspiracy to Murder U.S. Nationals Outside the United States; Attack on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death

Without giving any explanation about what his speech would be about, the White House announced President Barack Obama was to address the nation.

RT @pfeiffer44: POTUS to address the nation tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern Time // Watch live: http://wh.gov/live
— whitehouse · Sun, May 01 2011 19:22:15

On Twitter, speculation about what Obama was going to say gave way to breaking news, tweet by tweet.

Keith Urbahn, chief of staff for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, tweeted about the number one terror suspect's supposed death a couple of hours before President Obama's speech.

So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.
— keithurbahn · Sun, May 01 2011 19:24:05

Once he was caught up in all of the retweets and replies, Urbahn urged everyone to disregard his tweet and wait for White House confirmation.

Ladies, gents, let's wait to see what the President says. Could be misinformation or pure rumor.
— keithurbahn · Sun, May 01 2011 19:31:23

CBS producer Jill Jackson also received credit for starting the Twitter buzz.

CBS now hearing from two congressional sources that Osama bin Laden is dead.
— jacksonjk · Sun, May 01 2011 19:48:52

folks, if this is true, give it up for CBS's excellent excellent Jill Jackson, who had it first.
— lizzieohreally · Sun, May 01 2011 19:46:38

Quick post on how traditional reporters beat the big cable guys by following Twitter: http://bit.ly/iPBH0U
— nbj914 · Sun, May 01 2011 20:13:43

But the man who truly broke the news had no idea what he was witnessing. From his home in Abbottabad, Sohaib Athar "unwittingly" described events and sounds of the U.S. military operation in his realtime tweets.

Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
— ReallyVirtual · Sun, May 01 2011 12:58:24

Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter :-/
— ReallyVirtual · Sun, May 01 2011 13:05:31

A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S
— ReallyVirtual · Sun, May 01 2011 13:09:10

Since taliban (probably) don't have helicpoters, and since they're saying it was not "ours", so must be a complicated situation #abbottabad
— ReallyVirtual · Sun, May 01 2011 14:02:08

Two helicpoters, one down, could actually be the training accident scenario they're saying it was >> http://bit.ly/ioGE6O
— ReallyVirtual · Sun, May 01 2011 14:43:55

The report he shared from the Pakistani news agency has since been updated and states: "The helicopter then came down in a plot." Below, you can still see the developing story's original lede.

Latest Pakistani News, Breaking News, Helicopter crashed in Abbottabad

Latest Breaking News: Helicopter crashed in Abbottabad; reason of crash is not clarify yet. According to source, one security forces helicopter is crashed due