Texas Happenings 2008, No. 5
Week of February 25, 2008TEXAS 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.
TEXAS PRIMARY COVERAGE PLANS
We plan a full slate of stories for Texas AP members on Tuesday as voters in the state make their choices in the primary election.
Before we get to election day, you’ll find daily stories on the presidential race as candidates and supporters make their final pre-primary campaign appearances in Texas.
To help you with your election night planning, here is a look at the stories we’ll have:
TEXAS PRIMARY - How the presidential winner took the Republican and Democratic primaries. By Kelley Shannon.
MOOD OF TEXAS - Voters voices that take a look at how Texans are feeling and thinking about this election. By Michael Graczyk.
TEXAS CONGRESS - A look at the winners in congressional races, including the Republican primaries to field candidates to run against Reps. Nick Lampson and Ciro Rodriguez. By Suzanne Gamboa.
SENATE RACE - A look at the race for the U.S. Senate, focusing on the four-way Democratic primary.
TEXAS LEGISLATURE - A look at the races for the state House and Senate, examining how last session's fight over Speaker Tom Craddick's leadership affected the campaigns. By April Castro and Jim Vertuno.
EXIT POLL - A story focusing on what Texas voters had to say and who they voted for. By David Koenig.
STATE OFFICES - A look at other statewide races on Tuesday’s ballot, including railroad commission, courts and state board of education. By Paul Weber.
We will also have vote tables and summaries.
If you have any questions about our plans, please contact Texas AP News Editor Wendy Benjaminson at 281-872-8900, or at wbenjaminson@ap.org.
TEXAS APME FOCUSES ON NEWSPAPER TRANSFORMATION
If you’re looking for ways to make the most out of your newsrooms, adapt to the changing landscape that is the newspaper industry today and have a little fun along the way, then you need to be in Galveston March 28-30.
The Texas APME annual convention will be jam-packed with programs geared to giving you plenty of ideas for your newsroom. There’ll also be awards presentations, discussions on some of the major changes coming for AP services and the always-fun Buster Haas scholarship auction.
For full details on the agenda and to register online, please go to www.txapme.org.
LOOKING AHEAD
With fewer and fewer states left in the presidential primary season, the spotlight falls next on Texas and Ohio, along with Vermont and Rhode Island. Candidates must do their best to learn what really makes these states tick - who the voters are, what the place is really like, what anyone hoping to win had better know?
In each March 4 primary state, AP writers produced a breezy brush-up, covering the essentials - from economic stats and a state personality profile to important local food specialties. (Note: Don't even think about hitting Toledo without a stop for Tony Packo's Hungarian hot dogs.) The Primary States-4 Sketches story, 1,800 words, moved Feb. 25 for use beginning weekend editions, March 1-2. By Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Michelle Roberts in San Antonio, John Curran in Montpelier, and Michelle R. Smith in Providence.
AP Photos of Feb. 25: NY375-378.
LONELY COUNTIES
EL PASO - While most Texans will have to choose between Republican and Democratic ballots March 4, thousands of voters in 21 mostly rural counties will have that decision decided for them before they even leave the house. Republicans in 18 counties scattered around West and South Texas aren't expected to have a primary, while three Panhandle counties are expected to pass on a Democratic primary. By Alicia A. Caldwell
AP MEMBER EXCHANGE: A DANCER'S SOUL
DALLAS - The shoes say it all. Buster Cooper has danced for so long in the same leathery footwear that the stitches have come undone between the toe and the sole. He wears them as a badge of honor from his remarkable career. Generations of Dallas dancers have reaped the benefits of taking classes from Cooper, who opened a studio here in 1951 and who founded the dance program at the Hockaday School. By Michael Granberry, The Dallas Morning News.
AP Photo.
MONDAY
BENEFICIAL COCKROACHES
LUBBOCK - The cockroach, that dastardly and prolific pest homeowners love to hate, could finally be getting some respect. A flying cockroach from Asia has shown a voracious appetite for the eggs of pests that plague cotton farmers in South Texas. One grower there said he won't import roaches to help control populations of bollworms and beet armyworms, but he's happy to have those that make their way to his fields naturally. "The enemy of my enemy is friend," Jimmy Dodson said. "We need all the help we can get." By Betsy Blaney.
AP Photo.
MEMBERS OFFER STORIES ON-CYCLE
When an explosion rocked a refinery in Big Spring, the Big Spring Herald quickly offered up photos and details to The Associated Press. The Odessa American also shared information about the explosion.
The Tyler Morning Telegraph shared its one-on-one interview with Republican presidential candidate John McCain on-cycle.
The Corsicana Daily Sun shared its story on-cycle on a bus driver who parked her bus loaded with paroled inmates because her working hours for the day were over.
The Amarillo Globe News and the San Angelo Standard Times shared stories on wildfires in their areas. Amarillo also shared a story on an the punishment for an indicted judge.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal provided its story on-cycle on the red light given to red light cameras in Lubbock.
The Monitor in McAllen shared its story on a suspicious package that closed an international bridge.
The Temple Daily Telegram shared its story on-cycle on a senior class donating all the money it saved up for a class trip to a paralyzed classmate.
Please send your on-cycle contributions to the AP at dalcarbon@ap.org or APTexas@ap.org. If you’re not sure if we’re interested, please call the AP in Dallas and ask for the supervisor. The number is 1-800-442-7189.
TEXAS APME LOOKING FOR SPOTS FOR INTERNS
The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors board has authorized up to five Buster Haas summer internships for minority student journalists. The interns will work 10 weeks.
The next step is to identify where the interns will work. The program is open to Texas newspapers with a circulation of no more than 30,000. The newspaper must provide a solid internship experience for the students selected for the program.
There is no out-of-pocket to the newspaper. TAPME furnishes a $1,000 living expense grant to the intern along with a $3,000 stipend paid through the newspaper over the period of the internship.
Editors interested in participating in the internship program should contact Nick Jimenez, Haas committee chairman and Corpus Christi Caller-Times editorial page editor, at jimenezn@caller.com or 361-886-3787.
MAYBORN LITERARY NONFICTION WRITERS CONFERENCE
This year’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference is set for July 18-20 at Grapevine and it’s never too early to make your reservations.
Early Bird discounts are available until March 15.
General admission is $275 for early birds. The early bird fee for educators is $250 and $200 for students.
Additional details on the fees with contest article/essay and manuscript options are available on the Web site: http://themayborn.unt.edu
NARRATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON
A Narrative Writing Workshop, hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists, will be held June 2 at the University of Houston.
The workshop is one of five planned by SPJ this year. Other sites include San Jose, Calif., on April 26; Des Moines, Iowa, on May 24; Gainesville, Fla., on June 14 and Richmond, Va., on July 26.
The workshops are being led by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Hallman Jr. of the Oregonian. They are designed to help journalists learn how to move into the art of storytelling.
The cost for the workshop is $40 for SPJ members and $60 for non-members.
For complete details and to register, check out SPJ’s Narrative Writing Workshop page or call programs coordinator Heather Porter at 317-927-8000, extension 204.
SPECIAL EDITIONS
The special edition package on pets will move March 4.
Editors can access Special Features content in AP Exchange by typing “SPE” into the search field.
ON THE MOVE
PATRICK GONZALES, sports editor at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal for the past four years, is leaving West Texas to become an assistant sports editor at the Detroit News.
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.
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