Ledes -- Some Nice Work

I'm happy to say I think everybody did very well on this first practice story assignment. Lots of good ledes and accurate identification of main story points and good word choice in deciding how to best start your stories. Many of the ledes scored at 3.0 or above.

Now, let's look at a few, and you tell me what you think. First, car crash ledes:

Speeding to get to his wedding this morning, a man was killed in a car accident occurring a half-mile away from the church.

That one pretty much says everything that's most important. This one lays out details:

A 22-year-old man died this morning on the way to his wedding when he lost control of his vehicle, which smashed into two trees and a fence.

This one I think could have been a bit better:

While driving to his wedding this morning, a 22-year-old man was killed after he swerved to avoid a large dog and hit two trees and a fence.

Instead of using the generic "driving," I might have taken the opportunity to replace it with the more telling" speeding," like this (italics mine):

While speeding to his wedding this morning, a 22-year-old man was killed after he swerved to avoid a large dog and hit two trees and a fence.

See how finding a better word adds facts without adding more words?

Now, fingerprint fee ledes. This one is simple and to the point:

A new fee of $25 will be charged by the police to criminals at their arrest for mug shot and fingerprint services.

This next one is just as practical and useful:

East Lansing's jail will now charge anyone arrested a $25 fee if the police take their mugshots and fingerprints.

This next one builds upon those a bit, by not only saying what the city is doing, but offering an explanation as to why:

In an effort to combat the city's financial crisis, police officials today unveiled a new policy that will charge criminals $25 for fingerprints and mug shots.

This one does the same:

In an effort to slash expenses, city officials enacted a new fee Monday that makes individuals pay out-of-pocket for getting arrested.

Finally, football criminal ledes. This first one sums things up nicely:

A male student charged with armed robbery continues to play for Colonial High School's football team despite being under house arrest.

So does this one:

A football player at Colonial High School was allowed to play Saturday while under house arrest for armed robbery.

.. and this one, too ...

A 16-year-old Colonial High School student is still allowed to play on the school football team even though he remains on house arrest for armed robbery.

This next one offers a bit more detail; how it came to be known that the high school was hiding this secret:

A local detective was surprised Saturday when Colonial High School allowed a juvenile charged with armed robbery and under house arrest to play football.

And this last one offers a bit of color, painting the mental image of a high school football player in pads, helmet and electronic monitoring bracelet:

A youth charged with armed robbery, currently under house arrest, participated in a high school football game last Saturday despite having an electronic bracelet attached to his ankle.

These are all good ledes, but as journalists we look to offer the best lede. Which ones do you think worked best, and why?