diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e989ec7..fb60d5d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ etc/*.service
 # Python cache
 __pycache__/
 
-# rag data
-data/rag/*
+# data files
+data/*.json
 
 # qrz db
 data/qrz.db
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ data/inventory.db
 
 # fileMonitor test file
 bee.txt
+*news.txt
 
 # .csv files
 *.csv
diff --git a/config.template b/config.template
index 6ef9c88..5b3aa58 100644
--- a/config.template
+++ b/config.template
@@ -392,8 +392,10 @@ broadcastCh = 2
 # news  command will return the contents of a text file
 enable_read_news = False
 news_file_path = ../data/news.txt
-# only return a single random line from the news file
+# only return a single random (head)line from the news file
 news_random_line = False
+# only return news 'block' (seprated by two newlines) randomly (precidence over news_random_line)
+news_block_mode = True
 
 # enable the use of exernal shell commands, this enables some data in `sysinfo`
 enable_runShellCmd = False
diff --git a/data/README.md b/data/README.md
index a83a02e..7c65010 100644
--- a/data/README.md
+++ b/data/README.md
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-database admin tool is in [./etc/db_admin.py](../etc/db_admin.py)
\ No newline at end of file
+database admin tool is in [./etc/db_admin.py](../etc/db_admin.py)
+this folder is populated with install.sh
+to manually populate ` cp etc/data/* data/. `
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/mesh_news.txt b/data/mesh_news.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 1017712..0000000
--- a/data/mesh_news.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Today in meshtastic you are looking at the coolest bot on the block.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/news.txt b/data/news.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 6f3fc71..0000000
--- a/data/news.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-no new news is good news!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/hamradio/extra.json b/etc/data/hamradio/extra.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/hamradio/extra.json
rename to etc/data/hamradio/extra.json
diff --git a/data/hamradio/general.json b/etc/data/hamradio/general.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/hamradio/general.json
rename to etc/data/hamradio/general.json
diff --git a/data/hamradio/technician.json b/etc/data/hamradio/technician.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/hamradio/technician.json
rename to etc/data/hamradio/technician.json
diff --git a/data/surveys/example_survey.json b/etc/data/surveys/example_survey.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/surveys/example_survey.json
rename to etc/data/surveys/example_survey.json
diff --git a/data/surveys/snow_survey.json b/etc/data/surveys/snow_survey.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/surveys/snow_survey.json
rename to etc/data/surveys/snow_survey.json
diff --git a/data/quiz_questions.json b/etc/quiz_questions.json
similarity index 100%
rename from data/quiz_questions.json
rename to etc/quiz_questions.json
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 975167a..a7d1e3e 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -157,6 +157,13 @@ if [[ ! -f modules/custom_scheduler.py ]]; then
     printf "\nCustom scheduler template copied to modules/custom_scheduler.py\n"
 fi
 
+# copy contents of etc/data to data/
+if [[ -d data ]]; then
+    printf "\nCopying data templates to data/ directory\n"
+    mkdir -p data
+    cp etc/data/* data/
+fi
+
 # generate config file, check if it exists
 if [[ -f config.ini ]]; then
     printf "\nConfig file already exists, moving to backup config.old\n"
@@ -514,4 +521,4 @@ exit 0
 
 # after install shenannigans
 # add 'bee = True' to config.ini General section.
-# wget https://gist.github.com/MattIPv4/045239bc27b16b2bcf7a3a9a4648c08a -O bee.txt
+# wget https://gist.githubusercontent.com/MattIPv4/045239bc27b16b2bcf7a3a9a4648c08a/raw/2411e31293a35f3e565f61e7490a806d4720ea7e/bee%2520movie%2520script -O bee.txt
diff --git a/mesh_bot.py b/mesh_bot.py
index 880cf06..a2260bf 100755
--- a/mesh_bot.py
+++ b/mesh_bot.py
@@ -483,15 +483,26 @@ def handle_wxalert(message_from_id, deviceID, message):
 
 def handleNews(message_from_id, deviceID, message, isDM):
     news = ''
-    # if news source is provided pass that to read_news()
     if "?" in message.lower():
         return "returns the news. Add a source e.g. 📰readnews mesh"
     elif "readnews" in message.lower():
         source = message.lower().replace("readnews", "").strip()
         if source:
-            news = read_news(source)
+            # if news source is provided pass that to read_news()
+            if my_settings.news_block_mode:
+                news = read_news(source=source, news_block_mode=True)
+            elif my_settings.news_random_line_only:
+                news = read_news(source=source, random_line_only=True)
+            else:
+                news = read_news(source=source)
         else:
-            news = read_news()
+            # no source provided, use news.txt
+            if my_settings.news_block_mode:
+                news = read_news(news_block_mode=True)
+            elif my_settings.news_random_line_only:
+                news = read_news(random_line_only=True)
+            else:
+                news = read_news()
 
     if news:
         # if not a DM add the username to the beginning of msg
diff --git a/modules/filemon.py b/modules/filemon.py
index ebd00f0..0c36cac 100644
--- a/modules/filemon.py
+++ b/modules/filemon.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from modules.settings import (
     file_monitor_file_path,
     news_file_path,
     news_random_line_only,
+    news_block_mode,
     allowXcmd,
     bbs_admin_list,
     xCmd2factorEnabled,
@@ -23,16 +24,34 @@ trap_list_filemon = ("readnews",)
 NEWS_DATA_DIR = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'data')
 newsSourcesList = []
 
-def read_file(file_monitor_file_path, random_line_only=False):
+def read_file(file_monitor_file_path, random_line_only=False, news_block_mode=False):
+    logger.debug(f"FileMon: Reading file: {file_monitor_file_path} options - random_line_only: {random_line_only}, news_block_mode: {news_block_mode}")
     try:
         if not os.path.exists(file_monitor_file_path):
             if file_monitor_file_path == "bee.txt":
                 return "🐝buzz 💐buzz buzz🍯"
-        if random_line_only:
+        if news_block_mode:
+            # read a random block (separated by 2+ blank lines, robust to line endings)
+            with open(file_monitor_file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                content = f.read().replace('\r\n', '\n').replace('\r', '\n')
+                blocks = []
+                block = []
+                for line in content.split('\n'):
+                    if line.strip() == '':
+                        if block:
+                            blocks.append('\n'.join(block).strip())
+                            block = []
+                    else:
+                        block.append(line)
+                if block:
+                    blocks.append('\n'.join(block).strip())
+                blocks = [b for b in blocks if b]
+                return random.choice(blocks) if blocks else None
+        elif random_line_only:
             # read a random line from the file
             with open(file_monitor_file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-                lines = f.readlines()
-                return random.choice(lines)
+                lines = [line.strip() for line in f if line.strip()]
+                return random.choice(lines) if lines else None
         else:
             # read the whole file
             with open(file_monitor_file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
@@ -42,13 +61,19 @@ def read_file(file_monitor_file_path, random_line_only=False):
         logger.warning(f"FileMon: Error reading file: {file_monitor_file_path}")
         return None
 
-def read_news(source=None):
+def read_news(source=None, random_line_only=False, news_block_mode=False):
     # Reads the news file. If a source is provided, reads {source}_news.txt.
     if source:
         file_path = os.path.join(NEWS_DATA_DIR, f"{source}_news.txt")
     else:
         file_path = os.path.join(NEWS_DATA_DIR, news_file_path)
-    return read_file(file_path, news_random_line_only)
+    # Block mode takes precedence over line mode
+    if news_block_mode:
+        return read_file(file_path, random_line_only=False, news_block_mode=True)
+    elif random_line_only:
+        return read_file(file_path, random_line_only=True, news_block_mode=False)
+    else:
+        return read_file(file_path)
 
 def write_news(content, append=False):
     # write the news file on demand
diff --git a/modules/settings.py b/modules/settings.py
index b78c406..2c1f6cf 100644
--- a/modules/settings.py
+++ b/modules/settings.py
@@ -457,6 +457,9 @@ try:
     read_news_enabled = config['fileMon'].getboolean('enable_read_news', False) # default disabled
     news_file_path = config['fileMon'].get('news_file_path', '../data/news.txt') # default ../data/news.txt
     news_random_line_only = config['fileMon'].getboolean('news_random_line', False) # default False
+    news_block_mode = config['fileMon'].getboolean('news_block_mode', False) # default False
+    if news_random_line_only and news_block_mode:
+        news_random_line_only = False
     enable_runShellCmd = config['fileMon'].getboolean('enable_runShellCmd', False) # default False
     allowXcmd = config['fileMon'].getboolean('allowXcmd', False) # default False
     xCmd2factorEnabled = config['fileMon'].getboolean('twoFactor_enabled', True) # default True