Texas Happenings 2007, No. 15
Week of July 23, 2007TEXAS HapPENINGS is a biweekly advisory to AP member editors on upcoming stories or projects of special interest and a source of news about other AP developments.
FOOTBALLS ARE FLYING AGAIN
The Dallas Cowboys have descended on San Antonio. The Houston Texans are getting ready to take to the practice field in Houston. College teams are about to start their workouts. And Associated Press sports writers are busy at work on preseason stories that will move on the Texas AP wire throughout the month of August.
AP Sports Editor Jaime Aron is covering the Cowboys in San Antonio. AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken is covering the Texans in Houston. AP Sports Writer Chris Duncan was on the scene in San Antonio for Big 12 media day.
To help you with your planning, Big 12 previews and stories on the state’s “Little Six” will move on Aug. 16. Our regular high school preseason package, including the preseason high school football poll will move later in August.
Additional features will move throughout August. If you’ve got questions on coverage plans, contact Schuyler Dixon at 1-800-442-7189 or sdixon@ap.org.
LOOKING AHEAD
ODESSA - To hear those lobbying to bring a one-of-a-kind power plant to this Permian Basin city, FutureGen is nearly a slamdunk. The area boasts an international airport, it's already got the necessary pipeline infrastructure and the region has a gaggle of experts from decades of extracting oil and natural gas from the scrub-brush terrain.
The only thing Odessa doesn't have - which the other Texas site in Jewett and the two in Illinois do - is coal. Even without the fuel source for the eventual 275-megawatt, state-of-the art power plant, people working to bring it to West Texas are confident.
The story slugged BC-TX--FutureGen-Odessa by AP Correspondent Betsy Blaney is moving for weekend editions July 28-29.
Also in the weekend package:
AP WEEKEND MEMBER EXCHANGE: BURD'S VIEW
AUSTIN - It's a 3 1/2-mile walk between Gene Burd's apartment near Barton Springs Road and his office on the University of Texas campus, a walk that he makes twice a day. He's easy to spot on downtown streets, namely because Burd hoofs his daily commute at a brisk pace that belies his 76 years. A reporter since 1953 and journalism teacher since 1959, Burd has used more than $1 million of his own money, most of it just from saving up his paychecks and investments, to establish the Urban Communication Foundation, which gives financial awards to journalists and researchers who specialize in city planning, architecture, zoning, environmental issues and other urban topics. This from a man known as one of the lowest-paid tenured professors in his department. By Patrick George, Austin American-Statesman
MONDAY:
PERRY'S MONEY
AUSTIN - Once Texas Gov. Rick Perry was done signing or vetoing the bills passed in the year's legislative session, he turned his attention to something he does rather well: collecting campaign cash. Perry raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars over two weeks in June, much of it from big donors, leaving him with $1.4 million to spend on campaigns. But whose campaign? By Political Writer Kelley Shannon.
MEMBER KUDOS
The Laredo Morning Times shared details on-cycle on the trial of a teen hitman with The Associated Press and its members.
The Abilene Reporter-News provided its story on-cycle on a Brownwood police officer accused of having sex with a teen.
The Tyler Morning Telegraph shared its story on-cycle on a woman accused of the death of her infant son.
The Brownsville Herald provided the AP its story on-cycle on a county judge asking the governor to delay appointing judges to a new district court because of a lack of money and no court facilities.
The Victoria Advocate shared its story on a man who walked into a police station to surrender in the death of his wife, whose body was in the man’s vehicle outside.
The Midland Reporter-Telegram provided its story on-cycle on a former teacher sentenced to 26 years in prison on sexual assault charges.
These are just a few of the recent examples of on-cycle contributions from AP members in Texas.
If you have stories to offer the AP, please send them to dalcarbon@ap.org. If you have questions about whether to offer a story, please call the AP in Dallas at 1-800-442-7189 or 972-991-2100 and ask for the supervisor.
SPECIAL EDITIONS
The special edition package on home and garden-winter will move Aug. 7.
APPLAUSE PLEASE
CHARLES O. KILPATRICK, former editor and publisher of the San Antonio Express-News, has been awarded the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Journalism from the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists. Kilpatrick was recognized for his long journalism career and for strengthening ties between the United States and Mexico. He worked at the Express-News for more than 40 years and retired as editor and publisher in the 1990s.
ON THE MOVE
BARTON CROMEENS has been named editor of the Abilene Reporter-News. Cromeens succeeds Terri Burke, who retired in March. He has been with the Reporter-News for 11 years and has served in a variety of roles, including managing editor, assistant managing editor, photo editor and photojournalist.
INDUSTRY NEWS
The AP Industry News summary is now available on the new AP Exchange system, a free system offering you Web-based access to the AP report. On AP Exchange, media industry news items will be available immediately, rather than transmitted once a week. For more on AP Exchange you can visit www.ap.org/apexchange.
If you do not have AP Exchange access yet, please contact AP Texas Chief of Bureau Dale Leach.
An AP Exchange account will permit you to access and search industry news, along with all your AP text, photo and graphics services. Until an AP Exchange account is created for you, we can add you to an e-mail list for distribution of media industry news items as soon as they arrive. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please send your request by e-mail to talkback@ap.org.
If you’ve got news to share for TEXAS HapPENINGS, please send the material to Linda Franklin at lfranklin@ap.org.
PREVIOUS ISSUES:
• April 16, 2007
• April 30, 2007
• May 14, 2007
• May 28, 2007
• June 11, 2007
• June 25, 2007
• July 13, 2007
