current events practice

What's being discussed in this article?
            The article is discussing the debate over an Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan, Park51.  Many people believe that this is too close to ground zero and that it is the Muslims fault so we should not let them anywhere near ground zero but other people say, our Constitution says they can build a mosque because of freedom of religion and speech so they should be allowed to build a mosque.  It is a heated debate because many people are very sensitive about the issue of 9/11 because it was a horrible event but extremists were responsible no the entire Islamic faith so we shouldn't punish those who have the same religion but different political views of the 9/11 hijackers.
 
When did the event happen? (Is this breaking news or something that's been analyzed and discussed for a while?)
          This is a fairly recent event.  The debate has been going on for a while because it is such a sensitive subject and people do not want to seem cold and uncaring for what happened on 9/11 or cold and mean to Muslims because the United States was not built on those principles.  Right now there is a debate over it, so the debate is being analyzed and discussed and has been for a few weeks but no one knows when a decision will be made on allowing or not allowing the mosque to be built.

What questions do you have that would help make this article make more sense to you? What more do you need to learn about to be able to report on this event?
         I would really like to know when the idea of the community center or mosque was first proposed and what the original reaction was.  It seems weird to me that the very freedoms we pride ourselves on are the ones we want to take away from some of our citizens simply because they share the same God as the extremists who attacked us on 9/11.  I really want to know what the basis of their argument is.  

Which News Worthy Events do You Rember From Your Lifetime?

I remember: President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky; 9/11; Iraq war; last combat troops out of Iraq; Afghanistan war; Columbia space shuttle; VA Tech; Cardinals winning world series; Obama winning election; butterfly ballots in Florida; Bush beating Gore; Bush beating Kerry; An Inconvenient Truth; Obama Health care passing; the Recession; Katrina; Haiti Earthquake; Gulf Oil spill; Miners trapped in Chile
My parents remember: JFK and RFK and MLK killed; Nixon v. Kennedy; Nixon resigning; Watergate; Woodstock; Fall of Saigon; Man on the Moon; Cuban Missile crisis; Eisenhower winning president; Iran Contra; Gang of 4; Glasnost; Rogue River catching fire; Fermi plant meltdown; Mount St. Helen's erupting; First Earth Day; Disco; The twist; the Hustle; The time warp; the rocky horror picture show; Jaws; Expo 67; 6 day war; Israeli- Egypt peace accord; LBJ deciding not to run; Beatles coming to US; Vietnam war; color TV; Air raid drills; Altamont; Love Canal; First person and American in space; Apollo 13; Jimmy Carter losing; Gordy How inducted into the Hockey hall of fame; Tigers winning the 68 world series; Iranian hostage crisis; Roe v Wade; ERA failure; Draft Lottery; AIDS becoming and problem; Electronic ovens; Walkman; murder of Olaf Palmer; Berlin wall falling; Detroit riots; Falklands war; Rwanda; Israeli massacre in Munich; Gay pride Parades; Arthur Ash wan US open in Tennis; Oakland Earthquake during Athletics world series; Columbine massacre