Red Wigglers! aka Eisenia Foetida are the best worms for limited space composting. I've bought them online and online before without any issues. They are strangely portable, which makes sense considering they are the perfect worm for limited space composting. It's suggested to start with a pound of worms, check out my Vermicomposting page for more info on that.

As far as adding newspaper scraps, leaves and soil, yes this is true. I only did shredded newspaper for mine and it worked perfectly. I also added soil and water before placing the worms. Leaves would be a good replacement or combination with the newspaper and the sand wouldn't hurt but make sure to use more soil than sand. The sand is certainly no necessity.