November 2015 Oklahoma Publisher

Transcription

November 2015 Oklahoma Publisher
The Oklahoma Publisher
Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association
Vol. 86, No. 11
16 Pages • November 2015
www.OkPress.com
www.Facebook.com/okpress
INSIDE
NEW OWNERS: Three
Oklahoma newspapers recently
sold – The Wynnewood
Gazette, Boise City News and
Freedom Call. See who the new
owners are at these papers.
PAGE 3
SALES PROMOTIONS:
Take a look at some of the first
place winners in last year’s
Better Newspaper Contest’s
Sales Promotion event.
PAGE 9
COVERING TRAGEDY: The
Stillwater News Press and The
O’Colly cover the homecoming
parade tragedy .
PAGE 10
DONATE TO ONF to receive
this Will Rogers print. Details at
OkPress.com/will-rogers.
McAlester News-Capital investigates
school board’s questionable spending
The McAlester News-Capital recently
confirmed that the Oklahoma State Bureau
of Investigation is conducting a criminal
investigation at McAlester Public Schools.
“We have opened an investigation into
an allegation of official misconduct involving an employee of the school district,”
OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown told the
News-Capital. She declined to identify the
employee.
Brown said it’s possible the investigation
could take weeks to complete.
“Our main objective is to gain information and put it into a report and provide it to
the district attorney,” Brown said.
The OSBI initiated the investigation at
the request of the McAlester Police Department.
The News-Capital began a special investigation into finances at McAlester Public Schools in early September after MPS
Superintendent Dr. Marsha Gore’s reassignment of former MPS Business Manager/Treasurer Brent Grilliot and the hiring
of outside financial consultant and treasurer Paula Crawford.
In the Oct. 3 issue of the News-Capital,
Editor Glenn Puit told readers that the
newspaper was beginning a review of the
school’s finances “just to make sure everything was okay.”
Puit, along with reporters David Dishman and James Beaty, reviewed records
detailing school district finances.
“We’ve asked repeatedly via state open
records requests for a specific, line item list
of expenditures from that account, along
with details of what the money was spent
on and who spent it,” said Puit.
“Reporters Beaty and Dishman, under
the guidance of Editor Puit, have done
exemplary work regarding this investigation,” said News-Capital Publisher Amy
Johns. “Our community deserves to know
how their tax dollars are being spent and
it is our responsibility to shine the light
where there is darkness. I can say based
on our investigation, the spending is out of
control at MPS.”
The newspaper’s conference room has
been overtaken by boxes and stacks of
paper over the past few months, said Johns.
“The stacks of paper are financial documents obtained from McAlester Public
Schools as part of our newsroom’s comprehensive review of finances at the school
district,” she wrote in a Nov. 8 column. “All
of the documents were obtained through
open records requests.”
Puit said the investigation is part of a
long-term project to detail school district
spending.
“Why are we doing this?” he asked. “It’s
your money the school board is spending.”
Johns said these type of stories don’t
come around very often. “My job is to
loosen the reigns and give the news team
the time and the tools to make certain it is
done right.
“I am beyond proud and humble to work
with such great journalists.”
Special section focuses on Oklahoma’s missing children
A special section dedicated to child safety and the missing children of Oklahoma recently ran in six Oklahoma newspapers.
The Sequoyah County Times, McIntosh County Democrat,
Okmulgee Times, Henryetta Free-Lance, The Eufaula Indian Journal, Eastern Times Register and Vian Tenkiller News all ran the
28-page tabloid in October.
This is the first special section published in the six newspapers
under the direction of Publisher Jeff Mayo.
“This was a starter piece for us,” Mayo said. “I hope it leads into
more sales.”
On the date the section was published, there were 62 missing
children from Oklahoma.
Each child’s photo, description and information about their disappearance was presented in the section.
The section also contained stories about how schools work to
maximize each child’s safety at school and in the community as well
as tips on Internet safety for children.
A story on human trafficking by Roy Faulkenberry, editor of the
Sequoyah County Times, also appeared in the section.
Denise Gordon, a sales executive at the Henryetta Free-Lance,
came up with the idea for the section, said Mayo.
Information was readily available from the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children’s website at www.missingkids.org/
Safety.
“They maintain a database and were glad to have it publicized,”
said Mayo. “Of course we asked permission before doing it.”
2
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
Governor releases execution records
Using anonymous sources
The source was confidential. The governor was livid.
I had waited on the governor for more
than two hours in the hallway outside his
office at the state Capitol.
I wanted to ask him about a land
deal – that, according to my source –
involved the governor. But, the property
had been placed in the names of relatives to apparently hide the governor’s
involvement.
As the governor and his security,
staff and associates entered the hallway
and headed for their cars, I fell in step
with them, held a tape recorder toward
the governor and asked about the land
transaction.
I had never seen the governor more
aggravated. Furious better describes
him.
-RTThe last person who wants to use
an anonymous source in a story is a
reporter.
When sources are unnamed, all the
responsibility of what is being disclosed
rests squarely with the reporter whose
byline is on the story. The reporter and
newspaper’s credibility is on the line.
Any story is better if sources are fully
disclosed so the public can evaluate
who is speaking, what they are saying,
consider their expertise and knowledge,
and explore their possible motives.
But, if the story is important enough,
sometimes sources must remain anonymous to shield them from retaliation,
such as loss of employment, harassment,
or even at extreme times to ensure their
personal safety.
It is only by the press granting anonymity at times that the public is able
to learn important information about
the operations of federal, state, tribal
and local governments, the military, law
enforcement, colleges and schools, political campaigns, etc.
Allowing “whistleblowers” to remain
anonymous on occasion allows the
“watchdog” journalist to find out and
report about wrongdoing within companies, corporations and other private
institutions and businesses whose operations impact the public such as hospitals,
nursing homes, day care centers, private
prisons, casinos, etc.
Oklahomans are fortunate that the
state has a Shield Law that helps journalists protect confidential sources.
At least twice during my long career
– once during a grand jury investigation – I have been on the witness stand
and asked by hostile lawyers to reveal
sources. Both times I declined by invoking the state Shield Law and the U.S.
Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of Freedom of the Press.
In both cases, judges ruled that I did
not have to reveal the sources of my
stories. (I was sure glad that my wife and
I didn’t have to try and explain to our
children why dad was in jail, but hadn’t
done anything wrong.)
Often times I’ve wished that I could
have revealed sources – such as the
story about the governor’s land deal
years ago – because some of them were
prominent and readers would have found
their identities interesting. Some of the
very people who have screamed the
loudest about leaks surrounding political, court and law enforcement stories
were the very leakers of the information.
-RTThe governor – visibly angered –
hurried with his staff down the steps of
the Capitol to their waiting cars. I continued to try and ask questions about the
secret property deal, but the governor
was having none of it.
As the governor slid into the back
seat of his chauffeured car, I reached my
arm through the open door and offered
a hand shake. I remarked that it was
nothing personal; that I just wanted to
get his side of the story.
Instead of a shake, he grabbed the
handle and jerked the door shut. I barely
was able to extract my hand without
getting hurt. The red-faced governor
glared at me. (The story about the land
transaction ran on the front page the
next morning.)
I remember pausing and watching
as the governor and his entourage sped
away. Also witnessing the whole thing
was my confidential source, pale as a
ghost.
After more than a year and a half,
Gov. Mary Fallin’s office released more
than 40,000 pages of documents related
to state executions.
In December, the Tulsa World, its parent company BH Media Group and former World editor Ziva Banstetter sued
Gov. Fallin and Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson for alleged
violations of the Open Records Act.
Attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are representing the newspaper in the lawsuit,
which is pending in Oklahoma County
District Court.
The governor’s office declined to
release 54 pages of documents it deemed
confidential.
In a separate lawsuit, the Oklahoma Observer newspaper and a nursing
home reform group, A Perfect Cause, is
suing Fallin’s office for records related
to nursing homes and long-term care
facilities.
The nursing home reform group
requested the records concerning the
execution of two inmates in May 2014;
the Oklahoma Observer requested the
records in July 2014.
The lawsuit asks a judge to order the
immediate release of all records related
to the requests, and attorney fees.
OPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
THURS., DECEMBER 10, 2015
WEBINAR: POWER OF DATA
Cost: $15 for OPA members, 10:30 a.m.
This session will provide a roadmap for implementing data-driven operations at your
organization. How to get started with data. How to use demographic data. How using
data can save marketing money for your organization. It also includes ways to avoid
veering off the data road by getting lost in reports or overwhelmed with the information
you unleash. To register, visit inlandpress.org/training/webinars.
MON., DECEMBER 14, 2015
HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS DUE
The Hall of Fame honors Oklahoma journalists who have dedicated their lives to
excellence in serving the citizens of our state and country. Nominations may be sent
to Terry Clark at [email protected] or Journalism Hall of Fame, University of Central
Oklahoma, 100 N. University Ave., Edmond, OK 73034. To download the nomination
form, visit okjournalism.uco.edu/nomination-form.asp.
THURS., FEBRUARY 11, 2016, 9:30 AM
OPA LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT
Cost: FREE but please register in advance
Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City
OPA’s Legislative Summit is free to attend, so all OPA members are encouraged to meet
at the State Capitol on Feb. 11. We’ll have a short group meeting in the Blue Room on the
2nd floor, then split up to visit your legislators’ offices. Lunch will be provided by OPA in
the 2nd floor Capitol rotunda area. Please register by Feb. 8. Email OPA Member Services
Director Lisa Sutliff at [email protected] with any questions.
FRI. & SAT., JUNE 10-11, 2016
OPA ANNUAL CONVENTION
DOWNTOWN OKLAHOMA CITY SHERATON HOTEL
There will be a few changes, most importantly a schedule move to Friday and Saturday.
We’ll host education/networking sessions and social events Friday afternoon through
Saturday leading up to the annual awards banquet Saturday evening where we will
celebrate the winners of the Better Newspaper Contest.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the OPA website at www.OkPress.com or contact
Member Services Director Lisa Sutliff at (405) 499-0026, 1-888-815-2672 or email [email protected].
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 3
Wynnewood, Boise City under new ownership
THE WYNNEWOOD GAZETTE is under
new ownership. Mark and Cindy Lewis
purchased the weekly publication from
longtime owner and publisher Larry
Russell on Oct. 6.
The new owners moved to Wynnewood from Noble more than four
years ago and have become immersed
in the community, city government and
schools, said Russell.
Mark Lewis is a firefighter in
Oklahoma City, just two years away
from retirement. He also is a licensed
plumber. The Lewises purchased and
renovated a historic home in Wynnewood.
“Cindy hired on as a reporter in
August and Mark jumped right in to
help us out chasing down stories and
doing backup photography,” said Russell.
Russell said she searched for four
years to find someone who would run
the newspaper and care for it as she
had.
“I have been fully blessed and can
retire with a full and happy heart,” she
said.
THE BOISE CITY NEWS recently sold
to Blake and Ashley Wells.
C.F. David reported the sale in the
Sept. 23 issue of the newspaper.
David has been in the newspaper
business for 18 years.
“I have covered birth, death, murder, robbery and rape, along with celebration anniversaries, birthdays and
political events,” he said in his column.
“It’s been fun but it’s time to step
aside,” he said.
and Marione Martin of the Alva ReviewCourier.”
Martin said after he heard that Barnes
was going to close the newspaper, they
“made a quick deal to continue publishing” it.
“We have plenty of photos and news
items we don’t have space for in our
other two publications,” Martin said.
Martin said there are plenty of businesses surrounding the community that
would welcome Freedom customers.
“We hope their interest will be sufficient to keep this historic newspaper
going,” he said.
Several thank you notes convinced
Martin he had done the right thing. Tom
Gregory of Rockwall, Texas, wrote, “I
cannot remember a time in my 60 years
on this earth that a newspaper from
Freedom wasn’t available. Thank you for
‘stepping up to the plate.’ The new format is a welcome sight and the increase
in news stories is a nice addition.”
NNA hires IPA as new management firm
Beginning in January 2016,
the Illinois Press Association, based in Springfield,
Ill., will become the
National
Newspaper
Association’s new management firm.
The press association will take over from
American
PressWorks,
Inc., which will resume its
public policy work and management of NNA’s Washington office, when
the transition is complete.
APW began managing NNA’s business affairs in 2010.
Stanley Schwartz, NNA’s long-time
Faith Wylie wins
writing award
Faith Wylie, co-publisher of the
Oologah Lake Leader, won an award
at the national writers’ conference at
Rose State College in Midwest City in
September.
Wylie won the award for the opening
page of her first novel. The novel, “The
Revelation Key,” is nearing completion.
Wylie also conducted one-on-one
seminars on how authors can edit manuscripts to make the writing crisper,
shorter and more vivid.
editor, will join the Illinois
team. Schwartz oversees
the industr y’s leading
trade newspaper, Publishers’ Auxiliary.
Dennis DeRossett,
executive editor of the
Illinois Press Association,
said IPA was honored to
be chosen to provide management services to NNA.
“We are confident the synergies of our combined resources will
greatly benefit both organizations,” DeRossett said.
“Our missions are parallel – we are
both strong advocates of newspapers
Oklahoma
Publisher
ISSN 1526-811X
Official Publication of the
Oklahoma Press Association
PUBLISHER
Mark Thomas
[email protected]
EDITOR
Alva Review-Courier publisher purchases Freedom Call
Islia Barnes recently sold the Freedom Call to Lynn Martin, owner and
publisher of the Alva Review-Courier/
Newsgram.
“I would like to take this opportunity
to express my heartfelt thanks for your
continued support of The Freedom Call
over the past six years,” Barnes wrote
in the Oct. 29 issue of the weekly newspaper. “The Freedom Call is 109 years
old, and I am pleased to announce that
it will continue to be published by Lynn
The
and the important role they play in our
communities and in our democracy. At
this time in our histories, this partnership is an important next step that
will strengthen both organizations and
enable us to move forward in new ways
to the benefit of our member newspapers.”
NNA was founded in 1885 and represents about 2,100 community newspapers across America, with an emphasis
on weekly and small daily newspapers.
The IPA was founded in 1865 and
is celebrating its 150th anniversary
in 2015. Its membership consists of
approximately 475 newspapers located
throughout Illinois.
Looking for an acquisition?
W. B. GRIMES & COMPANY
has sold over 1,400 newspapers over the
years and appraised thousands of others.
LEWIS FLOYD handles the Southwest and Southern States.
Lewis Floyd – (850) 532-9466; lfl[email protected]
What’s Your Paper Worth? Find Out Today.
A Free Confidential Appraisal awaits via our web site.
www.MediaMergers.com
Jennifer Gilliland
[email protected]
OPA OFFICERS
Robby Trammell, President
The Oklahoman
Dayva Spitzer, Vice President
Sayre Record &
Beckham County Democrat
Rod Serfoss, Treasurer
Clinton Daily News
Mark Thomas,
Executive Vice President,
Oklahoma City
OPA DIRECTORS
Jeff Funk, Past President
Enid News & Eagle
Brian Blansett, Tri-County Herald
Ted Streuli, The Journal Record
Ray Dyer, El Reno Tribune
Mike Strain, Tulsa World
John Denny Montgomery,
The Purcell Register
Mark Millsap,
The Norman Transcript
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499
(405) 499-0020
Toll-Free in Oklahoma:
(888) 815-2672
www.OkPress.com
[email protected]
www.Facebook.com/OKPress
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4
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
New publisher in Tahlequah
Terry Erwin, former publisher of the
Poteau Daily News in LeFlore County,
has been named as publisher of the
Tahlequah Daily Press.
Erwin plans to work with businesses
and community leaders to help Tahlequah grow and prosper. To assist in his
goal, Erwin will focus on digital and
print advertising.
“This is a great community, with the
lake and the river and the downtown,”
said Erwin. “I’m excited to be a part of
it.”
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Erwin is a native of Santa Barbara,
Calif., and a 1981 graduate of Pepperdine University, which he attended on a
water polo scholarship.
He has an adult son and two grandchildren.
Steve McPhaul, chief operating officer of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., owner of the Tahlequah Daily
Press, said Erwin has the experience to
serve the market well.
“We look forward to continued success under Terry Erwin,” said McPhaul.
Pauls Valley Democrat names
Sara Fisher as general manager
Sara Fisher has been appointed general manager of the Pauls Valley Democrat.
Fisher succeeds Loné Beasley, who
recently retired. Fisher is currently
advertising director of the Democrat.
She will continue in that role, as well as
serving as general manager.
“It is truly an honor to become general manager of the Democrat,” said
Fisher. “I am totally committed to continuing our strong tradition of quality
journalism and outstanding customer
service.”
“Sara has been an outstanding leader
since she first joined the newspaper in
2008,” said Steve McPhaul, executive
vice president and chief operating officer of Community Newspaper Holdings,
Inc., the paper’s parent company. “We
are very confident that she will continue
to grow as an executive in her new role
as general manager of the Pauls Valley
Democrat.”
Fisher has made Pauls Valley her
home since 1992. She is involved in
numerous community organizations and
activities. She is married and has two
children.
Stillwater gets new managing editor
Beau Simmons was recently named
as managing editor of the Stillwater
News Press.
As managing editor, Simmons will
be in charge of managing the news
coverage of the daily newspaper, as well
as its website, stwnewspress.com, the
quarterly Stillwater Style magazine and
various special sections or projects.
Prior to accepting the Stillwater position, Simmons was news editor at The
Norman Transcript following a stint as
chief copy editor. He also worked as
sports editor at the Durant Daily Democrat and began as staff writer at the
Pryor Daily Times. While at the Transcript, he was section editor of the Bedlam special section that ran throughout
the state.
He has worked in newspapers for
more than 10 years after graduating
from Northeastern State University with
a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications.
“I love the environment and vibrancy
that is inherent in college towns,” Simmons said. “This is an incredible community, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Dale Brendel, publisher/editor of the
News Press, said Simmons has developed strong skills in writing, editing
and design, and gained experience in
other markets delivering quality news
products.
“We’ve made a number of changes the
last couple of years to improve our local
coverage of Stillwater and the Payne
County area, and we think Beau will help
us make some further improvements in
both our print and digital products.”
Farmer joins Grove as sports editor
Chloe C. Farmer has joined the Grove
Sun staff as sports editor.
Farmer graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond in
2014 with a bachelor’s degree in mass
communications.
She has received several awards,
including “outstanding broadcaster of
the year” at UCO in 2013. She also won
first place at Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association for her role on the
sports show, The Huddle, where she
covered the football team from Edmond
Memorial High School.
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 5
Sherry Muchmore appointed
to Historical Society board
Governor Mar y Fallin recently appointed Sherry Muchmore of
Ponca City to the board of directors
of the Oklahoma Historical Society
(OHS) for a second three-year term.
Married to Tom Muchmore, publisher of The Ponca City News, Sherry
writes a weekly Lifestyle page, “The
Neighborhood Chef,” in The Ponca
City News each Tuesday, and a weekly Neighborhood Chef column in The
Tonkawa News.
Sherr y Muchmore previously
served on the Oklahoma Literacy
Council and numerous boards in
Oklahoma City and Ponca City. She
has been active in Ponca City for
over 20 years, serving as president
of the Marland Estate Commission,
Friends of the Pioneer Woman Statue
and Museum, the Ponca City Council
of Garden Clubs and Four O’Clock
Garden Club.
She was on the steering committee
for the Standing Bear Statue; twice
chaired the Gala at the Marland Mansion; and is currently president of the
Ponca City Herb Festival, an event
held on the first Saturday in June each
year that attracts over 10,000 visitors
and over 100 vendors annually.
The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is “to collect, preserve
and share the history and culture of
the state of Oklahoma.” The OHS
maintains 31 museums, historic sites
and affiliates across the state. The
Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca
City is one of the museums overseen
by the OHS.
The organization is based out of
the Oklahoma History Center at 800
Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City.
Chickasha publisher participates
in high school mentoring program
When a high school student who
loves video was asked to participate in
a new mentoring program at Canadian
Valley Technology Center, he had no
idea he would be paired with the publisher of The Express-Star in Chickasha.
Michael Kashay, a senior at AmberPocasset High School, was assigned to
place videos alongside news stories on
the newspaper website by Express-Star
Publisher James Bright.
Kashay said every Friday Bright
would give him a new story to work on.
At first Bright helped by setting everything up, but about three to four weeks
into it, he began paying Kashay for each
story.
“Michael took an instant liking to
the work,” Bright said. “I’d give him an
assignment, and he produced eight or
nine videos over a range of topics. After
each video, I’d give him my opinion.
After about the third assignment, he
started editing on his own.”
The program at the Canadian Valley Technology Center is called mentor match, and was developed by Gay
Pettit, the center’s career development
counselor.
More than two dozen students were
paired with mentors last year.
Kashay said the experience enhanced
his love of shooting videos and he plans
to enroll in Oklahoma City Community
College’s film production program for a
career as a news videographer.
Religion editor wins Clarus Award
Carla Hinton, The Oklahoman’s religion editor, recently received the Clarus
Award from the Public Relations Society
of America-Oklahoma City chapter.
She was honored at an award dinner
in Oklahoma City.
PRSA said the Clarus Award is pre-
sented to a member of the working
media who exhibits fairness in reporting and whose work reflects favorably
on the practice of news reporting. It
symbolizes the importance of clarity of
purpose in reporting the news affecting
the lives of readers, listeners or viewers.
Phillip Reid joins Board of Advocates
at OU’s Stephenson Cancer Center
Phillip Reid, owner of Reid Newspapers, Inc., has joined the Board of Advocates at the Stephenson Cancer Center
at the University of Oklahoma.
The Stephenson Cancer Center Board
of Advocates includes community leaders from across the state. Members are
invited to learn about cancer research
and treatment at bi-annual meetings, and
serve as an advocate for the Stephenson
Cancer Center, and cancer awareness, in
their communities.
Board members are asked to make
a two-year commitment, which includes
attending meetings at Stephenson Cancer Center, connecting in small working
groups in between meetings, and raising
awareness for the center.
Reid, who lives in Weatherford, is
publisher of the Weatherford Daily
News, Vinita Daily Journal, Nowata Star,
Perry Daily Journal, The Bethany Tribune, Afton American and The Grand
Laker.
Oklahoman business reporter receives
media award for advocating disabilities
The Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns honored outstanding Oklahomans with disabilities
and their advocates on Oct. 27.
Among the winners were Paula
Burkes, business reporter for The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com, who won the
media public affairs award.
Don Sherry, producer of “The Last
Poster Child,” received the media public
service award.
Vicky Golightly of NewView Oklahoma received the George Lewis Award.
Other winners were Joe Cordova,
executive director, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, public
personnel employee of the year; Willis
Washington, policy adviser and advocate
for the Oklahoma United Spinal Association, Don David Award; and Paula
Falkenstein, Oklahoma City General
Services director and Americans with
Disabilities Act coordinator, Oklahoma
City Mayor’s Committee on Disability
Concerns outstanding member of the
year.
You’ve Got Questions!
• Can I photograph minors without consent?
• Can police deny access to records
by issuing a press release?
• Should I alter my archives
when a person demands it?
• Can I report inaccurate
tesimony given in open court?
• What are the laws about liquor advertising?
These are questions answered by the attorneys for the OPA
Legal Services Plan members in recent months. Newspapers always
need timely legal advice on issues related to newspaper publishing.
You should join OPA’S
LEGAL SERVICES PLAN!
See www.OkPress.com/LSP or contact Lisa Sutliff
at (405) 499-0026 or toll-free in Oklahoma 1-888-815-2672
6
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
Donate
to ONF
A donation to the
Oklahoma Newspaper
Foundation will support
its efforts to improve the
state’s newspaper industry
and quality of journalism.
ONF’s programs include
training and education for
professional journalists,
scholarship and internship
programs for journalism
students, and Newspaper in
DEATHS
RICHARD ‘TED’ BUSWELL, former guest
columnist for the Kingfisher Times &
Free Press, died Oct. 15, 2015, at his
home in Kingfisher. He was 81.
Buswell was born Feb. 3, 1934, in
Kingfisher. His mother was a well-
known teacher in the town and after
trying different career paths, he decided
to follow in her footsteps. After retiring
from school work, he agreed to write
a bi-weekly column for the Kingfisher
Times & Free Press.
Buswell is survived by his daughters
Carmen Barrios, and Julie Coughlen
and her husband Leo; two siblings, Enid
May Bates and Dr. Arthur ‘Bill’ Buswell, both of Kingfisher; and numerous
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
JOHN B. CRISWELL,
a former Oklahoma journalist, died Oct. 16, 2015. He
was 84.
Criswell was born Oct. 3, 1931, in
Tulsa and adopted as an infant by Bert
and Gertrude Criswell. He graduated
high school in 1949 and then attended
Tulsa University.
His journalism career began at the
Stigler News Sentinel and Haskell County Tribune. He later became editor of
the Tahlequah Star Citizen. After a short
stint at a paper in Arkansas, Criswell
was hired as editor of the Muskogee
Daily Phoenix, a position he held until
he joined the Army and was sent to
Korea.
After returning home, he rejoined
the Phoenix before moving on to the
Houston Press and then Scripps-Howard
Daily.
Criswell also was involved in politics, becoming the press secretary for
J. Howard Edmondson, former governor of Oklahoma. He eventually was
named by President Lyndon Johnson to
be director of the Democratic National
Committee, and then elected as treasurer. He was invited to join President
Johnson on his return to Austin and
become manager of the Johnson television property. Instead, Criswell returned
to Stigler and worked as an arbitrator for
the National Mediation Board until his
retirement.
He is survived by his partner of more
than three decades, Don W. Hickman;
sister Patricia June Beall and husband
Harry of Mesa, Ariz., and various nieces
and nephews.
DAVID RANDALL FISK, a retired news-
for finding interesting perspectives in
his photography.
Fisk was managing editor of The
Commerce Journal after college and
then moved to Tyler, Texas, where he
was city editor of the newspaper there.
He came to Oklahoma in 1979 to
work as an editor at The Oklahoman.
After retiring in 2007, he combined his
love of sports with a long-time dream
and opened Images Gallery, The Art of
Sport, in Edmond, Okla., which closed
in 2010.
In recent years, he spent much of his
time traveling and photographing new
places.
He is survived by his daughter, Lisha;
three sisters, Rothy Moseley, Heather
Myers and Jennifer Storz; a niece and
two nephews.
city editor of the now-defunct Oklahoma
Journal daily newspaper in Oklahoma
City.
Born June 26, 1942, in Fort Smith,
he launched his journalism career as a
cub reporter for the Fort Smith Times
Record, then was a reporter at the Sapulpa Herald before becoming state editor
of the San Angelo (Texas) StandardTimes, then accepting the Oklahoma
City editor’s slot.
Kukar attended the University of
Oklahoma and Central Oklahoma State
University while a full-time newsman.
Kukar is survived by sons, Blake
Kukar of Somerville, Tenn., and Jacob
Kukar of Boynton Beach, Fla.; a daughter, Paloma Kukar, of Delray Beach, Fla.;
stepson, Gabriel Espino of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and a sister, Patsy Jo McBride
of Hackett, Ark.
ion merchandising. She married William
C. “Bill” Morgan that same year.
After Bill’s service in the Army, the
couple moved to Henryetta where Bill
worked for the local newspaper. In 1958,
the couple bought the Wetumka newspaper, The Hughes County Times.
In 1963, Jane decided to start a private kindergarten class that was later
integrated into Central Elementary. She
commuted to East Central University in
Ada to earn her state teaching certificate. She later earned a master’s degree
in education from ECU.
Morgan is survived by daughter Julie
Morgan of Pompano Beach, Fla.; son
Andy Morgan and wife Chris, of Dallas;
brother Tom Robertson of Bartlesville;
sister Sue Pike of Oklahoma City, and
two grandchildren.
paper editor, writer and photographer,
died Oct. 9, 2015. He was 62.
Fisk was born Dec. 15, 1952, in Dallas, Texas. He was a 1975 graduate of
East Texas State University (now Texas
A&M Commerce).
He worked for newspapers in Texas
and Oklahoma since he first picked up a
camera in about 1970, and had a knack
JAMES R. KUKAR, 73, a newspaper editor for a half-century including 15 years
editing the Miami (Fla.) Herald, died
Oct. 20, 2015, in Sochi, Russia, during a
tour of the Black Sea region.
Kukar of Boynton Beach, Fla., was
associate editor of Florida Bulldog, an
independent online newspaper, following his 2008 retirement from the Herald.
At the age of 21, Kukar was tapped as
Education efforts.
JANE CAROLYN MORGAN,
ONF relies on donations
and memorial contributions
to fund these programs.
If you would like to make
a donation, please send a
check to:
OKLAHOMA
NEWSPAPER
FOUNDATION
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
former
owner of The Hughes County Times,
died Aug. 7, 2015. She was 85.
Morgan was born July 15, 1930,
in Henryetta. After graduating from
Bartlesville College High School in
1948, she attended Lindenwood College
in Missouri for one year before transferring to Oklahoma State University. She
graduated in 1952 with a degree in fash-
DEATHS Continued on Page 7
In Memory of Our Friends & Colleagues
John Edward Speaker
Oct. 1, 2014
Royal Glen ‘Sonny’ Stone
Nov. 2, 2014
Lisa Rollins
Nov. 13, 2014
John & Tinker Hruby
Oct. 13, 2014
Charles ‘Chuck’ Downs
Nov. 7, 2014
Mac Leone Bradley
Nov. 17, 2014
Jackie Leroy Farley
Oct. 23, 2014
Gloria Dee Leatherock
Nov. 18, 2014
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 7
Make Hall of Fame nomimations by December 14
Monday, Dec. 14, is the deadline
for nominations into the Oklahoma
Journalism Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame honors Oklahoma journalists who have dedicated
their lives to excellence in serving the
citizens of our state and country.
Nominations may be made by email
to [email protected] or mail to Terry
Clark, Journalism Hall of Fame, Univ.
of Central Oklahoma, 100 N. University Ave., Edmond, OK 73034. Nomination forms are available on the hall’s
website at okjournalism.uco.edu.
DEATHS Continued from Page 6
umnist, died Oct. 11, 2015, in Fairfax.
He was 81.
Reed was born Oct. 20, 1933, in
Pawnee and graduated from Oklahoma
Baptist University. He was employed
at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for many years and enjoyed writing editorials for newspapers in Fairfax,
Shidler, Pawhuska and many others.
His editorials were titled Farmer Bob’s
Report.
He is survived by his five children,
Jody Markus and husband Paul of Fairfax, Robyn Roach and husband John
of Ralston, Mary Reed of Dodge City,
Kansas, Douglas Reed and wife Aliyse
of Pawhuska, and Roger Ray Reed and
wife Julian of Mountain Home, Ark.; and
many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
WILLIAM MILNER ‘BILL’ WALLER, former managing editor of the Claremore
Daily Progress, died Oct. 19, 2015, at his
home in Tulsa. He was 89.
Waller was born Feb. 21, 1926, in
Pawhuska and spent his childhood
in Wynona. In 1943 his family moved
to Claremore after his father became
employed at the DuPont “powder plant.”
After serving in the Army Air Corps
during World War II, Waller graduated
from the University of Arkansas with
a degree in journalism. He served as
managing editor of the Claremore Daily
Progress, editor of Tulsa Magazine, and
contributed countless op-ed pieces to
the Tulsa World and The Tulsa Tribune.
Waller was heavily involved in the
Tulsa community, serving on several
association boards and working for the
Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.
He is survived by Jo, his wife of 60
years; daughter Sarah Scott and husband Doug; son Barrett Waller and wife
Mary, and two granddaughters.
JEAN WHITE, a columnist for The Country Connection News in Eakly, died Oct.
22, 2015. She was 84.
White was born Feb. 23, 1931. She
graduated from Mooreland High School
in May 1949, and married Dean White
in June.
She was active in the Crow Roost
Community, boosting the community in
her Crow Roost column in The Country
Connection News. She always had the
latest joke to tell on Mondays when
she brought her news to the newspaper
office, and often had a little gift she had
made.
White is survived by her children,
Ronnie White and wife Donna of Mooreland, and Randa Jean Sims of Yukon; five
grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren;
and siblings Jo Miller, Joyce Irvin and
Jack Miller.
TONY L. WILLIAMS, a former reporter
for The Oklahoman, died Oct. 23, 2015.
He was 63.
Williams was born Feb. 11, 1952, in
Holdenville. He received his bachelor’s
degree in journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma, where he was
elected one of the United States’ outstanding journalism school graduates by
the Society of Professional Journalists.
At UCO, he served as editor-in-chief of
the school paper, “The Vista.”
After graduation, Williams worked
as a reporter for The Oklahoman and
United Press International. Eventually
he went on to work as a writer in several
industries, and then as a radio personality, news anchor and traffic reporter.
Williams is survived by his son, Brian
Andrew Tony Williams and wife Carrie; one grandson, Noah; brother Jerry
Williams and wife Nancy; and several
nieces.
SUE NELL YOUNG, a former employee
for the Bethany Tribune, died Nov. 8,
2015. She was 89.
Young was born Jan. 8, 1926, in
Bethany. She attended Bethany-Peniel
College before marrying Robert ‘Bob’
Young in 1949. She spent the majority of
her life raising their five children. Young
enjoyed accompanying her husband on
various aircraft club events, working for
the Bethany Tribune and baking.
She is survived by daughter Kim
Boughten and husband Gary; daughter
Denise Young; son Phillip Young and
wife Reeca; son Jeff Young; and many
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
ROBERT REED, a former Oklahoma col-
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The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
THE OG&E PHOTO CONTEST
8
SEPTEMBER 2015
DAILY WINNER:
BONNIE
VCULEK
Enid News & Eagle
SEPTEMBER 2015
WEEKLY WINNER:
JAY
GRACE
The Ringling Eagle
Patriot Guard Riders from Oklahoma retire tattered American flags during a special ceremony honoring
Oklahoma’s fallen heroes at the Vietnam War Memorial in the Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park at Enid
Woodring Regional Airport.
Photo by Bonnie Vculek, Enid News & Eagle, September 13, 2015
The September 2015
contest was judged
by a member of the
Oklahoma Journalism
Hall of Fame.
View all winning photos at
www.OkPress.com/
OGE-Photo-Contest
ENTER AND WIN
A $100 CHECK
FROM OGE
ENERGY CORP.
For more information
about the photo
contest,visit
www.okpress.com/
oge-photo-contest
SIGN OF THE TIMES – Ringling’s Jenny-Lu Zachary, a junior at Oklahoma State University, is a member of the
American Sign Language Club and will be signing the Star Spangled Banner and the OSU Alma Mater at the home
football games for the Cowboys. This was her first time to do this on Boone Pickens Field.
Photo by Jay Grace, The Ringling Eagle, September 15, 2015
It’s time … for OG&E’ss new SmartHours Price Plans.
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The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 9
Award winning sales promotions from 2014
It’s beginning to look a lot like … contest time. That’s right, it won’t be long
until rules for the OPA’s Better Newspaper Contest are sent to members, who
will be scurrying to find award-winning
entries.
While you’re thinking about what you
might enter, we thought we would share
some of last year’s first-place entries in
the Sales Promotion category.
In no particular order are those winners. We’re looking forward to seeing the
great entries that come in this year.
THE MCINTOSH COUNTY DEMOCRAT
won first-place with its special section,
full-color magazine that focused on community businesses, industrial growth and
tourism schedules. The magazine was
inserted into local papers and distributed
around the county in hotels, restaurants
and travel stops.
THE MIDWEST CITY BEACON collaborated with the City of Midwest City to
produce a holiday section promoting
local businesses and holiday events. This
winning section served as a component
of the city’s Shop Local campaign and
was mailed to a target zip code.
Every year, the TAHLEQUAH DAILY
PRESS produces The Green Country
Visitors Guide to encourage visitors to
Northeast Oklahoma. To give it a fresh
look, the newspaper changed the name
and layout of the magazine to target
an audience outside of the area, which
appealed to more businesses – and made
it a winning entry.
THE PURCELL REGISTER produced a
pre-season football preview section that
was inserted in both subscription copies
and rack sale copies. In addition, a copy
was given to each football player and
coach in the coverage area. The Register
ended up with a 64-page magazine that
was produced entirely in-house – from
layout and design, to writing and photography.
THE SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR put their
reader’s in a zombie apocalypse state-ofmind with its Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide. The guide was included in
every newspaper, was available on their
website and was given to every visitor at
their Boo On Bell Halloween event. The
guide included an event calendar for the
Boo On Bell festival along with maps and
diagrams. It also included tips on how to
survive if you happened upon a pesky
zombie. The purpose was to entertain,
draw new readership and promote Halloween activities.
THE JOURNAL RECORD received firstplace with its special publication and
awards event, which recognized businesses that give back to the nonprofit
community. Not only did it allow the
paper to spotlight charitable businesses
and the nonprofits they support, it also
provided the opportunity to draw revenue through event sponsorships, event
sales and magazine advertising. Top-level
sponsors included a bank, a production
company and two charitable foundations.
The event sold over 400 tickets and
approximately 30 companies advertised
within the magazine. The event was promoted by email solicitation and postcard
mailing by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. House ads and a story were also
published in The Journal Record before
the event.
BROKEN ARROW LEDGER was a winner
with its 2nd Annual Community Calendar. The benefit of the calendar to its
advertising partners is its shelf life. The
Ledger partnered with Broken Arrow
Public Schools, contacting fourth-grade
teachers at each of the 13 elementary
schools. Each school was assigned a
month to illustrate in the calendar and a
variety of topics were offered for teachers
to choose from. A panel of judges chose
the drawings and essays that would be
featured in the calendar from hundreds
of entries received. The calendar allowed
advertisers sponsorship at different levels, with the main sponsor having the
most visible presence.
For the holiday season, the COWETA
AMERICAN created the Hunt for Christmas, which allowed readers to participate
in a “scavenger hunt” for a $1000 cash
prize. Ten advertisers were featured each
week in a two-page spread. In addition,
each business had five map pieces at
their location. Businesses took turns as
the featured ad in the spread and donated
a prize. Ten sponsors paid $75 per week
for a 10-week hunt period. The eleventh
advertiser was the Presenting Sponsor.
This sponsor received coverage throughout the 10 weeks, which included stories,
and their logo on house ads and web ads.
They also donated the $1000 cash prize.
THE SEQUOYAH COUNTY TIMES created
the “Find Our Diamond in the Rough”
scavenger hunt promotion last year to
generate interest and excitement within
the community as well as boost ROP, circulation and readership.
Locations were chosen to hide clues,
which also were added to participating
advertiser ads. One advertiser agreed
to be the headline sponsor, donating two
recliners and a big screen TV for the
grand prize. The Times ran several house
ads to promote the scavenger hunt. Rules
required participants searching for clues
to have an “Official Hunting License,”
which was available at the newspaper
office free of charge.
10
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
Journalists shine in darkness of tragedy
News Press
Stillwater
Clark’s Critique
by Terry Clark
Journalism Professor,
University of Central Oklahoma,
[email protected]
“It was all hands on deck.”
How do you cover a tragedy when it
rips your hometown and makes national
news?
That’s how Barbara Allen, adviser
for Oklahoma State University’s O’Colly,
and Beau Simmons, managing editor for
the Stillwater News Press, describe the
quick reactions and work of their staffs
after the homecoming parade tragedy
last month.
Both papers had people covering the
parade when it happened, and out of the
chaos, those journalists produced great
journalism under extreme emotional
and physical stress and pressure. Makes
you proud of community newspapers.
The O’Colly – Reporter Stetson Payne
of Broken Arrow was prepping for a
tailgate nearby when Managing Editor
Kaelynn Knoerschild of Edmond alerted him about the accident. She began
group texting to pull the staff together.
Photo editor Kurt Steiss of Richardson,
Texas, was already at the parade.
Editor-in-Chief Kassie McClung of
Tulsa and digital editor Emily Farris of
Carrollton, Texas, worked from home
to coordinate print and online coverage in the immediate aftermath. Social
media editor Savannah Evanoff of Broken Arrow and audio editor Luke Spencer of Stillwater were in the newsroom
immediately, also to help coordinate.
Sierra Winrow of Oklahoma City is the
design editor.
“These students did a really great job
handling the violence,” Allen said. “It
was a great lesson. They thought you
had to cover the news with stoicism and
detachment, but when it’s very personal
they learned it’s okay to be emotional,
and you still do your job.”
Afterward, The O’Colly provided counselors to help students cope with what
they’d been through, and she said the
Tulsa World and The Oklahoman bought
the students dinner Sunday and Monday
nights.
Allen credited The Oklahoman’s
online “Live Article” for helping keep
the staff up to date, “It’s a great model,
very inclusive regardless of source.”
Tiffany Gibson, assistant enterprise
editor at The Oklahoman, said the paper
began the practice about three years ago
for covering big breaking news.
“It’s the best thing we’ve found to
feed information to our readers at a
rapid pace,” she said. The paper posts
everything that is relevant from reliable
Cowboys play on,
defeat KU in homecoming game B1
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Fond memories of
Charlie Fowler C1
stwnewspress.com
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Marred by tragedy
Four dead, dozens injured as car plows through homecoming parade
DAVID BITTON/STILLWATER NEWS PRESS
People react moments after more than 40 people were injured when a vehicle was driven into a crowd of people during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade in Stillwater on Saturday.
Deadly crash strikes
OSU homecoming parade
By David Bitton and
Michelle Charles
[email protected]
[email protected]
Four are dead and
more than 40 injured
after a sedan traveling
at a high rate of speed
ran into a crowd of spectators during the Oklahoma State University
homecoming parade
Saturday morning.
The driver, identified
by the Stillwater Police
Department as Adacia
Chambers, 25, of Still-
Employer of suspected
DUI driver says Chambers was
fine when she left work
water, was arrested on
suspicion of driving
under the influence.
Eyewitnesses said the
vehicle was heading
south on Main Street
about 10:30 a.m. when
it struck a parked police
motorcycle before running through a crowd of
BLAINE LEWIS/PONCA CITY NEWS
spectators who were sitting and standing on the Adacia Chambers is led away from the scene of an
accident after she drove a vehicle into a crowd of
blocked-off Main Street
at the intersection with people during the OSU homecoming parade.
Hall of Fame Avenue.
Bodies were scattered
Stillwater News Press
Stillwater Medical
Center treated 43 patients and transferred
four patients by air ambulance to other hospitals in Oklahoma City
See ➤ Crash, page A8
and Tulsa, hospital
spokesperson Shyla
Eggars said.
Three patients were
admitted to Stillwater
Medical Center but all
of them either had been
discharged or were expected to be discharged
See ➤ SMC, page A8
Incident Timeline
[email protected]
The driver suspected
of DUI, who plowed a
vehicle through a crowd
of people Saturday
morning – killing four
and injuring more
than 40
others
during the
Oklahoma
State University
homecoming paChambers
rade –
was seen
leaving her place of work
distraught 30 minutes
before the incident.
Adacia Chambers, 25,
of Stillwater, was a parttime employee in “good
standing” according to
Mark Thompson, owner
of the Freddy’s Frozen
Custard & Steakburgers
MICHELLE CHARLES/STILLWATER NEWS PRESS in Stillwater.
Many patients treated and released
from Stillwater Medical Center
By Sally Asher and
Michelle Charles
By David Bitton
Two women console each other at the scene after
Saturday’s wreck on Main Street.
See ➤ Driver, page A8
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Unlock the element of freedom to buy what you need
Featured newspapers this month: The
O’Colly, Stillwater News Press, The
Oklahoman, Tulsa World, The Journal
Record, Owasso Reporter, The Ada News
and The Hennessey Clipper.
news sources – Twitter, Facebook and
other sources. Editor Kelly Dyer Fry
called her at home that Saturday, and
she worked from there. Here’s the link
to the Stillwater coverage: http://newsok.com/article/5455763.
Stillwater News Press – Simmons
praised his staff for how they covered
everything.
“They were so professional it seemed
as though they had actually had crisis
training,” he said.
Reporter/photographer Michelle
Charles and David Bitton were both
covering the parade, and Bitton was only
about a block from the accident with his
family.
He heard screams and first thought a
bomb had gone off or something. Making sure his family was safe, he texted
Simmons and went to the scene. Without a camera, he began taking photos
with his phone. The main photo on Sunday’s paper and others that went national on the wire were from his phone.
Charles was further back in the parade
route and arrived to start reporting and
photographing. They soon had news up
on the website and on social media.
Sally Asher of the Enid News & Eagle
was there to watch the parade and came
in to see how she could help. She ended
up filing a hospital story. Jimmie Gillispie, sports writer, came into the office
to help with social media, and get photos
with a Home Equity Line of Credit from Bank SNB.
BETHANY RALLIES AROUND PARALYZED FOOTBALL PLAYER
23
PAGE 1B
THE OKLAHOMAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2015
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SUNDAY
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October 25, 2015
SERVING NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA SINCE 1905
Nash Lucas
Stillwater community, others mourn OSU homecoming
crash victims; lawyer says driver is mentally ill
Bonnie Stone
Nikita Nakal
Marvin Stone
Read more about the victims on Page 4A
OSU TRAGEDY
Woman, 25, arrested on
suspicion of DUI after
crashing into spectators
Parade shattered with four
dead and more than 40
hurt, several critically
OSU community rocked
as more lives lost in
horrific accident
BY MATT DINGER
Staff writer
[email protected]
Two hours after kissing her boyfriend
goodbye and leaving for work Saturday
morning, a 25-year-old Stillwater woman
found herself in handcuffs, accused of
mowing down a crowd at the Oklahoma
State University homecoming parade,
injuring dozens and killing four.
Adacia Avery Chambers is being held on
four complaints of second-degree murder
and driving under the influence of drugs.
Alcohol is not believed to be involved in
the crash, Payne County District Attorney
Laura Austin Thomas said Sunday.
Chambers has not been charged. She
is expected to face a judge Monday afternoon.
“I don’t believe right now that she was
intoxicated,” said Chambers’ attorney,
Tony Coleman.
“I have deep concerns about her
SEE CRASH, PAGE 4A
Go Code
NPRI
Go to oklahoman.com and enter the code
to view related videos, photos and stories.
Also: View a list of the injured online at
NewsOK.com. In Sports: Mike Gundy
gets emotional about crash, PAGE 1B
Oklahoma State University senior William Brown listens to a prayer Sunday night during a candlelight vigil on the campus of
OSU. The community gathered to remember those affected by the homecoming crash. [PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN]
New poll results shed light on how
Oklahomans feel about executions
Preachers lead rally
against abortion,
same-sex marriage
BY GRAHAM LEE BREWER
Staff Writer
[email protected]
SEE POLL, PAGE 2A
Religion Editor
[email protected]
Abortion and same-sex marriage came under fire
Sunday as preachers and politicians urged Oklahomans to take a stand against the U.S. Supreme Court
rulings they said go against biblical Scripture.
Several thousand attended the “Protect Life and
Marriage Rally” held on the south steps of the State
Capitol building.
The gathering, about two-and-a-half hours
long, included speeches from congressional leaders
and state legislators, plus prominent metro pastors.
The event’s organizer, the Rev. Paul Blair, pastor
of Fairview Baptist Church and leader of Reclaiming America for Christ, told the crowd that the rally
was designed to educate, motivate and, ultimately
activate their rights as U.S. citizens troubled by
SEE RALLY, PAGE 5A
INSIDE: Read about Oklahoma City’s first
judicial execution, PAGE 1C
ANOTHER LOSS FOR ZOO
TODAY’S PRAYER
The Oklahoma City Zoo is trying to
determine why Bogy, a 15-year-old
male giraffe, died.
We know You care for
us, dearest God, and
we ask You to take
away our anxieties.
Amen.
PAGE 6A
Bystanders help the injured after a vehicle crashed into a crowd of spectators during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, causing dozens of injuries, on Saturday in Stillwater. DAVID BITTON/The News Press via AP
BY CARLA HINTON
Despite three recent botched attempts leading to a
state-ordered moratorium on executions, a majority
of Oklahomans continue to support the death penalty,
according to new polling data.
A poll of 500 registered voters conducted last week
by The Oklahoman in partnership with Cole Hargrave
Snodgrass & Associates found that 67 percent of Oklahomans support the death penalty, with 49 percent expressing strong support.
“(The state) may have made a mistake, but I don’t believe
they should stop doing their duty to society,” said Elizabeth
Heath, 21, of Tulsa, a poll respondent who said she supports the death penalty and opposes the moratorium. “I
do believe they need to have some safe walls, maybe more
people checking they have the right drugs, but if it’s scheduled that they are set to die at this particular time, I think it
should be carried out.”
But support for the death penalty in Oklahoma
could
be
waning.
The
poll
found
Classified
Comics
Deaths
Lottery
Opinion
Sports
1D
6C
7A
3A
8A
1B
WEATHER
SOME SUN
H: 67
PAGE 10A
L: 48
BY BILL HAISTEN
ARRESTED
World Sports Writer
Watch videos
Adacia Chambers:
The 25-year-old
was arrested and
jailed on a complaint of driving
under the influence.
ƭ Witnesses discuss the tragedy
they saw unfold Saturday in
Stillwater.
ƭ OSU, Stillwater officials share
their thoughts.
S
TILLWATER — Gail
Lamb was among the
hundreds who massed
near the southwest corner of Main Street and
Hall of Fame Avenue, securing a
prime location from which to view
the Oklahoma State University
homecoming parade Saturday.
Lamb is a Stillwater resident who
attended OSU. Her daughter is a
university employee. Her son-inlaw is a university professor. Lamb
says she was excited to attend the
parade because her 8-year-old
granddaughter and other members
John
Klein
For more
of a dance troupe were to be featured passengers on a float.
The granddaughter’s float rolled
past the Main and Hall of Fame intersection only moments before a
car careened into a crowd of specSEE CRASH A8
Too many days
like this for OSU
tulsaworldtv.com
Locals among
victims. A8
For fans, a
solemn, surreal
game. A9
For third time
in 15 years,
OSU hit with
tragedy. A9
Senior Sports
Columnist
Atwell
john.klein
@tulsaworld.com
918-581-8368
Twitter:
@JohnKleinTW
S
TILLWATER — There have been too many days
like this for Oklahoma State.
“The Cowboy family pulls together,” said OSU
President Burns Hargis. “Unfortunately, we’ve had to
do it before. We’ll do it again.”
Oklahoma State, wrestling with the emotions of yet
another tragedy, played a football game Saturday.
OSU coach Mike Gundy said he went into a meeting room with his team in the morning and “we told
them the truth.”
SEE KLEIN A9
‘Little kids were sitting all along that curb, getting the candy and everything. I just realize that
they all could have been taken so quickly, when they were all so happy.’ — Gail Lamb, bystander
Volume 124, 295
Four sections
Copyright 2015
The Oklahoma
Publishing Co.,
Oklahoma City
All rights reserved
out to AP. CNHI executive Bill Ketter
suggested the timeline sidebar on page
one.
Their work made the News Press
news-central nationally, for the AP and
other news organizations seeking stories, photos and interviews.
The O’Colly – And, here is dramatic
narrative from Monday’s lead of Knoerschild’s O’Colly story:
“The faint melody of the Oklahoma
State alma mater faded into the dark
at the core of campus just after 8 p.m.
Saturday.
“On Library Lawn, illuminated only
Today High 71, Low 43
Inside today’s Tulsa World
Partly cloudy. More weather on D10
Ask Amy .......... D8
Books ................ G4
Bus. People ....... E2
Get more weather coverage and check out
our weather blog at tulsaworld.com/weather
Celebrations.... D5
Crosswords ..... G5
Horoscope ...... C13
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Letters .............. G2
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Movies.............. D6
Obituaries...... A22
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Tech .................... E5
ƭ Breaking news at tulsaworld.com
ƭ facebook.com/tulsaworld
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Sunday - $2.00
8
11775
00002
3
by the light shining through the windows of Edmon Low Library, nearly 100
people gathered at a student-led vigil to
remember those killed and those fighting for their lives.
“Students formed a circle around the
remaining homecoming signs speckled
with words boasting loyalty, tradition
and community – words with meanings
that had been tested continuously since
10:31 a.m.
SEA OF CHAOS
“Throngs of people proudly sporting
orange gear packed the sidewalks surContinued on Page 11
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 11
Clark’s Critique Continued from Page 10
rounding the parade path. People in the
parade passed out candy and waved with
grins to those in the crowd. The OSU
Sea of Orange Parade, a decades-old
tradition, was in full swing.
“And then it wasn’t.”
LOOKIN’EM OVER: I was stunned. I
see a lot of good journalism and layouts
every month, but am rarely stunned.
That distinction goes to The Ada News
for thrill-killing crime coverage, by Carl
Lewis, Eric Swanson and Managing Editor Shannon Lowry.
Lowry said she was striving to reflect
the way the crime, and not-guiltybecause-of-insanity verdict, has emotionOUR MEMORIAL PARK
REMINDS US:
LEST WE FORGET
Thurs., November 5, 2015
75 cents
Vol. 126 No. 19
WE SALUTE OUR VETERANS
Gritz will receive Legacy Award in Enid
R.L. “Bob” Gritz, 93, of Hennessey, a U.S. Air Force B-17 tail
gunner and weapons instructor during World War II, will be
recognized at the 2015 Legacy Awards Ceremony to honor veterans
next week in Enid.
The ceremony is part of a Veteran’s Day program in which five
veterans will be honored Tues., Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. at the Woodring
Airport Wall of Honor and Veterans Park located at 1026 S. 66th
St., Enid.
Other honorees, all from the Enid area, are Roland Rikli and
Clifford Morton, World War II veterans and infantrymen who
served in the 45th of Patton’s Army; Michael McCauley, Vietnam
veteran, Disabled American Veteran and Toys for Tots coordinator,
and Frank “Watermelon” Campbell and Robert Keiser, both U.S
.Navy veterans.
Honorees will receive medals, certificates and awards for their
service.
The program is open to the public and there is no admission fee.
It will officially start at 10 a.m., but the opening will start at 9:50
a.m. with an 80-member children’s choir from Taft Elementary
School.
Cowboy singer, songwriter, actor and playwright R.W. Hampton
will also perform during the Tuesday program, as well as during a
MEAL BEFORE THE
GAME — 4:30 p.m., grassy
area south of the tennis
courts on Mitchell Rd.
Hennessey and Chisholm
Football Cook-off. Donations will determine the
winner. To-go boxes will
be available.
SENIOR NIGHT — 6:45
p.m. Parents of ALL fall
sports should be on the
field.
EAGLES VS. CHISHOLM—
7:30 p.m. Eagle Stadium.
See Page 4 to find
out how a farm boy
like Bob ended up
hanging from the tail
of a B-17 during
World War II
Wed., Nov. 11
Bob Gritz
1943-45
journalrecord.com
Vol. 120, No. 218
Two sections
Single copy $1.00
Fri., Nov. 13
Rod Means at Memorial Gardens in Washington, D.C.
A veteran’s Honor Flight,
where memories come home
by Linda M. Craun
Rod Means, 81, was willing to
share his Honor Flight experience, but emotion occasionally
made it difficult for him to speak.
“We visited the Lincoln Memorial and some of the gift shops
on the main floor,” said Rod, a
former Hennesseyite who now
lives in Enid. “I didn’t know if I
could make all the steps, but I
did, then we took the elevator
back down.”
His group of veterans traveled to Oklahoma City Tues.,
Sept 15, where they stayed the
night for an early start on Wed.,
Sept. 16.
The veterans gathered at Rose
State College Tuesday for lunch
and a program, then on to their
motels. They were back at the
2
•
•
college for coffee and breakfast
at 3:30 a.m., then the group
boarded their four buses at 5
a.m. for the 30 minute ride to
Oklahoma City airport.
“We had a police escort who
swept us through traffic and
changing lights,” Rod said.
“That was the only way we’d
have made it to the airport on
time.”
Each of the 180 veterans were
accompanied by an escort. Rod’s
46-year-old son, Andy of
Edmund, an independent
landman for oil companies, was
his.
A number of the veterans
had to have someone who could
help them if they needed it.
Many of the veterans were in
wheel chairs, or used walkers,
crutches or canes.
“From the moment we arrived
at the welcome event at Rose
State the afternoon before we flew
to D.C., I could tell without a
doubt that this trip was special,”
said Andy, a 1987 HS graduate.
Rod served in the U.S. Army,
Seventh Division, in Korea from
May until Oct. 1954, when he
was transferred to Scoffield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii. He
served for a year and a half there
and was ranked a specialist third
class/sergeant at his discharge.
Their flight left Oklahoma City
at 7 a.m. and, “We filled the
plane,” said Rod. “They treated
us like we were special passengers.”
WHEAT
Tues., Oct. 27
Wed., Oct. 28
Thurs. Oct. 29
Fri., Oct. 30
Mon. Nov. 2
$4.53
$4.50
$4.53
$4.58
$4.47
RAIN
We finally got some last week,
but only .79 of an inch fell here.
Oct. rain totals next week.
ON THE BACK PAGE
NEWSPAPERS
IN EDUCATION
SUPPORTER
OF THE WEEK
Athlete drug testing policy on school board agenda
Board starts search for a new superintendent
EDNA L.
BECK
(See HONOR FLIGHT, back page)
Copy Reduced to 66% from original to fit letter page
East Central Football Notebook — page 1B
No drop
Despite low energy
prices, industrial
buildings stay full
OGE Energy posts
lower earnings OGE
Energy Corp. on Thursday reported lower earnings
for the third quarter. The decline was due in part to lower
commodity prices, mild summer weather and a loss from
Enable Midstream, of which
OGE Energy owns a controlling
share. Pollution compliance
costs also contributed to lower
quarterly earnings.
2
•
•
Serving the Heart of the Sooner State and Chickasaw Nation since 1904
Friday, November 6, 2015
•
•
7
•
www.theadanews.com
Vol. 112 No. 169 75 cents
Thrill killer sent to asylum
BY MOLLY M. FLEMING
The Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY – Low oil prices
haven’t oozed their way into dramatically affecting the city’s industrial real
estate market.
Price Edwards and Co. industrial
specialist Danny Rivera said few indus-
•
Closed Pauls Valley facility eyed for prison,
infirmary A closed state
facility in Pauls Valley that was
used for decades to house
adults with severe developmental disabilities could potentially be converted to a
prison and infirmary to house
Oklahoma's growing inmate
population, the state's prison
director said Thursday.
•
Ada, Oklahoma
•
SandRidge looks for
low-cost production in
Niobrara SandRidge
Energy’s latest move into Colorado will help the company
diversify its portfolio and build
on its strengths, said CEO and
President James Bennett.
3
The Ada News
•
Spreading wings Oral
Roberts University has
embarked on a five-year
program to boost its enrollment 38 percent, improve internal operations and raise its
faculty credentials.
trial buildings have returned to the market, meaning companies are still leasing
their spaces. When those businesses do
leave, others are ready to fill the space,
he said.
“There are still a handful of companies that are circulating the area, looking
for those deals,” he said. “(Other companies) feel like there should be a turnover
The Victim
of properties, but there hasn’t been.
That’s a positive.”
The Price Edwards industrial survey
reports a small change in the vacancy
rate, from 5 percent during the first quarter to 6 percent by midyear. Rivera said
the trucking industry is keeping the
The Murderer
Turn to NO DROP » p22
A new Bobcat dealership is under construction at Interstate 35 and Britton Road in Oklahoma City. PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS
County looks for ways to settle corrections debt
BY BRIAN BRUS
The Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma County
Sheriff John Whetsel has been asking
county commissioners for more than a
year to help cover a shortfall in his
budget worth millions of dollars, meeting
records show.
On several occasions since September
2014, Whetsel told other county officials
that he needed more money as state Depart-
ment of Corrections income dried up and
that some of those funds would go to pay a
bill due for inmate medical expenses. Ultimately, that contract with Armor Correctional Health Services Inc. was settled, but
in October Armor filed another lawsuit
against commissioners for a related contract worth $3.3 million.
Some of Whetsel’s entreaties to the
board were denied. On Jan. 15 and April 16,
his motions for fund transfers died for lack
of a second. By June 11, Whetsel told Budget
Board members that his office was about
$2.8 million in arrears.
The situation has left his colleagues
frustrated and exploring options to resolve
the lawsuit without pushing the debt forward into a new fiscal year, they said.
“We believed that he would balance his
budget just as the seven of us (other county
officials) do the same,” Commissioner Brian
Maughan said Thursday. “When we have an
Photo of Generro Sanchez provided by his aunt, Michelle Gaarder
Turn to DEBT » p22
By Eric Swanson
DGDQHZVUHSRUWHU#FDEOHRQHQHW
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 | VOL. 51 NO. 16
+ʦQʔʢɨ
IʝɠɈ9ʝLȪɏ
Make your own
ech.edu today!
classes at tulsat
Hadley Brown wants to show hard
work, greatness of Oklahomans
BY JOSH BURTON
News Editor
Working hard and showing how
great Oklahoma is are two things
Hadley Brown wants to bring to the
attention of Americans.
Brown, the 2015 National American Miss Oklahoma Junior PreTeen, also wants to give a voice to
food insecurity in Oklahoma.
“I want to show the nation how
great Oklahoma is and I want to
do my best,” she said. “Of course I
want to win, but I would be happy
to place, but I think most happy because I get to go. I think the best
thing I can do is work hard, do my
best and be myself.”
Hadley wants to bring to light issues involving childhood hunger as
well.
“It means to me I now have a
louder voice. So now, I can inform people about food insecurity
in Oklahoma children,” she said.
“Now, more people will hear me,
because when you’re wearing a
crown, people will see you. Like
Spiderman’s uncle, Ben Parker said
‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Knowing people are
watching you makes you remember
you have to always be a good example.”
Hadley will travel to California
for the National Pageant Thanksgiving week in Anaheim, California.
Her mom, Whitney, said Hadley’s
hard work and determination has
paid off.
“But it also means a lot of responsibility for a 10-year-old to have to
be a role model for others,” Whitney said. “She told someone the
other day, ‘Once you put this crown
on your head, you have to know
people are watching you, and what
you do.’”
The determination began earlier
than this past year, she said.
“Hadley is quite the overachiever,
and most things she has tried come
SEE HUNGRY 3
$1.00
W
OWASSO REPORTER
y! nd
l Toda
& weeke
Enrol
for evening
path. Sign up
SHAWNEE -- In December 2012, East Central University student Generro Sanchez
agreed to give fellow
student Jerrod Murray a ride to Wal-Mart
in exchange for gas
money.
But what started as a
routine chore quickly
turned deadly. After
Murray climbed into
the vehicle, he pulled
a gun on Sanchez and
forced him to drive
north of Asher,
Sanchez drove toward
Asher, begging Murray
to spare his life. But
Murray shot him twice
in the head, causing
the vehicle to strike
a tree.
Murray pulled Sanchez out of the vehicle and shot him again,
then pushed the body
into a creek and covered it with leaves
and sticks.
When
Murray
was
arrested
near
the
scene, he allegedly
told investigators he
wanted to know what
killing someone felt
like.
Murray
was
ultiSee THE VICTIM, Page 4A
Photo of Jerrod Murray by Carl Lewis
By Carl Lewis
DGDQHZVIHDWXUHV#FDEOHRQHQHW
Five-year-old boys
often exhibit erratic,
unpredictable behavior, but attempting to
commit suicide is not
typically among their
arsenal of antics. Yet
that’s exactly what
admitted killer Jerrod Murray told psychologist Shawn Roberson he did on his
fifth birthday. Murray said the knot he
tied didn't hold and
he was found, lying
unconscious on the
ground, by his broth-
W
•
INSIDE
VETERAN’S DAY — Vets
will be honored at HHS
Auditorium at 1 p.m. Veterans to gather in Seminar
Room at 12:30 p.m. for
march-in at 1 p.m. Reception will follow program
with guest speaker
Stanley Funderburg,
brother of retired HHS
principal Jack
Funderburg, and one of
eight brothers who served
our country.
KOLACHE DAY — 3-6 p.m.
Catholic Parish Hall. Walkins limited. Order by Wed.,
Nov. 4 (405-714-3674).
Kolaches $12 dozen
(cherry, apricot and cream
cheese); dinner rolls, $7
dozen, and cinnamon
rolls, $15 dozen.
The Journal Record 11/06/2015
FRIDAY
11.06.2015
Thurs., Nov. 5
TOWN BOARD MEETING —
7 p.m. Town Hall. Open to
the public.
BLOOD DRIVE — 11:30 a.m.6:30 p.m. St. Joseph Catholic Parish Hall.
Fri., Nov. 6
free concert at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Emmanuel Baptist
Church. The five 2015 Wall of Honor recipients will also be
recognized at the Monday night event.
Keynote speaker at the Tuesday program will be Todd Lamb,
lieutenant governor,
and the program emcee will again be Jon
Welsh, pilot/reporter
for KFOR Chopper 4.
The $1 million
Woodring Wall of
Honor was dedicated
Nov. 11, 2013. The
park was started in
memory of Orville
Dawson, a longtime
Hennessey resident,
and grandfather of
Elaine Johns. She directs the annual recognition ceremonies.
Nominations for 2016 candidates may be sent at anytime and
a form may be downloaded at www.woodringwallofhonor.com.
Stanley Funderberg
will speak here at
HHS Vet’s Program
Stanley Funderberg, brother of Hennessey’s retired principal
Jack Funderberg, will speak at the Hennessey High School Veteran’s
Day Program at 1 p.m. Wed., Nov. 11.
The event will be held at the HHS
auditorium and is open to the public.
Veterans are to gather in the Seminar Room at 12:30 p.m. for a march-in
at 1 p.m.
Stanley was one of eight sons and
two daughters born to John Henry
and Rhoda Funderberg. As a family,
they were known as a hardworking,
honest and Godly family with integrity and highly-honed athletic ability.
Also notable was their story-telling,
joking and prank playing.
Most notable about the eight sons
was their service in different branches
of the military between 1942-52.
Stanley was mobilized during the
Korean Conflict serving in the Army
45th Division (1950-52) while attending East
Stanley Funderberg
Central,
where he The event will be
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in held at the HHS
1957. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt.
and served as a line officer in the 95 auditorium and is
Division. He resigned his commission open to the public.
in 1968 with the rank of Captain.
Veterans are to
He graduated in 1950 from
Wilburton High School, where he gather in the
served as class president in high school Seminar Room at
for three years; one year as vice-presi- 12:30 p.m. for a
dent (sophomore) and was captain of
his football team. He received the march-in at 1 p.m.
Crider Award at East Central and the
Outstanding Athlete in 1957.
Coach Funderberg started a track program at Wilburton High
School in 1957. They became runner up champions in 1960, and
state champions in 1961. That was the only state championship
Wilburton holds. He served as head football and track coach at
Wilburton High School through 1960.
He returned to Wilburton in 1963, serving as head football and
track coach until 1965, when he became an agent with The Principal Life Insurance Company. He was an industrial coordinator
with the Dewey Bartlett Staff, 1967-71 and served as executive
vice-president for the Oklahoma Business Development Corp.,
1971-76, as a loan officer for more than 180 banks.
He owned and operated Stan Funderberg and Associates, managing General Agency specializing in insurance for banks, and
retired in 2002.
UPCOMING
ally torn the community. Saying readers
described the events as creepy, she went
for a different type face and created the
torn look with help of paginator Breann
Pinley. The issue sold out.
Kudos to Sarah Terry-Cobo of The
Journal Record for her reporting on
Sandridge Energy’s financial troubles,
“Shaky foundation – Is Sandridge Energy close to crumbling?” This in-depth
investigative and informational piece
took months. Here’s a story that never
comes from corporate PR releases, or
announcements. Instead she writes a
story for more than just oilies…explaining for regular citizens about earthquakes, fracking, injection wells, the
Corporation Commission and more.
Lots of coverage for Veterans Day,
including full page “We Salute Our Veterans” at The Hennessey Clipper, and a
unique approach at the Morris News,
showing photos of local vets from Korea,
the Gulf and Afghanistan.
Also, the Delaware County Journal
devoted 3/4 of its front page to Veterans
Day; The Boise City News with photo of
local memorial. Guymon Daily Herald’s
April Coble writes about a local soldier
on weather duty in Afghanistan. Northwest Oklahoman & Ellis County News and
The Purcell Register’s Jeanne Grimes,
told the story of Armistice Day, “They
Ceased Firing.”
Should be imitated: Bravo to Pottawatomie County commissioners for
calling a Nov. 10 election to levy a
half-penny sales tax for education, and
The Countywide & Sun for Virginia Bradshaw’s article and chart showing how
much money each school district would
receive. Rather than griping about taxes,
this is editorial leadership.
er.
That was the beginning of a long history of bizarre and
eccentric behavior
that, on the evening
of Dec. 6, 2012, culminated in the murder
of Generro Sanchez
just outside Asher.
Murray grew up in
the tiny community
of Asher, about 20
miles northwest of
Ada. From an early
age,
his
behavior
drew attention,. He
often wore a suit
to school because he
said he liked the
“weight” of it. Murray
See THE MURDERER, Page 4A
Bank robber captured in Latta; others may have helped
By Randy Mitchell
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Prestige Justin Roberts, 25, of Ada, was
arrested early Thursday morning in the
Latta area by a contingent of area officers for allegedly robbing the Ada WalMart branch of Citizens Bank around
12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Bravo to The Ardmoreite and the Tulsa
World as the only newspapers to put a
big political story on page one. Why
was this ignored? AP reported it. First
reported by the Dallas Morning News
and The Frontier website in Tulsa, the
Democratic Party wants an investigation
of the governor and AG, after the Texas
governor intervened in a case.
Lots of stories about the anti-texting
law. Ralph Schaefer of the Tulsa Business and Legal News tells the story of the
eight high school students who helped
spark that law.
Morris News Editor Barry Thompson
takes on politics and the press in his
front page column, blasting the debate
“joke” and the press, asking if they
graduated from the “Buffoons School of
Journalism?”
HEAD’EM UP AWARDS:
First place, Okeene Record,
AND ‘SOW’ IT BEGINS
over Toni Goforth’s photo, and what has
to be the cutline of the month:
“J R Nusz of Homestead still does
wheat sowing with his John Deere
Model A. He’s pulling an old M & M
drill, probably from the 1930s or 40s,
belonging to Donald Goforth. The John
Deere A tractor was a two-cylinder letter series, built from 1934 to 1952. The
A was John Deere’s first true row-crop
tractor.”
Second place, tie, Hugo News and Stillwater News Press:
Hugo, about continuing water problems:
CITIZEN MORALE DOWN THE DRAIN
Stillwater, Simmons’ head over Timothy Cole’s story on the tragedy homicide
charges and what many people are wondering:
ABLE TO STAND?
Third place, The Journal Record, head
by copy editors Adam Brooks and Ronnie Clay:
SHAKY GROUND
Honorable mentions: Lone Grove
Ledger, on Jerry Benson’s story about
unused phone lines costing $900 a
month, “Another mystery at the courthouse”; Claremore Daily Progress on
a Jean Dickens wreck photo, “Crash
course”; Clinton Daily News on a Robert
S. Bryan photo of a firemen in full gear,
hosing down a flaming skillet, “Ready
for anything”; Sayre Record & Beckham
County Democrat, “Are you ready for the
flu?”
12
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
Want impact?
Use a dominant visual
By ED HENNINGER, Design Consultant
Rusty Ferguson, publisher of The Cleveland American, visits a kindergarten class taught
by his daughter, Libby Bayouth, at Cleveland Primary School to talk about community
helpers.” After explaining what a newspaper does for a community, Ferguson presented
each child in the class a printer’s cap and explained the cap’s role in printing history.
Ferguson said that because web widths have shrunk over the past few years, it’s more
difficult to create the hats following the true and tested instructions. Ferguson prevailed
and found enough newspapers to make 22 hats.
Mail service is still desirable
Subscribers to The Ada News are
enjoying having their newspaper delivered to their mailbox.
On Oct. 1, The Ada News converted to mail delivery and switched to a
Tuesday through Saturday publication
schedule.
Wilbur Cameron, a Konawa resident
who has subscribed to the paper for
several months, said the mail delivery
system works better for him than the
carrier system.
The newspaper consistently shows
up in his mailbox and he doesn’t have
to worry about it getting wet in stormy
weather, he said.
“It’s working fantastic,” Cameron
said.
He added that he is pleased with the
switch from a Sunday paper to a Saturday edition.
Doug and Sandy Poe are no strangers
to mail delivery. As long-time subscribers, they had the newspaper delivered
to them in 1992 when they lived in San
Antonio.
Now that they live in Ada, the newspaper is once again being delivered by
mail. Sandy Poe said there were some
problems at first, but those issues have
been resolved.
She recently called Dawn Keathley,
the News’ audience development director, to praise her work with the post
office on implementing mail delivery.
Want to make your page – especially your front page – more compelling? Give it more impact? Get more
readers to give it a close look?
Use a dominant visual.
Most times, that will be a photo.
But occasionally, it may be a grouping
of smaller pix or a graphic or illustration.
Whatever that visual may be, there’s
one quality it must have to make it
work. That quality? Size. If your visual
isn’t large enough to dominate the
page, then it isn’t a dominant visual.
How big? My guideline has always
been 3 columns wide by 8 inches deep,
4 columns wide by 6 inches deep – as
a minimum. Again, that’s a minimum.
And, yes, those figures apply to tabloid
pages as well. If your visual isn’t big,
it hasn’t got the impact and pull you
need to bring readers into the page.
Other points:
RELATIVE SIZE: One of the ways you
can guarantee the dominant size of
your key visual is to take care that no
other visual elements compete with
it for attention. You can do this by
making sure that other elements are
no larger than half the size of your
dominant visual.
OPTICAL CENTER: As
indicated in the illustration, optical center is an
area of the page that’s
above and left of dead
center. Precisely how far
above…and how far left?
No one’s been able to determine that,
but we do know that optical center is
an area of the page where the reader’s
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Images, designs and ideas in a
unique presentation designed to inspire.
eye naturally falls first. And that’s
where we want to place the dominant
visual element.
THE FOLD: Does your dominant visual
have to be above the fold? Well, on the
front page, the answer is usually “yes.”
If you place the visual over the optical
center, it goes without saying that it’s
also above the fold.
GROUPING: Instead of one visual element, it’s OK to package a few together. This can work well, for example, if
you have group of photos taken at the
same event.
CONTENT: Select an element with
compelling content for your dominant
visual. Check-passing photos and gripand-grin shots certainly have their
place in community newspapers, but
they lack the interest needed to give
the key visual strong reader appeal. If
it’s a photo, look for action and strong
color.
CROPPING: Give the element even
greater impact by removing unimportant or extraneous content. A photo of
a car/truck crash, for example, need
not show yards of pavement at the bottom and miles of sky at top.
You want readers to look forward
to the content and impact of your
pages – especially your front page and
section fronts. One of the best ways
you can do that is by offering them a
dominant visual.
ED HENNINGER, an independent newspaper consultant and director of Henninger Consulting, offers
comprehensive newspaper design services including
redesigns, workshops, design training and design
evaluations. Contact Henninger at www.henningerconsulting.com, email [email protected]
or phone (803) 327-3322.
Oklahoman reporter
named as honoree
for Media in the Arts
The Oklahoma Arts Council
announced the 12 individuals and eight
organizations that will be honored for
their contributions to the arts in Oklahoma during the 40th annual Governor’s
Arts Awards on Dec. 2.
Among the honorees is Brandy
McDonnell, a reporter for The Oklahoman. McDonnell will receive the Media
in the Arts Award.
The award is given to an individual
member of the media or media outlet
that demonstrates commitment to the
arts in Oklahoma documented through
public awareness, support, fairness, initiative, creativity and professionalism in
reporting.
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 13
The Oklahoman/NewsOK finalist Alva Review-Courier receives honor
for Innovator of the Year Award
The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com was
honored with the Best Mobile Platform
award at the joint APME/ASNE conference on Oct. 16 at Stanford University in
California.
Dave Morris, NewsOK’s director of
video, and Oklahoman Editor Kelly Dyer
Fry attended the joint conference of the
Associated Press Media Editors and the
American Society of News Editors.
Morris and Fry competed for the
Innovator of the Year Award. The Oklahoman was named as a finalist for the
award in June. Other finalists were the
Boston Herald and the Los Angeles
News Group.
The Oklahoman is the only threetime finalist for the Innovator of the Year
Award. Although the Boston Herald
took home the award, it was a close vote.
The Best Mobile Platform award was
announced in June, but Morris picked
up the trophy in California. The award
cited the newspaper’s efforts including
placing a large video screen with targeted content at the corner of its building overlooking a busy intersection; The
Oklahoman Radio app, a hands-free daily
newspaper; and NewsOK Now, an app
and website that lets readers share location specific news content.
The Alva Chamber of Commerce
presented the Alva Review-Courier
with its Alva Business of the Year
award at its 2015 Citizens of Distinctions Award Gala.
Lynn and Marione Martin accepted
the award at the Nov. 5 event.
The award was planned as a surprise but as the date approached and
the chamber had not received confirmation, Lynn was told about the
award.
However, Marione – who serves
the newspaper as editor, bookkeeper,
writer and many other positions –
seemed surprised by the honor.
The Martins publish the Alva
Review-Courier in addition to the
weekly Newsgram. Under their ownership and guidance, the paper they
bought many years ago became an
award-winning publication.
The Martins’ daughter, Marisa
Dye, and granddaughter Kathrine
Kuhlmann, both worked at the newspaper at various times.
The Martins are strong supporters
of the Alva community, performing
many unseen good deeds. They realize that good schools and a hometown
newspaper are vital to a community’s
survival.
The award was a well-deserved
honor to an often under-appreciated
business.
OPS ADVERTISING INSERTION ACCURACY
Oklahoma Press Association recognizes the 149 business member newspapers that successfully ran all ads
placed by Oklahoma Press Service for the third quarter of 2015 (July through September).
Congratulations for a job well done.
The Ada News
The (Afton) American
The Altus Times
The Anadarko Daily News
The Antlers American
The Apache News
The Ardmoreite
Atoka County Times
The (Barnsdall)
Bigheart Times
Bartlesville
Examiner-Enterprise
The (Beaver)
Herald-Democrat
The (Bethany) Tribune
Blackwell Journal-Tribune
The Blanchard News
Bristow News
Broken Bow News
The Canton Times
The Carnegie Herald
The Chelsea Reporter
Cherokee Messenger &
Republican
The Cheyenne Star
The (Chickasha)
Express-Star
Clayton Today
The Cleveland American
Clinton Daily News
Coalgate Record-Register
The Comanche County
Chronicle
The Comanche Times
The Cordell Beacon
Coweta American
Cushing Citizen
The Cyril News
The Davis News
The Delaware County
Journal
The Dewey County Record
Drumright Gusher
The Duncan Banner
The (Eakly) Country
Connection News
The Edmond Sun
El Reno Tribune
Enid News & Eagle
The Fairfax Chief
Frederick Press-Leader
The Gage Record
Garber-Billings News
Garvin County News Star
The Geary Star
The Grove Sun
Guthrie News Leader
The Healdton Herald
Heavener Ledger
The Hennessey Clipper
Henryetta Free-Lance
The Hobart Democrat-Chief
Holdenville Tribune
The Hominy News-Progress
The Hooker Advance
Hugo News
The (Hugo) Examiner
(Idabel) Southeast Times
Inola Independent
Johnston County
Capital-Democrat
The Kingfisher Times
& Free Press
Kiowa County Democrat
The Konawa Leader
Latimer County
News-Tribune
The (Lawton) County Times
The Lawton Constitution
The Lincoln County News
The Lindsay News
Logan County Courier
The Lone Grove Ledger
The Madill Record
Marietta Monitor
McAlester News-Capital
McIntosh County Democrat
(Meeker) Tri-County Herald
The Miami News-Record
The Mooreland Leader
Mountain View News
Muskogee Phoenix
Mustang News
The Newcastle Pacer
The Newkirk Herald Journal
The Norman Transcript
Northwest Oklahoman &
Ellis County News
Nowata Star
The Okarche Chieftain
The Okeene Record
OKC - The Black Chronicle
OKC - The Journal Record
OKC - OKC Friday
OKC - The Oklahoman
Okmulgee Times
Oologah Lake Leader
Owasso Reporter
Pauls Valley Democrat
Pawhuska Journal-Capital
The Perkins Journal
Perry Daily Journal
The Piedmont-Surrey
Gazette
The Ponca City News
Poteau Daily News
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATIO
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 731
105
(405) 499-0020 • www.OkPress.com
The Prague Times-Herald
The (Pryor) Paper
The (Pryor) Times
The Purcell Register
The Ringling Eagle
(Roland) Eastern
Times-Register
The Rush Springs Gazette
Sand Springs Leader
Sapulpa Daily Herald
The Sayre Record &
Beckham Co. Democrat
The Seminole Producer
The Sentinel Leader
Sequoyah County Times
The (Shawnee)
County Democrat
Skiatook Journal
Spiro Graphic
Stigler News-Sentinel
Stillwater News Press
The Stilwell
Democrat Journal
Stroud American
Sulphur Times-Democrat
Tahlequah Daily Press
Talihina American
Taloga Times-Advocate
(Tecumseh) Countywide
& Sun
The Tonkawa News
Tulsa Beacon
Tulsa Business &
Legal News
The (Tulsa)
Oklahoma Eagle
The Tuttle Times
The Valliant Leader
Vian Tenkiller News
The Vici Vision
Vinita Daily Journal
Wagoner Tribune
The Walters Herald
Watonga Republican
Waurika News Journal
Weatherford Daily News
The Westville Reporter
The Wewoka Times
The Wilson Post-Democrat
Woods County Enterprise
Woodward News
The Wynnewood Gazette
Yale News
14
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
Keep your hands on the wheel using Bluetooth
Computer Notes
from the road
by Wilma (Melot) Newby
[email protected]
A hot topic around the state is the
new law that bans texting while driving.
It became effective Nov. 1. The $100 fine
costs more than the price of a hands-free
device, which allows you to talk on your
phone while driving.
With Black Friday approaching, it’s a
good time to look at some of those car
devices. Many of you may have older
cars that aren’t equipped with Bluetooth.
Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard that is built into most phones.
There are several ways for your car to
use Bluetooth. One would be the headset devices that are worn over the ear.
Or maybe you would prefer the wireless
devices that clip to the car’s sun visor
and serve as both microphone and Bluetooth phone controller.
Other devices route the cell phone
through the car stereo system. This
type of system needs a microphone for
hands-free talking. While it’s the cheapest option, you’re going to have wires
running all over.
Before looking at some of these
devices, let’s discuss some of the lingo
you see in the ads.
The new thing getting the most press
is noise cancellation. A speaker in the
device emits a sound wave with the
same amplitude but with inverted phase
(also known as antiphase) to the original
sound. The waves combine to form a
new wave in a process called interference, which effectively cancels each
other out. It’s called destructive interference. This is how they kill the background noise in the car so people can
hear your voice. Look for this in any new
or used device being considered.
The whole point of Bluetooth wireless
connecting to the phone is to eliminate
distracting wires on the dashboard area.
Look for devices that don’t need a lot of
wires and have a long battery life.
Your device needs to be able to make
a call without you looking at the phone.
After all, it looks like texting when you’re
looking up phone numbers. Many devices paired with your phone send texts
without you touching it. This requires a
higher end device but it’s well worth the
extra money. It eliminates the temptation for you to reach over and respond.
I also searched for a device that would
allow more than one device paired to it
at the same time. If you travel with others or if you have two people driving the
same car, it’s useful.
The following devices are intended
for comparison jump off points in your
own search for ways to avoid distracted
driving. They have good reviews. I’ve
tried many of these devices, but I’m still
searching for the perfect one.
17Jabra has been making hands-free
Bluetooth devices for many years. You
may already have tried one. Their newest model is the Freeway, a sun visor
model. The device, which retails for $60,
lets the user make and take calls completely hands free. It has 14-hour talk
time and 40 days worth of standby time.
An FM transmitter sends music and
calls from the phone to the car radio. It
even announces the name of the incoming caller. Freeway has three noise
reduction speakers for surround sound.
It sends and receives text messages and
emails, and even posts updates to Twitter and Facebook – all without touching
the phone. I can’t see doing all those
things while driving down the highway
at 70 mph, but it’s there if you need it.
The big hitter in this class of devices
is the Motorola Roadster Pro, which
retails for $60.99 on the web. The Roadster Pro will run two phones, has Bluetooth 3.0 and can access the phonebook
profile. It has motion activated control
and advanced noise cancellation with
four microphones. This device offers 13
hours of talk time, plus speech-to-text/
text-to-speech. It’s higher rated in user
reviews than any other set but takes a
hit from reviewers on battery life.
I have one complaint about the sunvisor models. When you get a call and
your sun visor is down, you have to
decide whether you want a clear call or
sun in your face. Personally, I find it frustrating but for the do-it-all devices, these
have the most control over a phone.
Now let’s look at the devices that
attach to your ear. This type can stay
with the phone all the time, not just in
the car.
The Legend or Edge model of the
Plantronics Voyager wireless Bluetooth
headset are both highly rated.
They sense when the headset is being
worn so it can automatically answer calls
as you place the headset on your ear or
redirect audio to your phone when you
set down the headset.
Voice recognition manages calls
handsfree with voice recognition technology – just say Answer or Ignore.
Noise cancelling technology with precision-tuned triple microphones separate your speech from up to 80dBs of
background noise and wind.
A magnetic connection to the headset snaps directly into the pocket-sized
mobile charging case instead of plugging into a USB port, saving wear on the
device. The charging case on the Edge
creates a total of 16 hours talk time,
according to the manufacture. There are
three styles of earpieces you might want
to try in a store to see which is more
comfortable. This is important if you
wear glasses.
The Jabra Supreme, retailing for $79,
is highly rated for both battery time
and call clarity. It meets all our criteria,
pairs to two devices at once and voice
guidance provides spoken caller ID. The
earpiece seems to get lots of bad press
so I recommend trying this one before
buying.
When looking at all the choices in
this category it is my experience that the
more they cost, the better they are. The
inexpensive ones don’t last and have bad
phone call quality.
However, there are ways to save
money and still get good quality – if
your car is new enough to have an auxiliary input port. You can use a kit that
hooks into the port, such as the iClever
Himbox HB01, which retails for $33. It
comes with a speaker that hooks to the
dash of the car. Other wires run to the
auxiliary jack and the car charger device
that plugs into the lighter outlet. The
microphone, which hooks to a magnetic
base that fits on the dashboard, has the
noise cancelling we want.
The Himbox HBO1 supports audio/
video remote control profile technology
for easy-to-use music controls – play,
pause, previous song and next song.
Talking controls include answer call,
reject call and private call.
Read the reviews carefully and look
for Black Friday deals on more than
one website before placing your order.
Research really pays off when determining which device is best for you. Even if
you’re pinching pennies, you want the
most you can get.
INDESIGN
DATA MERGE
Data Merge is something we often
think of as a
Microsoft Word
feature,
but
InDesign will
do it as well.
It’s useful for
projects such
as Christmas
cards or any
other promotion that justifies a personalized mailing.
To start, design the card you want to
mail. Next, go to Window > Utilities > Data
Merge. Once there you’ll find some hints
on how to do your merge, but let’s go
over it.
Your database can be a spreadsheet
file – such as Excel, Open Office or
Access. Using that file, create a comma/
tab delimited text file containing all the
names and addresses. This will be the
file you use to merge into InDesign.
Your spreadsheet or database document must have a header row that
describes all the rows below – something like First Name, Last Name,
Address, City, State, Zip.
If you don’t have a database, you
could type up a text file with commas
between the fields. It’s just that the
spreadsheet programs make it easier to
keep track of all those commas.
Also, the program you create the data
from must be able to save/export as a
.csv file.
Now from the Data Merge palette go
to the flyout menu and choose > Select
Data Source. Find the file that contains
the information you want to merge.
InDesign brings in each field as an item
in the palette. Just drag the fields into
your text block on the page to finish
the layout. It will look like this: <<Full
Name>> .
Then from the flyout menu choose
Create Merged Document. There’s a preview mode to see how the document will
look before you print.
CORRECTION
In last month’s discussion of portable
scanners, I mentioned that they could
be used to scan archive books. However,
there are limitations and results aren’t
perfect. You would have to piece pages
together, which can takes hours of your
time. There are companies that scan
archive books. I recommend checking
out some of those companies if you’re
trying to archive books.
OPA Computer Consultant Wilma Newby’s
column is brought to you by the Oklahoma
Advertising Network (OAN). For more information on the OAN program, contact Oklahoma
Press Service at (405) 499-0020.
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 15
Millennials remain up-to-date on news
Millennials are anything but “newsless,” passive or uninterested in civic
issues, according to a new comprehensive study of the information habits of
people age 18-34. The research looks
closely at how members of the Millennial generation learn about the world on
different devices and platforms.
The study finds that Millennials consume news and information in strikingly
different ways than did previous generations. Contrary to popular perception,
they keep up with news that is commonly referred to as “traditional” or
“hard,” as well as stories that connect
them to hobbies, culture, jobs and entertainment.
The study was conducted by the
American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research.
“This is the second study we have
conducted that challenges some common perceptions about news in the digital age,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive
director of the American Press Institute.
“This one finds that across a range of
metrics, the first digital generation is
highly engaged. If anything, the enormous role of social media appears to
have a widening impact, not a narrowing
one, on the awareness of this generation.”
Among the study’s findings:
• Fully 69 percent of Millennials report
•
•
•
•
getting news at least once a day – 40
percent several times a day.
Millennials say they acquire news for
a variety of reasons, which include a
fairly even mix of civic motivations
(74 percent), problem-solving needs
(63 percent) or social factors (67
percent) such as talking about it with
friends.
Contrary to the idea that social media
creates a polarizing “filter bubble,”
exposing people to only a narrow
range of opinions, 70 percent of Millennials say that their social media
feeds are comprised of a diverse
mix of viewpoints eventually mixed
between those similar to and different form their own. An additional 16
percent say their feeds contain mostly
viewpoints different from their own.
And nearly three-quarters of those
exposed to different views (73 percent) report they investigate others’
opinions at least some of the time
– with a quarter saying they do it
always or often.
Facebook has become a nearly ubiquitous part of digital Millennial life.
On 24 separate news and information
topics studied, Facebook was the No.
1 or No. 2 gateway to learn about 20
of them.
While Millennials are highly
equipped, it is not true they are constantly connected. More than 90 per-
cent of adults age 18-34 surveyed own
smartphones, and half own tablets.
But only half (51 percent) say they
are online most or all of the day.
“For many Millennials, news is part
of their social flow, with most seeing it
as an enjoyable or entertaining experience,” said Trevor Tompson, director of
the AP-NORC Center. “It is possible that
consuming news at specific times of the
day for defined periods will soon be a
thing of the past given that news is now
woven into many Millennials’ connected
lives.”
About the Survey
This study was conducted by the
Media Insight Project, a collaboration
between the American Press Institute
and the AP-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research. It included two components – a quantitative survey of Millennials nationwide and qualitative interviews
and follow-up exercises with small friend
groups of Millennials in Chicago, Ill.;
San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; and
at the University of Mary Washington
in Fredericksburg, Va. The survey was
conducted January 5-February 2, 2015,
and reached 1,045 adults nationwide
between the ages of 18 and 34. Study
recruitment was completed through a
national probability telephone sample,
while the main portion of the questionnaire was administered online. The
margin of error was +/- 3.8 percentage
points.
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
STAFF DIRECTORY
ADMINISTRATION
MARK THOMAS
Executive Vice President
[email protected] • (405) 499-0033
JEANNIE FREEMAN
Accounting Manager
[email protected] • (405) 499-0027
SCOTT WILKERSON
Front Office/Building Mgr.
[email protected] • (405) 499-0020
MEMBER SERVICES
LISA (POTTS) SUTLIFF
Member Services Director
[email protected] • (405) 499-0026
ADVERTISING
LANDON COBB
Sales Director
[email protected] • (405) 499-0022
CINDY SHEA
Advertising Director
[email protected] • (405) 499-0023
BRENDA POER
Advertising Assistant
[email protected] • (405) 499-0035
CREATIVE SERVICES
JENNIFER GILLILAND
Oklahoma Historical Society celebrates milestone
The Oklahoma Historical Society
(OHS) joins the Library of Congress
(LOC) and the National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH) in celebrating a major milestone for Chronicling
America, a free, searchable database of
historic U.S. newspapers.
The Library recently announced
that more than 10 million pages have
been posted to the site, which includes
300,000 historic Oklahoma newspaper
pages selected to reflect the state’s political, cultural and economic history.
Launched by the LOC and the NEH
in 2007, Chronicling America provides
enhanced and permanent access to
historically significant newspapers published in the United States between
1836 and 1922. It is part of the National
Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP),
a joint effort between the two agencies
and partners in 40 states and territories.
The NDNP awards grants to entities
in each state and territory to identify
and digitize historic newspaper content.
Awardees receive NEH funding to select
and digitize 100,000 pages of historic
newspapers published in their states
between 1836 and 1922. Uniform techni-
cal specifications are provided to ensure
consistency of all content, and digital
files are transferred to the Library of
Congress for long-term management
and access. The first awards were made
in 2005. Since then, NEH has awarded
more than $30 million in support of the
project.
The Oklahoma Historical Society
received the initial NDNP grant in July
2009 and subsequent grants in 2011
and 2013. Through these grants 300,000
historic Oklahoma newspaper pages are
available on the Chronicling America
website.
The OHS was organized in 1893 to
collect newspapers. Because of that
early start, the statewide organization
has more than 95 percent of all newspapers ever printed in Oklahoma, totaling
more than 33 million pages in the microfilm collection. Even today, the OHS preserves nearly 200 newspapers every day.
The earliest issues in the collection date
to 1844 when the Cherokees published
a newspaper with one column in English and one column using Sequoyah’s
alphabet.
“Chronicling America’s success in
bringing historic Oklahoma newspapers
to life was a turning point for the Oklahoma Historical Society’s mission to collect, preserve and share the history of
the state of Oklahoma,” said OHS Director of Research Chad Williams. “Drawing on our experiences with Chronicling
America, the OHS partnered with Ethics
and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, created by Edith Kinney Gaylord,
and the University of North Texas to create the Gateway to Oklahoma History,”
added Williams.
Launched in 2012, the Gateway is a
free internet platform similar to Chronicling America. The goal of the Gateway
is to make word-searchable all newspapers published in the Twin Territories
and the State of Oklahoma from 1844 to
1922. On Oklahoma Statehood Day, Nov.
16, 2015, the one million page mark will
be surpassed on the Gateway to Oklahoma History.
To visit the Gateway to Oklahoma
History go to http://gateway.okhistory.
org. The Chronicling America website is
available at http://chroniclingamerica.
loc.gov.
Creative Services Director
[email protected] • (405) 499-0028
ASHLEY NOVACHICH
Editorial/Creative Assistant
[email protected] • (405) 499-0029
COMPUTER ADVICE
WILMA (MELOT) NEWBY
Computer Consultant
[email protected] • (405) 499-0031
DIGITAL CLIPPING
KEITH BURGIN
Clipping Director
[email protected] • (405) 499-0024
KYLE GRANT
Digital Clipping Dept.
[email protected]
JENNIFER BEATLEY-CATES
Digital Clipping Dept.
[email protected] • (405) 499-0045
GENERAL INQUIRIES
(405) 499-0020
Fax: (405) 499-0048
Toll-free in OK: 1-888-815-2672
16
The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015
OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CONTEST WINNERS
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEPTEMBER 2015 WINNERS
September Column: TRACIE MACY, The Hennessey Clipper
September Editorial: ED J. LEBEAU III, Drumright Gusher
SEPTEMBER 2015 COLUMN WINNER
TRACIE MACY, The Hennessey Clipper
Sometimes changes are for the best
I remember sitting on the porch steps waiting on
my husband, James, to come home.
I had news to tell him.
News that would change our lives forever.
I had just taken a pregnancy test, and the results
were positive.
My children, Kaleb and Kinsey, were 17 and 13.
Old enough that they could take care of themselves, and didn’t need me every minute of the
day.
I was unsure how to feel about being pregnant,
and tied down taking care of a new baby. It
would be a total life style change.
I was used to hanging out with my friends almost
every night and with no little ones at home, we
could go do anything at a moment’s notice.
Things didn’t change much at first.
My friends were excited for me, and we kept
hanging out. I couldn’t drink what they were
drinking, which was fine with me. It was giving
up smoking that was hard.
But as time went on, I noticed little things, like
how my friends weren’t quite as funny when they
were drinking and I wasn’t. In fact, some were
quite annoying.
Then the baby came.
He was so sweet to look at. A little miracle, a
little boy we named Cash.
Several of the friends I have now came to the
hospital to see the baby. Some came a few days
later after we came home. And some, well, they
never came and never called.
It broke my heart.
I guess I’d been a friend of convenience.
Then when Cash was about two years old, my
daughter said to me, “It sure is nice having you
home.”
It was at that moment that I felt like a failure as
a parent.
She was right. I was never home before I’d gotten pregnant with Cash. I was always out with
my friends, but where I should have been was
at home with my kids.
That’s when I realized that Cash was a miracle
sent from God to get my life in order.
Enter and Win
a $100 Check
from Oklahoma
Natural Gas!
The September Oklahoma Natural
Gas Column and Editorial Contest
was judged by a member of the
Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
1. Each month, send a tear sheet or
photocopy of your best column and/
or editorial to Oklahoma Natural Gas
Contest, c/o OPA, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499.
2. Include the author’s name, name of
publication, date of publication and
category entered (column or editorial).
3. Only ONE editorial and/or ONE column
per writer per month will be accepted.
4. All entries for the previous month must
be at the OPA office by the 15th of the
current month.
Friends can come and go but family, that’s forever.
5. Winning entries will be reproduced on
the OPA website at www.OkPress.com.
I realized that those friends didn’t go anywhere.
It was me who had changed. It was me who had
left them.
Entries must have been previously
published in print. Contest open to
all OPA member newspapers.
Sitting on the porch step that day, waiting on
James to come home, I knew my life would
change.
It changed for the better.
Although Oklahoma Natural Gas Company
selects representative contest winners’
work for use in this monthly ad, the views
expressed in winning columns and editorials
are those of the writers and don’t necessarily
reflect the Company’s opinions.
Thank you for continued
support of “Share The Warmth”
Read the Winning Columns & Editorials on the OPA website:
www.OkPress.com (Under Contests)