Sources of Info for Your Blog Posts: Site Organizing News by State

Here’s a site that I recommend to my clients for their blogging and which I’ve used myself for several years now:  US News by State.
It not only provides news stories that are breaking in the various states, it also lists the larger cities or metropolitan areas within those states.  That’s great but it gets better than that: within these lists, the various news stories (hyperlinked to their sources) are provided outlet by outlet. 
For example, within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the top news stories are listed (with time and date) for:

• Dallas Business Journal
• Dallas KTVT
• Dallas KXAS
• Dallas WFAA
• Fort Worth Star Telegram (three versions)

There’s also a search feature.
Of course, not all media sources are included here.  The Dallas Morning News is absent from the above list, and it’s a major player in that market.  If I were writing about something dealing with Dallas or Fort Worth or the surrounding area, you betcha that I would also go and check out the latest at the Dallas Morning News site.
What Do You Do With the News Stories?
Once you’ve got a list of news stories, then you’ve got a springboard for your next post.  It’s great because it’s local and local coverage is excellent for most blogs. Especially law blogs.
However, for any blogger, news stories can be something that you can hyperlink within your post as you discuss something relevant to that post.
For instance, I coauthor a blog with Terry Lenamon that deals exclusively with the death penalty.  In the Fort Worth Star Telegram today there is a story by Anna Tinsley entitled “Texas still top state for the death penalty.” 
I will read this story for a possible link within a post on Terry Lenamon on the Death Penalty.  Terry’s not in Texas, so it would serve only as a secondary link – Texas lead in the death penalty stats is a bigger story in Fort Worth than in it is Miami.  This story may be helpful to fuel the fires for how Florida ranks in the death penalty, what Florida’s Powers that Be are doing in 2012 about the death penalty, etc.
You get the idea. 

Could Evernote Help You As You Write Your Blog Posts? I Think So.

A software guru that I respect recommended Evernote to me last month as a time-saving bit of software and I’ve been working with it for around a month now. 
I like it, maybe you will too.  You’ve got to like the price:  the basic version is free.   
So What is Evernote?
Evernote is software that you download onto your hard drive and it pops up in your internet search engine:  IE, Firefox, Chrome, whatever.  There’s also a little icon on your desktop; all this coordinates to provide you a platform for organizing stuff you find on the web.  You can save different things: the url for the webpage; an excerpt or article on that page; or you can store the complete page from its banner ads to its boilerplate footers.
Of course, it also works on your phone and your other stuff too.  Sync smart.
For the description the Evernote folk provide, go here.
What Have I Found?  It’s Easy and Fast, and There’s a Size Limit for the Free Version
I’m still trying out all its bells and whistles but I know Evernote is a keeper, and for those who write blog posts regularly, I think it’s a good tool to have in your toolbox, too. 
I’m not using the notes feature, but I have been routinely clicking on the green elephant to save stuff that I find on the web that I want to use in future blog posts for myself as well as forwarding to clients for their consideration in their posting. 
For example, I don’t have a lot of interest in blogging about the latest developments in the legal battles involving Florida’s disgraced attorney, David J. Stern and his foreclosure-focused law firm, but I have a client that is very interested in this stuff.  When I read an interesting article about the latest acts that the Florida AG was undertaking, I thought this might good for my client and quickly hit the elephant button.  Saved the url. 
Zip zip. 
No bookmarking.  Hate to clutter my bookmarks with this stuff.
No notes either on paper or on my PC’s sticky notes or on my iGoogle page.
I was back surfing almost immediately.
Bottom line, I am finding Evernote fast and easy to use for saving web stuff that I might want to use later.  The little button is the big help.
For more on Evernote, check out their descriptions of its various functions as well as watch their cool videos on things like Evernote Clearly, Evernote Food, Evernote Hello, Evernote Peek, and other freebies they offer.  
For what other users think as well as techie experts, check out the reviews of Evernote on CNET and AppBrain.
Oh, and Evernote was one of the top apps recommended by the New York Times last year – if you want to read old news. 

Why I Use Google Scholar In My Blog Posts

The more I use Google Scholar, the more I like it.  I think you will, too.  I always use Google Scholar, for example, to hyperlink cases or statutes or law review articles in blog posts because:

1.  it's free;
2.  it's easy for readers to access (no subscription hurdle);
3.  it's reliable;
4.  (best of all) within the document, Google Scholar hyperlinks citations for ready reference; and
5.  there's a Shepardizing of sorts provided, too.

For example, click here to check out New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) on Google Scholar.  Nice, huh?