For almost a decade straight, Kerry Burke has been reporting on crime for the New York Daily News, primarily homicides—or "murder and mayhem," as he tends to call it. Burke was one of the reporters featured in Bravo's short-lived 2006 reality series "Tabloid Wars," which documented how writers and editors at the Daily News manage to put a great deal of the day's activities into a newspaper that's ready for sale the next morning. It got him a good bit of attention back then; now it's 2012, and he's still at it, contributing stories from all over the city, from waiting for Beyoncé to Occupy Wall Street [...]

All six of the contestants at the Apollo Amateur Night semifinals had already advanced through two rounds. Of them, only Cherayla Davis had won first place in both of her appearances. When James Brown competed in Amateur Night, he was booed. Luther Vandross and Lauryn Hill were also booed. Dave Chappelle: booed. Cherayla Davis had never been booed. And this night, she was going out first.

For a while now, something has been bothering me. It's not particularly menacing or sinister, just annoying and unavoidable. It's a word, and I see it in the comments section of YouTube videos and hear it from the mouths of guffawing teenage girls next to me on the subway. Sometimes it even makes an unwelcome appearance on my cell phone in the form of a text message. The word I'm talking about is random—and I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Facebook Groups have risen in opposition to this ubiquitous six-letter expression. There is "Irritated by the incorrect use of the word 'random,'" "I HATE the word [...]

"If I had the money I spent on drugs and alcohol, I would buy this building, remodel it, and then take everyone here on a cruise," Senior Pastor Carrie McEachern told her congregation of about a dozen. Sometimes she shouts so loud that the PA system becomes redundant. "I enjoy that cocaine that goes up my nose, but the Devil doesn't talk about the consequences!" she said.

McEachern is a small woman with a large presence. That day she wore a navy-blue dress with matching blazer and a black bob wig somewhat in the style of Supremes-era Diana Ross. During worship music, McEachern bangs a tambourine against her hip. [...]