Wetting Yourself To Get an iBook

Atypical AP lead captures computer frenzy. But why is local paper using wire copy?
Perhaps by necessity, wire leads are more utilitarian than artful. Here's one that's both and is a winner:

By KRISTEN GELINEAU
Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. - A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

Full story: http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031784470261&path=%21news%21vaapwire&s=1045855935241.

Only one thing wrong with that link: It's from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which then begs the question of why it's relying on the AP for what is surely the story everyone in the area is talking about.
Or are incidents like this a common occurrence in Richmond?

Jesse Sandler said he was one of the people pushing forward, using a folding chair he had brought with him to beat back people who tried to cut in front of him.
"I took my chair here and I threw it over my shoulder and I went, 'Bam,'" the 20-year-old said nonchalantly, his eyes glued to the screen of his new iBook, as he tapped away on the keyboard at a testing station.

Nice when a wire reporter can actually take the time to think about what she's going to write, before it's written. For us "deadline every minute" scribes who sometimes felt like stenographers instead of reporters, it's a damn good feeling.