Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association The Oklahoma Publisher www.OkPress.com www.Facebook.com/okpress Vol. 87, No. 5 12 Pages • May 2016 INSIDE BEN BLACKSTOCK: A friend to many and an advocate of Oklahoma newspapers, former OPA manager Ben Blackstock dies at age 90. PAGE 5 POSTAL TIPS: Firm bundles save money when prepared correctly, but if you’re not doing it right, it can delay delivery time to your subscribers. PAGE 7 LOOKING BACK: Terry Clark marks his 20th year as a columnist for The Oklahoma Publisher with reflections of how it began – and changes he’s seen. PAGE 8 DONATE TO ONF to receive this Will Rogers print. Details at OkPress.com/will-rogers. If you’re ready to learn how to up your game, register now for the Oklahoma Press Association Annual Convention on June 10-11 at the downtown Sheraton in Oklahoma City. The all-new two-day format provides an opportunity for you to get out of the office, meet with your peers and learn how to improve your career. The convention kicks off with the annual OPA Business Meet- ing at 3:00 p.m. Friday where officers and directors for the 2016- 2017 term will be elected. The business meeting also includes the treasurer’s report, necrology report and a legislative update. At 4:15 p.m., the fast-paced News Flash session provides a range of topics presented by OPA members. It’s a great opportu- nity to pick up some new ideas for your own newspaper. Then it’s all about fun and games at the Welcome Dinner and Game Night. After dinner, attendees will form a group and vie for bragging rights as the 2016 Best Crossword Team. Then it’s time to get to know a little more about each other by participating in a networking scavenger hunt. Use your interviewing skills to find out specific things about your peers that you never knew before. Start your day with laughter Saturday morning at the annual Blooper Show. It’s full of funny grammar, faux pas typos and other gaffes, and leaves ever yone squirming in their seat until the Blooper of the Year is announced. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has confirmed her invitation to address OPA members and answer questions at 10 a.m. Fallin will be followed by members of Oklahoma’s congressional delega- tion. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, Rep. Tom Cole, Rep. Frank Lucas, Rep. MarkWayne Mullin and Rep. Steve Russell are confirmed for the 11 a.m. session. Several awards will be presented at the noon Awards Luncheon including ONG Column and Editorial Sweepstakes Awards, OGE Photo of the Year Awards, OPA Digital Media Awards, OPA Print Quality Awards and the ONF Joseph H. Edwards Outdoor Writer of the Year Award. Concurrent sessions begin at 1:30 p.m. with “Basics of Jour- nalism in the Digital Age” or “Leveraging Events, Contests and Promotions for Revenue Growth.” Kathleen McElroy, an assistant professor at the School of Media & Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University, will present the Basics of Journalism. Her goal is for you to become better at communicating what is news and what is important to your audience, whether in print or online. Amie Stein will explore the best practices and case studies for successful events, contests and promotions. Stein is a 20-year veteran of the media industry. As director of training and development for the Local Media Association, she develops and implements custom sales and digital training programs for media executives across the country. A panel of former and current journalists will discuss “Cover- ing Traumatic Events” at 2:30 while Stein presents “Digital Best Practices for Revenue.” Stein’s session also covers capabilities and opportunities of using other digital media platforms such as social, video and native. If you’ve been wanting to learn how to shoot and edit video, don’t miss Mike Strain’s session at 3:30. Strain, managing editor at the Tulsa World, will provide tips on best practices and sugges- tions for apps that can help you. Or, join an advertising roundtable for the opportunity to share ideas with others, also at 3:30. The final two concurrent sessions at 4:30 are “Politics: Focus- PHILLIP REID KATHLEEN MCELROY AMIE STEIN MIKE STRAIN Up your game at the OPA Convention OPA MILT PHILLIPS AWARD WINNER DR. TERRY M. CLARK ONF BEACHY MUSSELMAN AWARD WINNER ANDY RIEGER CONVENTION SPEAKERS AWARD WINNERS Continued on Page 3
Transcript
Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association
The Oklahoma Publisherwww.OkPress.com
www.Facebook.com/okpressVol. 87, No. 5
12 Pages • May 2016
INSIDEBEN BLACKSTOCK: A friend to many and an advocate of Oklahoma newspapers, former OPA manager Ben Blackstock dies at age 90.
PAGE 5
POSTAL TIPS: Firm bundles save money when prepared correctly, but if you’re not doing it right, it can delay delivery time to your subscribers.
PAGE 7
LOOKING BACK: Terry Clark marks his 20th year as a columnist for The Oklahoma Publisher with reflections of how it began – and changes he’s seen.
PAGE 8
DONATE TO ONF to receive this Will Rogers print. Details at OkPress.com/will-rogers.
If you’re ready to learn how to up your game, register now for the Oklahoma Press Association Annual Convention on June 10-11 at the downtown Sheraton in Oklahoma City.
The all-new two-day format provides an opportunity for you to get out of the office, meet with your peers and learn how to improve your career.
The convention kicks off with the annual OPA Business Meet-ing at 3:00 p.m. Friday where officers and directors for the 2016-2017 term will be elected. The business meeting also includes the treasurer’s report, necrology report and a legislative update.
At 4:15 p.m., the fast-paced News Flash session provides a range of topics presented by OPA members. It’s a great opportu-nity to pick up some new ideas for your own newspaper.
Then it’s all about fun and games at the Welcome Dinner and Game Night. After dinner, attendees will form a group and vie for bragging rights as the 2016 Best Crossword Team. Then it’s time to get to know a little more about each other by participating in a networking scavenger hunt. Use your interviewing skills to find out specific things about your peers that you never knew before.
Start your day with laughter Saturday morning at the annual Blooper Show. It’s full of funny grammar, faux pas typos and other gaffes, and leaves everyone squirming in their seat until the Blooper of the Year is announced.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has confirmed her invitation to address OPA members and answer questions at 10 a.m. Fallin will be followed by members of Oklahoma’s congressional delega-tion. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, Rep. Tom Cole, Rep. Frank Lucas, Rep. MarkWayne Mullin and Rep. Steve Russell are confirmed for the 11 a.m. session.
Several awards will be presented at the noon Awards Luncheon including ONG Column and Editorial Sweepstakes Awards, OGE Photo of the Year Awards, OPA Digital Media Awards, OPA Print Quality Awards and the ONF Joseph H. Edwards Outdoor Writer of the Year Award.
Concurrent sessions begin at 1:30 p.m. with “Basics of Jour-nalism in the Digital Age” or “Leveraging Events, Contests and Promotions for Revenue Growth.” Kathleen McElroy, an assistant professor at the School of Media & Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University, will present the Basics of Journalism. Her goal is for you to become better at communicating what is news and what is important to your audience, whether in print or online. Amie Stein will explore the best practices and case studies for successful events, contests and promotions. Stein is a 20-year veteran of the media industry. As director of training and development for the Local Media Association, she develops and implements custom sales and digital training programs for media executives across the country.
A panel of former and current journalists will discuss “Cover-ing Traumatic Events” at 2:30 while Stein presents “Digital Best Practices for Revenue.” Stein’s session also covers capabilities and opportunities of using other digital media platforms such as social, video and native.
If you’ve been wanting to learn how to shoot and edit video, don’t miss Mike Strain’s session at 3:30. Strain, managing editor at the Tulsa World, will provide tips on best practices and sugges-tions for apps that can help you. Or, join an advertising roundtable for the opportunity to share ideas with others, also at 3:30.
The final two concurrent sessions at 4:30 are “Politics: Focus-
PHILLIP REID
KATHLEEN MCELROY AMIE STEIN
MIKE STRAIN
Up your game at the OPA Convention
OPA MILT PHILLIPS AWARD WINNER
DR. TERRY M. CLARK
ONF BEACHY MUSSELMAN AWARD WINNERANDY RIEGER
CONVENTION SPEAKERS
AWARD WINNERS
Continued on Page 3
12 The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016
Thank you for continued support of “Share The Warmth”Read the Winning Columns & Editorials on the OPA website:
www.OkPress.com (Under Contests)
Enter and Win a $100 Check
from Oklahoma Natural Gas!
The March 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.
5. Winning entries will be reproduced on the OPA website at www.OkPress.com.
Entries must have been previously published in print. Contest open to
all OPA member newspapers.
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.
One morning last year I had a day that didn’t start very well.
There was tension at home, some arguing, a battle to get the children out the door in time for the school bus. I got in the car to drive to work and pulled out of the garage relieved to have the stressful household behind me. It was raining. Blurry red lights stretched for uninter-rupted miles down Interstate 35 as cars plodded, then slipped, then squealed in front of me. The grayness seeped through and grabbed onto my soul.
“Wait!” I thought. “I’ll turn off the radio and put in my new Diana Krall CD!”
It had just arrived and I was looking forward to it; surely it would lift my still darkening mood. I slid Wallflower into the player and discovered that Krall had successfully put her soulful voice to a collection of songs about lone-liness, unrequited love and longing. Alone Again. Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word. Desperado. Operator, that’s not the way it feels. Don’t you remember, you told me you loved me baby?
Realizing there was no conveniently located bridge I could drive off, I succumbed to the bleakness of the day with gusto. That darkness held the sadness of a lifetime, from trivial regrets to my father’s tomb and my son’s urn, and I decided to let it envelope me.
Darkness is a solitary experience.
The clouds roll in, the darkness fills your soul and it starts to rain in your heart, eroding, cleansing. That kind of sadness isn’t for something we’ve lost, it’s for everything we’ve lost and everything we will lose. It’s the sadness you didn’t know was there, the one that makes you cry in the middle of the third hymn at church and you don’t know why you’re crying.
It lasted a while. And when it was over, I felt empty. Relieved. And open.
We have to make room. We visit the graves of people we loved so we can feel sadness fully, so it can surface and dissipate. We have to let the sadness flow out or there’s no room for the good to come in. We have convinced ourselves that we are supposed to be happy every moment and that if we’re not there is something wrong. But life is a pendulum. When we’re sad every-one rushes to say, “Don’t worry! Things will get better!”
But when we’re happy no one says – though it’s equally true – “Don’t worry! Things will get worse!” If you doubt that, check with someone in the oil business.
Why do we tell people, especially children, to stop cry-ing? Because we are selfish, because we do not like the sound, because we cannot stand a few minutes of discomfort no matter the benefit to the one releasing the tears.
We should encourage it. “Cry!” we should say. “Feel!”
Never mind the Good News. Good Friday is a story is of death and burial, of tombs and darkness. It is a funeral, a place where we reflect on the person we have lost, the others we have lost, and the times we have lost ourselves.
In John’s version, the crucifixion occurred on the Jewish day of Preparation, the day before a Sabbath, when no bodies could remain on crosses; that darkness had to be removed.
The significance of preparation is central to the Easter theme. Adherents must indulge fully in the darkness of a torturous death and the aloneness of the burial to be prepared for the joy of the resurrection.
But for one day, let’s just cry.
MARCH 2016 COLUMN WINNER
TED STREULI, The Journal Record
Make room for darkness
OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CONTEST WINNERS
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MARCH 2016 WINNERSMarch Column: TED STREULI, The Journal RecordMarch Editorial: BARB WALTER, The Hennessey Clipper
STAFF DIRECTORY The Oklahoma chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored the best journalistic work in the state at its annual awards banquet on April 30 at the Reed Center in Midwest City.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Carl Bernstein was the keynote speaker at the banquet. He highlighted the lessons learned from Watergate and the need for investigative journalism during his talk.
Three special awards were presented
at the banquet. The Carter Bradley First Amendment Award went to Mvskoke Media. Retired Tulsa World reporter Janet Pearson was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Darla M. Jones Tresner of Bartlesville was named Teacher of the Year. Tresner is director of Journalism Education for Oklahoma.
Named Best Newspaper in Division A was the Tulsa World; The O’Colly,
Oklahoma State University’s student newspaper, received the honor of Best Newspaper in Division B. Tulsa World also received top honors in the Best News Website competition for Division A; The Oklahoma Daily received that honor in Division B.
For a complete list of Okla-homa newspaper winners in the SPJ contest, visit http://tinyurl.com/2015SPJNewspaperWinners.
The Tulsa Press Club recently announced the 2016 Great Plains Jour-nalism Awards winners.
Oklahoma State University’s campus publication, The O’Colly, was named Great Plains Student Newspaper of the Year.
The Oklahoman staff members received honors for Sports Reporting, Web Special Section, Sports Action Pho-tography and Sports Video.
Tulsa World staff members were hon-ored for Sports Blog, Spot News Pho-tography, Sports Feature Photography, Feature Writing, Feature Video, Spot News Video and Entertainment Feature.
The Great Plains Journalism Awards is a regional contest honoring print, web, TV and magazine journalists. The eight-state competition includes Oklaho-ma, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
More than 770 entries were received this year, with winners and finalists named in 70 professional and student categories. Five student journalists were awarded $1,250 scholarships named after former Tulsa Press Club president and ONEOK executive Dan Harrison.
SPJ announces award winners at annual banquet
Oklahoma journalists honored with Great Plains Awards
The most overused word in advertisingBY JOHN FOUSTAD LIBS™
I can imagine this scene playing out hundreds of times every day. A sales-person sits in an advertiser’s office and says, “Let’s talk about your next ad campaign. What are your thoughts?” That’s a sensible conversation starter. Ask an open-ended question, hear the other person’s ideas and go from there.
Let’s say the advertiser answers, “Quality. We’ve got to let people know we believe in quality.” That sounds like a harmless comment, but it’s an example of where bad ideas come from. If the salesperson does not probe for an explanation, “We believe in quality” will end up as theme of the advertising. And that ad campaign will get lost in a world of other vague advertising claims.
I believe that “quality” is the most overused word in advertising. It’s everywhere. Advertisers boast of qual-ity products, quality customer service, quality people, quality selection, quality traditions and quality reputations. They act as though consumers automatically understand what they are talking about. But in reality, the word “quality” is trite and has little meaning in today’s mar-ketplace.
“Quality” is not the answer to a ques-tion. It’s another question. It’s your cue to dig for information. Pretend you’re a lawyer on a search for evidence to prove your point. Find where your advertiser’s unique quality comes from, and let that become the idea.
Generally speaking, there are two
types of evidence that can be used in advertising: product proof and human proof. The right choice can define qual-ity and make it come to life in the con-sumer’s mind. Let’s take a closer look:
1. PRODUCT PROOF. To find this kind of evidence, make a list of features and benefits. Then narrow it to the most relevant information. Are there special ingredients? Is there a unique manufacturing procedure? What about guarantees? Is there a story of a customer who is still using the product after an impressive number of years – or miles – of service?
This approach presents the product as a hero. If you face a specific problem, don’t you want the product that will save the day? When you want certain benefits, don’t you want the product that is proven to deliver those benefits?
2. HUMAN PROOF. There are two ways to use human proof: (1) a testimonial from a happy customer or (2) a state-ment from someone who works for the advertiser.
When an advertiser says, “We’re really good,” that’s just another mar-keter bragging about themselves. But it means something when a real live customer says, “They’re really good, and here’s why.” That’s the power of a customer testimonial.
A statement from someone repre-senting the advertiser is what I call an in-house testimonial.
For example, the technician who tells you that when you buy a car from his dealership you can count on his 24 years of experience to keep your car in tip-top condition. Or the chef who tells you she would be honored to prepare a meal for your special event.
OPA Computer Consultant Wilma Newby’s column is brought to you by the Oklahoma Advertising Network (OAN). For more informa-tion on the OAN program, contact Oklahoma Press Service at (405) 499-0020.
Recover lost photos with memory card recovery software
LEGAL ADVICEis just one of the benefits of being a member of the Oklahoma Press Association’s Legal Services Plan. Remove the worry of needing professional advice by enrolling today. For more information contact:
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION’S
LEGAL SERVICES PLAN
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If you’ve ever accidentally deleted a photo from your memory card, or lost all your photos due to “format” or “reformat” operations in the camera, you know what a problem it can be – espe-cially if you need that photo for the front page of your newspaper.
Unfortunately, memory card corrup-tion, damage, error or an inaccessible state often happens. Cards can become damaged or show memory card errors when the camera is unexpectedly turned off.
To recover lost photos and videos from your phone’s micro SD and micro SDHC, take a look at the following pro-grams. Some of them even recover data loss on your computer’s hard drive.
CardRescue (www.cardrescue.com), for $39.95, has been around many years. It gives you a clean download from a safe site without installing extra programs or malware.
Next up is CardRecoveryPro (www.cardrecoverypro.com). This Windows-only file recovery is simple to use and recovers all types of SD card files. You can download it for $9.97 and use it for seven days. It also recovers USB flash drives.
Wondershare offers a recovery pro-gram for Windows or Mac available at www.wondershare.net/data-recovery-mac/index.html. This software has been around for a long time. The cost for a Mac user is higher than a Windows user. The Mac version is $89.95; Win-dows users pay $39.95 Wondershare
sells other programs you might be inter-ested in and is a safe site.
Wondershare recovers lost files as well as restoring deleted files, files emp-tied from the trash, and files lost from formatted or corrupted partitions with original file name and structure tree. Another feature is raw recovery, which recovers files with a deeper scan. It also has a partition recovery for hard drives that have been divided when part of it fails. It recovers data from both Mac computers and storage media such as hard drives, iPods, digital cameras, flash cards, etc. Most Mac file recovery soft-ware on the current market only recov-ers data from media storage.
Be aware that this type of software does not unlock Ransom files. If you’re trying to open files with that type of virus attack, make sure the software you buy is able to help. As far as I know, the only thing you can do is revert to a backup. In addition, if your drive doesn’t spin up, these type of programs won’t help. And if it’s the port that’s messed up, you’re going to need to send it to the manufacture to try and get the data back.
RecoverMyFiles (www.recovermy-files.com) is another program to look at. It has an evaluation program that is free, but the software retails for $69.95. This one is for Windows users but it’s rated as one of the best.
As its name implies, Mac Free Data Recovery is a free program, but there’s always a catch. You have to sign up through Google or Facebook and take your chances downloading from some unknown site. You can find it at mac-data-recover y-freeware.en.softonic.com/mac. I’d rate this as buyer beware. Keep on eye on what the main program is installing so you can uninstall hanger-on programs. Also make sure you have a good antivirus software on your com-puter. A lot of adware comes from free software you’ve downloaded and those little programs can really slow your com-puter’s browser.
WEATHER THE STORMStorm season is upon us. For years
I’ve encouraged publishers to back up both on- and off-site.
In addition to backups, you need to plan how to charge phones during a
power outage. A big generator will be used to keep your computer and other essentials running, but outlets on gen-erators aren’t plentiful.
Having a few external battery back-ups for phones can be a blessing. I’ve talked to publishers who said that the loss of phone in a long term power out-age was the worst problem they faced. And then there’s always the possibility that plugging your $500 phone into a generator that doesn’t produce clean electricity could fry the phone’s internal battery.
A better option is to charge an exter-nal battery charger, then charge your phone with the right voltage from the battery backup device.
Some to look at are Uniden, which has rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that offer long-lasting use and is com-patible with most devices. The travel charger lets you recharge while on the go. This charger can backup the inter-nal battery for your phone for many hours or days if you only use it when really needed. It can fully recharge two phones or one tablet without needing to recharge itself.
This is how most of these devices are offered. Look at how many charges you’re getting out of the batteries and how many ports are offered.
Duracell® Portable Power Bank works in a similar way. It has a smaller design, which is easier to carry around in a pocket or purse but the battery is not as big. These range in price from $14.99 to $29.99.
Verbatim Dual USB Power Pack Charge is more costly at $50, but it will recharge two devices at once – a big plus in an emergency.
At $29.99, the Ativa® Rechargeable Power Bank is a cool looking device with a shiny stainless steel look. It has two USB ports for charging two devices at once.
At a much more expensive price point, Apple builds cases that hold backup bat-teries for the phone. The price starts at $100 and goes up from there. Other companies make battery backups that stay on the phones for Androids.
The best rated external battery char-ger I found for the money was an Iogear Mobile Power Station. It has two ports for charging more than one phone and retails for around $30. The Iogear gives you around four charges for your phone.
I found more than thirty phone rechargers online but most are compa-rable to these.
There are more complicated devices, like the Bestek 600A peak current car jump starter with 10000mAh external battery charger for $50. It will jump start a car, has a built-in flashlight and two ports for recharging phones. It even comes with small jumper cables. There’s even a device with a solar cell that
attaches to the phone. The EasyAcc 8000mAh solar power bank solar flash-light portable charger for phones retails for $35.
CREATIVE SUITE ON WINDOWS 10Adobe Creative Suite programs will
run on Windows 10 – even the plain CS version. The most common problem with the new operating system is that the fonts may not jive with older sys-tems.
Under the hood, Windows 10 is basi-cally like Windows 7. If your program runs on Windows 7, it will most likely run on Windows 10.
On the Mac side, for those of you moving to the new OSX 10.11, Adobe Creative Suite 4 and up works well. You still need Java 6 in order to run it. The new OSX comes with Java 8 so you may need to uninstall Java 8 and reinstall Java 6. Unfortunately, very old copies of Microsoft Office will not make the leap to the new Mac OS X El Capitan, but the latest security code is worth a lot in the current environment of virus attacks.
ONEDRIVE NO LONGER DOWNSIZINGMicrosoft was planning on downsiz-
ing its OneDrive free space from 15 GB to 5 GB – until the backlash caught up with them. The company has backed down and users will still have 15 GB, if you opt into their plan. In case you’re not aware, OneDrive is a cloud stor-age space that comes with Microsoft e-mail or Office. It runs as an app for your computer, tablet, phone or Xbox. OneDrive is built into Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.
If you have Windows 8, Windows 7, or Vista, you can install the OneDrive desktop app for Windows. This creates a OneDrive folder on your PC that’s kept in sync with the OneDrive cloud. Learn more about it at onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/support.
Cloud storage programs slow down your computer. Boot up will be very slow if the machine has to sync calen-dars, mail and 15GB of files. More RAM memory and a faster internet connec-tion will help your computer.
Any program that syncs lots of files can slow down the computer includ-ing Apple’s iCloud Drive, Drop Box, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box. In addition, programs that are waiting to update – such as anti-virus, Adobe and Java updates – can slow your computer, especially on startup. It’s better to bite the bullet and spend the few minutes it takes to update versus waiting for a slow startup several times a week.
short on deadline. And until recently, I’ve made or beat every deadline, though Jennifer granted me a day’s leeway once or twice this past year.
As with you in these two decades, a lot has happened, both good and bad – eight grandchildren, divorce, remarried, old friends gone, new friends made, deaths of newspapers, disturbing news-paper news, changing job duties.
There is great satisfaction in writing this column; it’s a privilege. It keeps me and challenges me to be current in my teaching, and in touch with what’s going on in state newspapers, in seeing and appreciating excellent journalism in many places.
As a result, I still wince when I hear ignorant people say newspapers are dead or dying. I don’t know what the future holds because of technology and economics, but I still have faith because of what I see each month writing this column. My challenge is to try to keep it fresh and relevant.
I won’t make Harry’s 30 years of column writing, and I don’t want this col-umn to end like his. When I took over, it was “interim.” We’re all interim, when you think about it.
So in the interim, thanks for reading.
LOOKIN’EM OVER. Didn’t do this 20 years ago when I was writing about Harry. Now, I could add to the volumes of stories already told about Ben. But no. I just know I wouldn’t have been in Okla-homa journalism without him getting me an interview with Harry Wimberly at the Duncan Banner long ago. I loved Ben’s business card: just his name and phone number. No titles needed. Yep.
Other reflections. We live in times of change, and most of our papers have changed and are making changes. What mystifies me is the few newspapers in the state that still look roughly like they did 20 years ago. Your readers have changed. How they read has changed. Their attention spans have decreased. Why haven’t you?
That brings me to headlines, the best tool we have to grab readers’ attention. While I see many great ones, there are a few that are just flat out boring, that
would provoke a yawn, and never stop a reader on the page. Next month, I’ll run a few of them as a list, without identify-ing the papers. This month, a few stood out, demanding readers’ attention.
HEAD’EM UP AWARDS:First place, The Oklahoman, on Paul
Monies and Randy Ellis stories about the wind farm incentives and the state budget. Head by Paul Monies.
WIND CHILL? DEBATE ON WIND BLOWS
THROUGH CAPITOL
Second place, Tahlequah Daily Press, on Sean Rowley’s story and photo about the Cherokee program on gravesite preservation:
NO STONE UNTURNED
Third place, tie, Pauls Valley Demo-crat, on Barry Porterfield’s story
SHERIFF’S CASE A REAL HEAD-SHAKER
Stillwater News Press, on Tim Ahrens story about an increase to 79 DUIs at an annual calf fry:
A FEW TOO MANY
Honorable mentions: McIntosh Coun-ty Democrat, on Leilani Robert Ott’s story and photo, “Tornado no match for teamwork”; Sand Springs Leader, on Kirk McCraken’s story about tournament winners, “Hooked on Fishing”; Weath-erford Daily News, on Colin Murphy’s story about garage sale signs trashing neighborhoods, “Bad sign”; and Nor-man Transcript, on Joy Hampton’s story about a bumper sticker (Everybody Sucks – 2016) and disgruntled voters, “Sign of the times.”
You’ve Got Questions!• Can I photograph minors without consent?
• Can police deny access to recordsby issuing a press release?
• Should I alter my archiveswhen 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’SLEGAL SERVICES PLAN!
See www.OkPress.com/LSP or contact Lisa Sutliff at (405) 499-0026 or toll-free in Oklahoma 1-888-815-2672
Pawnee’s GideonGardner was named aNews Press Player ofthe Year.
News Press All-Areabasketball awards
announced B1
News PressStillwater
Vol. 108, No. 80
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QUAKE TRACKEROklahoma leads the
nation for most earth-quakes. Here’s a look atthe latest quakes.
SATURDAYTime Site Mag.
4:20 p.m. Edmond 2.64:19 p.m. Stillwater 2.7
THURSDAYTime Site Mag.
4:31 p.m. Luther 3.54:21 p.m. Luther 3.3
WEATHER
Hi: 81 Low: 49Sunny.
– More on A6
TODAY’S POLLWould you paymore sales tax tofund education?
Yes 54% No 46%
Next up
Will you vote in alocal election Tues-day?
Gunner Garrison,20, OSU studentfrom Elk City, issmiling becausethere are $1.50beers at El Bto Va-quero.
Nominate a smile: Sendphotos for our Smile ofthe Day. Include theirname and why they aresmiling. Send to [email protected].
BEAU SIMMONS/STILLWATER NEWS PRESSFrom left, Jody Harris, Dirk Mullins and Stefan Mullins of the Stillwater crew Three Hog Night celebratethe announcement of their Grand Championship during Saturday’s Blazathon at the Elks Lodge.
Top of the cueThree Hog Night wins Grand Championship at 28th BlazathonBeau [email protected]
Home cooking indeed.Dirk Mullins, of Still-water, might as wellhave been smokingmeats in his backyardSaturday. Along withson Stefan, the pit mas-ters of Three Hog Nightcaptured their firstGrand Championship,and a first ticket to theAmerican Royal inKansas City by winningthe Stillwater ElksLodge Blazathon.
Three Hog Night Hasalready made stops inLouisiana and Texas,and will soon headdown the road to Col-orado. But, it’s hard tobeat your hometown.
“It’s good and wedon’t have far to drivehome,” Dirk said. “Goodteams here, and they’reall good friends. You seethem all the time, justabout every weekend.”
Three Hog Night hitquite a few milestones,breaking the 700-pointbarrier while also plac-ing first in Pork andsecond in both PorkRibs and Brisket.
“Trial and error hasfinally paid off,” Stefansaid.
An overnight success
story, they are not. “Taking classes and a
lot of hard work,” Dirksaid. “A lot of goodfriends and a lot ofhelp. Everybody’shappy for everybody.”
Now they move on tothe American Royal,one of the country’sbiggest barbecue com-petitions.
“It’s huge,” Dirk said.“Once you get thegrands, you get yourname in the drawingfor the Jack Daniels,too.”
Organizer Chad Dun-can was excited withthe turnout of bothcompetitors and atten-dants.
“We had 44 cookteams come out,” Dun-can said. “I haven’tlooked at ticket salesyet, but as far as thenumber of people, itlooks really good for usthis year.
“Last year, had 37teams. We’re not onEaster Weekend thisyear and we won’t befor the next 10 years, sothat’s better for us.”
He said that beforethe auction, which alsoraised another fewthousand dollars forKickin Childhood
On the web
You can find full results of the Stillwater Elks LodgeBlazathon at http://www.kcbs.us/event/6055/stillwa-
ter-elks-lodge-blazathon:
JILL HUNT/STILLWATER NEWS PRESSRosemary Angel, left, Payne County Extension Office, gives planting tips to JoStephens of Stillwater at the Stillwater Home and Garden Show.
STILLWATER HOME AND GARDEN SHOW Voters calledto polls Tuesday
Stillwater, Perkins andMulhall-Orlando hold electionsBy Michelle [email protected]
Voters in Stillwaterand Perkins will decidemunicipal questionsand Mulhall-Orlandovoters will vote in aschool board run-offTuesday.
Stillwater is electinga new city councilor toreplace Joe Weaver,who is terming outafter six years on thecouncil.
Voters will choose be-
tween Will Joyce, alocal attorney who pre-viously applied to fill avacancy on the citycouncil and BaharehMazrouee, a largely un-known candidate whohas not actively cam-paigned.
The electorate is alsobeing asked to approvea proposition thatwould change the city’scharter and savemoney by eliminatingcity council primary
There are several up-coming court appear-ances in the trials ofPayne County individu-als charged with variousfelonies. The News Presswill provide coverage ofthe upcoming hearingsfor the week of April 4-8.
OSU Homecoming crashAt 1:30 p.m. Tuesday,
Adacia Avery Chambersand her defense counselwill appear for a prelimi-nary conference ahead ofThursday, the first day
A secondchance
Former inmatecredits divineintervention
Editor’s Note: This isPart 2 of a two-part se-ries. Part 1 ran in theLifestyle section of theMarch 27 edition
By Madison Reichert,Anne Raun and AliBrooksOSU Media Group
CLAREMORE – Afterher release, RhondaBear wanted to find away to help women com-ing out of prison. Accord-ing to Bear, women areoften released from jailat midnight on the day
See ➤ Top, page A2
See ➤ Court, page A5
See ➤ Chance, page A5
DEMOCRATPauls Valley THURSDAY
May 5, 2016
Thunder in ValleyThe 14th annual Thunder in the Valley
event is Saturday, May 7 at the PV rodeo arena. Mutton bustin’ is at 5 p.m. and bull riding at 7 p.m. More on advance tickets available at Reynolds Recreation Center.
$.75 Volume 112, Issue 054www.pvdemocrat.comServing Garvin County for 109 years
A National Day of Prayer gather-ing will be at noon Thursday, May 5 on the county court-house lawn.
RR crossingThe rai lroad
crossing at state Highway 19, or Grant Avenue, in PV will be closed for repairs from 6 p.m. Thursday, May 5 to 6 a.m. Friday, May 6.
Shriner onionsThe Garvin
County Shrine Club will be sell-ing Vidalia onions starting at 9 a.m. Friday, May 6 on the Grant Avenue lot across from the county courthouse and Love’s store in PV.
Sports awardsThe Panther
Athletic Award Ceremony will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 16 at the Bosa Community Center. RSVP by May 11.
Vintage apronsA free vintage
apron show will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 5 at the county fair-grounds.
Senior tacosThe Chickasaw
Senior Nutrition Site in PV, 109 N. Indian Meridian, will hold benefit Indian taco and bake sales on Friday, May 13.
Sign a Song
Garvin County’s sheriff is still shaking his head in dis-belief about one of his trans-port deputy’s poor judgment in allowing an inmate to pose as a law enforcement officer.
Larry Rhodes is even more surprised so much attention from the media and even social media has been focused on an incident taken care internally some time ago.
The big problem, he says, is much of the information get-
ting out there is simply wrong and blown completely out of proportion.
“I still have difficulty believing this happened,” Rhodes told the PV Democrat.
“It is so unbelievable that an employee took it upon him-self to do this.”
The sheriff is referring to the early afternoon of April 11 when a transport deputy, a full-time employee who has worked for the sheriff’s office the past four years here in Garvin County, allowed an inmate being transferred to
pose as a second deputy.Apparently the deputy’s
thinking was a second deputy was needed since it’s standard policy for two to be present to pick up inmates for a transfer from another facility.
It took place at the Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Oklahoma City.
“He was transporting a county inmate from Payne County to here,” Rhodes said. “He then stopped in Oklahoma City to pick up two immigra-tion detainees.”
Once at the center the
actual deputy directed the inmate to wear a black jacket and a deputy sheriff’s cap. The inmate’s restraints were removed and he was allowed to assist in handling the immi-gration detainees.
According to the sheriff, the first inmate never was given a weapon, but he was left unat-tended for a period of time.
“He did these things to be deceitful; to give the impres-sion that there was a second deputy there so he could com-plete the transfer without a problem,” Rhodes said.
“There’s an allegation thedeputy gave the inmate a gun.That’s crazy.”
The real head-scratcher forthe sheriff is the deputy couldhave easily followed the prop-er policies to get the inmatespicked up in OKC.
For example, at the time ofthe incident a second GarvinCounty deputy was on the wayto the metro center to assist.Instead, the deputy later firedhad that canceled as the sec-ond deputy turned around andreturned to Garvin County.
Construction has come a long way on the US 77 bridge replacement project, north of Paoli. Here, workers continue progress on the structure Tuesday. (PV Democrat photo by Ezra Mann)
Pauls Valley sophomore Macy Williams uses American Sign Language to sign out a song during this week’s student talent show at PVHS. Behind her is a video of herself signing the same song. (PV Democrat photo by Barry Porterfield)
No fair in every way — that’s what one longtime official with a Wynnewood area zoo says about this week’s vote to ban parking along the sides of a near-by county road.
Joe Maldonado was quick to respond to Monday’s vote by Garvin County’s commissioners to make it a no parking zone for about a quarter mile stretch of County Road 3250.
The road runs in front of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which at times has visitors park-ing on either side of the road.
Maldonado, who until recently owned the zoo but remains active in the care of animals, many belonging to him, calls it
Conditions may just be about as good as they can get as Pauls Valley is set to welcome Valley Rally back to town this Saturday.
Returning for the 21st year, the bike ride has received an impressive response as 116 riders have pre-registered for the event, according to PV Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Samford.
Set to get going at Wacker Park at the Reynolds Recreation Center, people are invited to come out and support a cause that will benefit the whole com-munity.
“We’re going to have a really great turnout. That’s the most pre-registered riders we’ve had in the his-tory of the event,” said Samford.
“We put the event on and they come and spend time in our community. I would hope that they would have such a good experience they would come back back and spend time in our community.”
There will be a route for every level of rider once they hit the trails at 9 a.m. and Samford noted a majority of them will be taking on the longest route, which is a 67 mile trek through locales like Falls
Though I began trying to write this month’s column weeks ago, it actually began 20 years ago this month.
That’s when editor Jennifer Gilliland asked me to “fill in,” after longtime Okla-homa journalism professor and icon Dr. Harry Heath Jr. was badly injured in a car wreck. Harry, one of my last men-tors, and a colleague and friend, died in August 1996, aged 77. He’d written his column, “Heath’s Critique,” for 30 years.
When that happened, The Publisher followed the old newspaper tradition of “turning the rules,” (old hot metal hairline column rules between columns of type – if turned upside down so the thicker bases were printed) so they were black – sadly what has been done this month for another icon, mentor and friend, Ben Blackstock. To my knowl-edge, these are the only times The Pub-lisher has done so.
After Harry’s death, Jennifer first named this column, “The Color of Words,” and then it gradually became “Clark’s Critique.”
That first column was a look at Harry and his influence on Oklahoma journal-ists, headlined “‘But this is Harry’ – a look at the man who inspires our writ-ing.”
It occurs to me that probably a major-ity of people working at our newspapers today are too young to remember Harry. Here are the first few sentences, retyped by Ashley Novachich at OPA since the bound copy was hard to decipher.
“‘But this is Harry.’“That’s what AP writer Owen Canfield
told Lawrence Gibbs, managing editor of the Stillwater News Press, when he called for information on the car wreck that critically injured Oklahoma journalist Harry Heath Jr.
“Canfield’s response came when Gibbs explained he hadn’t called because he knew AP didn’t cover car wrecks.
“AP carried the story on the April 29 wreck at the west edge of Stillwater that broke Heath’s neck. He’s still in inten-sive care at St. Francis Medical Center in Tulsa, paralyzed from the chest down. …”
Since then the column has changed, along with changes in journalism, Okla-homa newspapers, technology and myself.
What I did keep from Harry was his “Looking ’em over” section, because as the former owner of the Waurika News-Democrat, I always hoped to see our name there. In the weekly newspa-per business, before anyone invented the word “hyperlocal,” I knew “names are news.” Newspaper people rarely get their names in print, and there’s a lot of deserving journalism in this state that needs recognition. I eventually added the “Head ’em up awards,” because I believe they are critical to newspaper success.
How has the column changed? Here were the first four monthly topics: “Technology changes back shops into dumping grounds” (When visiting news-papers, I always ask to see “your shop”). “What are the best dressed papers wear-
ing?” (As opposed to being smeared with too much lipstick). In addition to Harry’s obit (By the way, when I was at OSU, Harry was a model for my news photography class, and a student took that great photo of him at left, which ran with his obit). “Grab them with drama” (Leads, with advice from Oklahoma journalists). “Ask a question and a verb will answer.”
In the early years of the column, there were few visuals. Every month I’d drive to OPA and pick up a month’s supply of papers in one of those USPS bins, drive home, sit down on the floor and start going through them. With the advent of the digital archives in about 2008, I slowly adjusted, but now it’s much bet-ter because we can easily feature many papers to let you see what’s going on. My college teaching experience knows that being exposed to excellence begets excellence – which is why I emphasize your good writing, headlines and news-paper layouts. It beat the old exchange paper system in being able to share ideas you can make “hyperlocal.”
I no longer have printer’s ink on my hands from riffling thought your pages, but I still have it in my blood.
The column is also supposed to be instructive, to help our journalists do a better job, and the first section usually is. Going back through the files, certain
topics keep cropping up. I thought once about trying to put together a book of those columns, but realized it would be like those books of former newspaper columnists’ writing… a good idea, but nobody buys nor reads them – they gather dust like the newspaper back shop.
Anyway, here are some of the more frequent subjects among the 240 col-umns: verbs, headlines, leads, layout, typography, editing, newspaper trends, and photos.
Special ones have included content review of news like 9-11, tornadoes, storms, drought, flooding. Covering vic-tims and disasters. Interviewing. Cover-ing veterans. Grammar guides, punctua-tion guides, using quotes, and one of the most popular, diagramming sentences. Will Rogers, Hemingway, and Homer Ray have been featured.
There have been columns about cut-line, brief, obit, column and feature writ-ing.
Past and future have figured. Nos-talgia, like the darkroom, and comics, and Oklahoma journalism history. The future, like blogging, the internet, Twit-ter, cell phones, digital photography.
So far there have been very few guest columns, and I’ve not gone back over the years to pick one to reprint when
Refl ections on 20 years as columnistClark’s Critique
Newspapers featured this month are The Oklahoman, Tahlequah Daily Press, Sand Springs Leader, McIntosh County Democrat, Stillwater News Press and Pauls Valley Democrat.
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It’s bound to be a hotand humid summer, butluckily, locals will be ableto cool off at the city’s newaquatics complex.
This will be the secondfull year for Tahlequatics tobe operational, and comesummertime, the pool willbe packed with people try-ing to beat the heat.
The pool is set to openTuesday, May 31, weatherpermitting, and will closedown Aug. 13. Hours willbe Monday through Satur-day, 1 to 6 p.m. Children 2and under and those withmilitary IDs get free admis-sion, and those 3 and upwill be $5. Season passeswill be available for $85,allowing 60 entries, whichsaves the holder $250 onadmission over the sum-mer.
Along with regularswim times, a few specialofferings are on tap atTahlequatics this year.Monday nights from 6 to 9,
there will be an adult swimfor those 18 and older. Thepool is also offering lapswimming from 9 to 11a.m., Monday through Fri-day, for those who want toexercise. Lockers are avail-able for $3 per day.
Dee Dee Hensley,event coordinator for thecity of Tahlequah, said lapswimmers will be requiredto buy lap swimmer passesfor $60 for the whole sum-mer. Hensley said thosepasses will be available topurchase on opening day.Hensley said parents willnot be allowed to droptheir kids off and leavethem. Unless swimmerscan drive themselves toand from the pool – inother words, 16 or older –parents or guardians mustaccompany them.
“We also have a 48-inch height requirementon our slides,” Hensleysaid. “They must hit 48inches, and only one
swimmer can go down at atime and no life jackets,because they mess up theslides.”
Swim lessons are beingoffered at the pool thisyear, with a slight changeto class times. The lessonsare $40 for five sessions,and Hensley said parentswill need to stay at thepool or at the complexduring lessons. Lessondates are as: June 6-10,June 13-17, July 11-15 andJuly 18-22. The times are11 to 11:45 a.m. and noonto 12:45 p.m.
Hensley said the classsizes will be topped off at10 to ensure students getmore individual attention.Children must be at least 5years old to enroll.
“Last year, I did the les-sons at like 9 a.m., but thewater was still cold,” Hens-ley said. “When I swim forfitness, I need that cold
water, but the little onesneed it to be a littlewarmer. Last year, we’dhave to pull them out,wrap them up and warmthem up, so that’s why Ipushed them back.”
Tahlequatics also hastwo pavilions on site –each with three tables –available for rent. Thoseinterested in renting outthe pool may do so onSundays for $250 for threehours, with an additional$500 deposit that isrefundable as long as thereare no damages to the poolor pool equipment. Wholepavilions are available forrent for $60 a day, or peo-ple can rent a single tableunder one of the pavilionsfor $20 an hour, in addi-tion to the cost of theswimmers. Hensley saidother than birthday cake,outside food and drink willnot be allowed.
CHEAP READINGLast Chance Bookstore helps library
LOCAL PAGE 3
Sports 8-9 tahlequahTDP.comInside Today Local 3 Education 4 Classifieds 10-12
Friday, May 6, 2016 • 75¢1 Section 12 pages • Vol. L No. 96 “Your award-winning premier information source since 1864.”
PLAYING FOR STATEBaseball regionals under way SPORTS PAGE 8
Comics/Puzzles 7
Dee Dee Henlsey, event coordinator for the city of Tahle-quah, took a break from the office Thursday afternoon toclean the pool up a bit at Tahlequatics.
Photo by Hunter Lane/Daily Press
City pool complex to open May 31, lessons available
See COMPLEX, page 2
MUSKOGEE – Jurors deliber-ated a few hours in federal courtThursday before finding aCherokee County man guilty ofpossessing an explosive device.
Wade Lewis Ritchie wasindicted on charges of being afelon in possession of a destruc-tive device, which is considered
a firearm under federal law, andpossession of an unregisteredfirearm.
Ritchie, 26, of Tahle-quah, was formallycharged in November2015. According toCherokee County Sher-iff’s Investigator LarryLane, Ritchie was foundwith a taped-up ball offireworks. Screws had been
attached to the explosivedevice.
Lane said he andother authoritiesresponded to GardenWalk Apartments on July10 for an unrelatedinvestigation. After awoman was arrested, shetold Lane that Ritchiewas sleeping on the
couch in her residence, and she
wanted him to leave before shewas taken to jail.
Lane found Ritchie and wokehim. When the investigatorspotted a large bulge in Ritchie’sleft front pocket, he asked aboutit, and Ritchie claimed it was“just fireworks.”
Ritchie then handed Lane abottle that contained the blackball, approximately the size of agolf ball.
Lane seized the device andlater learned it contained sever-al fireworks, which werewrapped in tape and screws.Authorities have said the devicewas essentially similar to ahomemade grenade, and con-tained 20 “Thunder-pops” andthe shrapnel.
According to a report by
Local man found guilty of having ‘bomb’By JOSH NEWTON
A requested changeto a new savingsaccount ordinancewould require the cityof Tahlequah to setaside nearly $4 million,but elected officials arebutting heads over thepossible effects andoverall intent of theproposed amendment.
The Tahlequah CityCouncil signed off onthe original law inApril. It won’t takeeffect until later thismonth, but on Monday,Ward 4 CouncilorJoshua Bliss asked toincrease the city’srequired reserves.
April’s ordinance,when taking intoaccount the 2015-’16budget, essentiallyforces the city to ear-
Tahlequah Public Cemeterywas the site of a gathering ofabout 30 people on Thursday, butnot for graveside services.
Cherokee Nation CulturalTourism was again putting on itsgravestone preservation work-shop with the help of PreservationOklahoma and the TahlequahHistorical Preservation Board.
“I’m a faith healer in our Long-house and I have a lot to do withthe funerals,” said William Tar-rant, culture and historic preser-vation officer for the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. “I kind of overseeour grounds and our cemeteries. Jonathan Appell, historical gravestone conservator, led the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism gravestone
preservation workshop on Thursday. He removed a weakened brass pin from the base of this marker, whichallowed the monument to wobble. Photo by Sean Rowley/Daily Press
NO STONE UNTURNEDGravestonepreservationworkshopopens doorto history
Business 1CClassified 1EDeaths 24AOpinion 18APuzzles ComicsSports 1B
The ongoing state budget crisis and the rapid growth of wind energy in Oklahoma in the past decade has reached an inflection point at the state Capitol, with energy industry heavyweights debating the future of incentives for renewable energy.
Both sides have dug in. Competing billboards dotting highways in Okla-homa City tout the benefits of wind energy or blast the cost of incen-tives to the state budget. Lobbyists
are bending the ear of anyone who will listen at the Capitol. Left in the middle are lawmakers and Gov. Mary Fallin, who have to close a budget hole of $1.3 billion by the end of May.
But behind the glowing wind industry studies and doom-and-gloom predictions by wind incentive opponents are real questions about how existing state incentives for wind energy are working and the long-term effects on local schools and the state budget.
BY PAUL MONIES AND RANDY ELLISStaff Writers
Wind turbines stand at the Enel Green Power wind farm in Hennepin in southern Oklahoma. [PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
WIND CHILL?WIND CHILL?
Debate on wind blows through Capitol
SEE WIND, PAGE 12A
Wind incentives impacting state budget
Sometimes legislation has unin-tended consequences.
When the Oklahoma Legislature decided to provide tax incentives to the wind industry, the goal was to entice investors to build wind farms to create jobs and produce clean energy for Oklahomans.
It worked.In fact, many policymakers now
contend it worked too well.
About 2,800 wind turbines now dot the western Oklahoma landscape. Meanwhile, the state struggles to scrape together money to pay tens of millions of dollars in promised incen-tives in the midst of a budget crunch that is prompting teacher cutbacks and severe cuts to health and social welfare programs.
Lawmakers who negotiated the tax incentives failed to place a cap on them or to make sure they were structured so that any incentive
YUKON — Former City Man-ager Grayson Bottom appeared to engage in bid splitting to
purchase $600,000 in trash carts, thus circumventing city and state competitive bidding laws, records obtained by The Oklahoman show.
Emails and memos from various Yukon city depart-ment heads also appear to show Bottom encouraged city staff
to ignore competitive bidding policies during his five-year tenure as city manager.
In 2012, the city received 24 individual invoices from a Canadian company, IPL Inc., none exceeding the $25,000 threshold that would require city council approval, accord-
ing to documents received in an Open Records Act request.
The 24 invoices were paid with 24 different checks within a one-month span.
The Oklahoman was unable to find any record of the city
Bidding laws ignored in Yukon?SPLITTING CONTRACTS INTO MULTIPLE INVOICES TO AVOID GETTING COUNCIL APPROVAL IS NOT LEGAL
IN BUSINESS
Boeing’s growth takes off in stateAs the company wraps up construction of a new $80 million, 290-square-foot build-ing in Oklahoma City, Boeing continues to draw workers from other places — such as Seattle, Wichita and Long Beach, Calif. — to the state. Story, PAGE 1C
coupons insideYear to date, there has been $17,502 worth of
valuable coupons in your Sunday paper.
MAKING GREAT STRIDES
Take a look at “Excellence & Innovation in Education,”
the final section our 2016 Outlook series.
LOOK INSIDE TODAY’S PAPER FOR THIS WEEK’S SECTION
OUTLOOK 2016: GOING FOR THE GOLDThunderto returnto OKC with 3-1
series leadPAGE 1B
THE OKLAHOMAN SUNDAY , APRIL 24 , 2016 REACHING MORE THAN 475,000 PEOPLE EACH DAY NEWSOK.COM OKLAHOMAN.COM$2
Dr. Harry Heath Jr.
The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016 7
HOW TO PREPAREA FIRM BUNDLE
The USPS Firm Bundle discount can save your newspaper money – but only if it’s done correctly. Make sure whoever is preparing your mail understands how to make a firm bundle. Bundling incorrectly causes delay in delivery of your newspaper – and could result in fines.
A firm bundle is made up of individually addressed mail pieces for the same address. The recipient on each addressed piece within the firm bundle can be different but the delivery address must be identical. Firm bundles may not be bundled with any other bundle.
The bundle must be secured with at least two bands running in both directions without covering the address block.
By utilizing the Firm Bundle, the mailer only pays one piece price. For example, if you’re sending two copies of your newspaper to the Oklahoma Press Association, you would only pay one piece price rather than two.
If you claim the discount, you must make up the mail correctly. FIRM BUNDLES HAVE THE WORDS “FIRM XXXXX” (5-digit ZIP code) on the optional Endorsement Line at the top of the label.
Firm bundles must always be separate bundles, and not a bundle within a bundle.
*******FIRM ECRLOT 0001A**B050ROBBY TRAMMELL, NEWS DIRECTORTHE OKLAHOMANPO BOX 25125OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73125-0125
EXAMPLE
The Oklahoma Publisher mails
11 copies to different people at
The Oklahoman each month.
(Only three labels are shown
here as an example.) Since
every label is sent to the same
address with the same punctua-
tion, a FIRM bundle is made and
postage is paid for only one copy
of The Publisher.
BUNDLINGWhen assembling your mailing, take all copies going to the same address and make a FIRM bundle by strapping it together with bands running in both directions. Do not cover the label.
KEEP FIRM BUNDLES SEPARATE
Firm bundles must always be separate bundles. Do not strap your firm bundle together with any other bundle.
BY ED HENNINGERFOR YEARS NOW, I’ve heard quite a
few arguments against design consisten-cy, with some dragging out a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds…”
Wrong. Emerson never said that. What he
said was “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…”
When it comes to newspaper design, consistency is more than just important. It’s critical.
Consistent design tells your readers and advertisers that yours is a newspa-per that is planned and put together with purpose.
Some may argue that they need to be creative with the design, that creativity is more important to them than consis-tency. That may be so, but it is not the mission of a newspaper to satisfy the creative urges of any of its staff.
Rather, it is part of the mission of a newspaper to deliver the news and doings of its community in a manner that is clear, concise and comfortable to read.
That’s where consistency comes in. Here’s how:
COMFORT. Readers find it easier to get through a newspaper that wears the same look from page to page, section to section.
CARE. Consistency reinforces the feeling that yours is a newspaper that
cares about the details. When it comes to design, you sweat the small stuff.
CREDIBILITY. If you’re careful with your design, it stands to reason that you’re also careful with your reporting and your editing, your ads and all the other things you do.
CLASS. Consistency brings a higher level of sophistication to your newspa-per, giving your readers and advertisers a sense that you offer them a high-qual-ity product. “Sophistication” does not mean “snooty.” It means a level of skill and care that’s above the norm. Nothing wrong with that!
EFFICIENCY. Consistent design ele-ments are part of a design system. Those who assemble pages at your newspaper don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to creating a new standing head or column sig. They just follow the style that’s already in use. There’s no leap of faith involved.
If you want your design to appeal to more readers – and to more advertisers – make it cleaner and more comfortable. One of the fastest, easiest ways to do that? Make it more consistent.
ED HENNINGER, an independent newspaper con-sultant and director of Henninger Consulting, offers comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, design training and design evaluations. Contact Henninger at www.henninger-consulting.com, email [email protected] or phone (803) 327-3322.
Design elements share the same look – and use the same fonts as the headline typeface
Consistency is key
Calvin Steves is a legendary newspa-per seller in Norman, Oklahoma.
When he was 18, Steves was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle and has worn a bike helmet every day since then.
He walks nearly 10 miles a day selling more than 120 copies of The Norman Transcript a day. On OU football game days, he sells close to 300 copies.
In honor of his service to Norman and the University of Oklahoma, the city designed a bike rack after Calvin. Down-town Norman has acquired many new and unique bike racks over the years including a scissor-tailed flycatcher, a lightening bolt coming from a cloud and a dream catcher.
On Campus Corner, you can now find the bike rack that honors Calvin.
Well known newspaper seller honored
6 The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016
It’s time … for OG&E’s new SmartHourss ™ Price Plans.™
Flames are visible leaping skyward through fence panels at Miller Cattle Company as the result of a wildfire that burned nearly 300 acres three miles northwest of Mooreland.
Photo by TRAVIS BARNARD, The Mooreland Leader, March 3, 2016
Stillwater High’s Diego Marek (8) kicks the ball past a charging Coweta goalkeeper for a goal during an opening round game in the Stillwater Cup.
Photo by JASON ELMQUIST, Stillwater News Press, March 26, 2016
The March 2016 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
MARCH 2016 DAILY WINNER:
JASON ELMQUIST
Stillwater News Press
MARCH 2016WEEKLY WINNER:
TRAVIS BARNARD
The Mooreland Leader
The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016 5
DEATHS
JOANN SUE LARKINS THOMPSON, for-mer reporter for The Lawton Constitu-tion, died April 13, 2016. She was 68.
Thompson, a Lawton native, was born July 27, 1947. She graduated Lawton High School in 1965 before attending Cameron University. While in college,
she worked as a reporter for The Lawton Morning Press. She began her career in journalism at The Lawton Constitution and was one of the first female reporters to have a news beat.
She continued working in journalism
before eventually taking on administra-tive professional roles.
Thompson is survived by her daugh-ter, Michelle Thompson Boyer of Den-ver; sister Mary Stevens; three broth-ers, John, Jerry and James; and several sister-in-laws, nieces and nephews.
In Memory of Our Friends &
ColleaguesState Rep. David Dank
April 10, 2015
Ralph MarlerApril 13, 2015
Charles Edward CagleApril 24, 2015
Claire Britton BransonMay, 4, 2015
PAUL ENGLISH, a longtime award-win-ning Oklahoma journalist, died April 20, 2016. He was 79.
English was born Feb. 17, 1937, in Ada. He was a graduate of Ada High School and Oklahoma City University. During his 50-year journalism career, he worked at several different newspapers. He began at The Duncan Banner before
covering the Office of the Governor for United Press International, The Daily Oklahoman and The Tulsa World.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1995 and served as a Freedom of Information Oklahoma board member, and president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. English was
also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.
He is survived by his wife Nancy; daughter Melody English; son Richard English; stepdaughter Lisa Hall; stepson Michael Mount; and several grandchil-dren.
DARREN L. CURRIN, former reporter at The Journal Record, died May 3, 2016. He was 42.
Currin was born July 20, 1973, in Greenville, Texas. He graduated from
Southern Nazarene University in 1995 with a degree in journalism.
Along with his journalism career, Currin also worked in commercial real estate and ministry.
Currin is survived by his wife Amy
and daughter Kaitlyn of Yukon; parents Doyle and Glenda Currin of Greenville, Texas; in-laws Larry and Gayla Ryan of Yukon; and several siblings, nieces and nephews.
THANK YOU
to the following individuals and organizations for their recent
donations to the Oklahoma Newspaper
Foundation:
In memory of Ben Blackstock:
H.E. Rainbolt TrustDon & Sally Ferrell
Kansas Newspaper FoundationMorley Piper
AAFP Chapter Execs FundKamas Consulting
Joe & Michele CarterMary & James ErwinPinellas Pediatrics
Dean Rinehart
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 Education efforts.
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
Ben Blackstock, manager of the Oklahoma Press Association for more than four decades, died April 25, 2016. He was 90.
Benny Lee Blackstock was born in Drumright, Okla., on Sept. 4, 1925, to Pearl Parks and Boyd Lee Blackstock.
During World War II, Blackstock served in the U.S. Air Force from 1943-1946 as a B-29 radio operator flying off Tinian, and in the USAF Reserve from 1946-1954. He received the American Campaign Medal, Asi-atic Pacific Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and World War II Vic-tory Medal for his service in the war.
In 1954, Blackstock married Bon-nie Lou Michael Rookstool. They lived in Edmond and Oklahoma City for more than 55 years.
Ben graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He taught jour-
nalism and was director of public rela-tions at Central State College in 1951-52, prior to being named Executive Vice President and Secretary-Manag-er of Oklahoma Press Association.
During his 44 years at OPA, he was the recipient of numerous profes-sional honors, including OPA’s Milt Phillips Award, the Boy Scout Silver Beaver Award, OKC Ad Club Silver Medal, the FOI Oklahoma Marian Opala First Amendment Award and the National Newspaper Association Amos Award.
FOI Oklahoma annually honors Blackstock through the presentation of the Ben Blackstock Award for a person or organization that has shown a commitment to freedom of informa-tion.
In 1973, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. He also was named a distinguished graduate of the University of Okla-homa journalism school.
Blackstock served as president of the Newspaper Association Manag-ers, American Newspaper Representa-tives, Oklahoma Society of Associa-tion Executives and Sigma Delta Chi.
He also was president of the Edmond Hospital Board, a co-founder of AMCARE and a 16-gallon A-nega-tive blood donor.
Blackstock believed in “the therapy of controversy” and did his best to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
He was a dog lover, a Friend of Bill and an unterrified Democrat.
He was preceded in death by his wife Bonnie; stepson Michael Wayne Rookstool; son Daniel Dana Black-stock; his parents and two brothers, Loy Fowler and Bob Blackstock.
Ben is survived by two children: Sam Blackstock and Melissa Black-stock Edwards; and four grandchil-dren: Brian Blackstock, Jessica Black-stock, Beau Blackstock and Tiffany Edwards.
Donations may be made to the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105, or Free to Live animal rescue.
To read more about Ben Black-stock’s life and years at the OPA, download his memoir, “Nearly Famous,” or the tab that commemo-rated his service to the OPA titled “The Ben Years” at www.OkPress.com/Ben-Blackstock-memoirs.
Former OPA manager Ben Blackstock dies
Tradition of turning the column rules
The tradition of turning the column rules is an old and dignified custom dating back to the early 1800s.
We turn the rules in The Publisher this month as a tribute to Ben Blackstock – our colleague, mentor, friend, and newspaper advocate.
Turning the column rules was a newspaper’s way of mourning the loss of a fellow printer or a leader in the community.
4 The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016
ALTUS TIMES NAMES STEINKOPFF AS EDITOR
Eric Steinkopf f has been promoted to managing editor of The Altus Times. Steinkopff has been with Civitas Media, The Altus Times’ par-ent corporation, in North Carolina for more than two years in its pagination hub.
He entered the civilian workforce in 2000 after 23 years as a Marine Corps intelligence specialist and Russian lin-guist. He began his second career as a journalist and photographer cover-ing the military beat for a daily news-paper in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Steinkopff’s experience also includes working as a copy editor, page design-er, managing editor and marketing and sales.
“I hope to learn more about the area and write stories to share with others what I have found,” he said. “I’ve never lived in Oklahoma before, but I got here as fast as I could.”
SALOMON NAMED EDITOR AT YUKON REVIEW
Kyle Salomon has joined the Yukon Review staff as managing editor.
Before coming to Yukon, Salomon was the public relations director for
Rayo OKC. He also served four years at the Mustang News as both sports editor and general manager.
“The experience I gained from being at the Mustang News was invaluable and I look forward to bringing those experi-ences to The Yukon Review,” Salomon said.
Salomon graduated from the Uni-versity of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is originally from Jenks.
DESTINEE WEEKS NEW EDITORAT DEWEY COUNTY RECORD
The Dewey County Record recently welcomed new editor Destinee Weeks to its staff.
Weeks graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and Mass Communi-cations from Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
“I am honored to be given the oppor-tunity,” Weeks said. “I am eager to serve the community with newsworthy infor-mation with each issue.”
Weeks lives in Seiling with her hus-band and eight-month-old son.
NEW DIGITAL POSITION FILLEDAT WEATHERFORD DAILY NEWS
The Weatherford Daily News has added a new face to its staff. Helen Car-son will oversee the newspaper’s Face-
book page and website. She will upload photos and video of events in real-time as well as conduct interviews.
Carson’s goal for this new position is “to give Weatherford Daily News read-ers the information they want, when they want it.”
Carson lives in Clinton with her hus-band and three daughters. She also spe-cializes in digital marketing.
DELAWARE COUNTY JOURNAL NAMES COLLUMS AS EDITOR
Zach Collums is the new editor of the Dela-ware County Journal.
Cheryl Franklin, publisher of the week-ly newspaper, said Collums interned for them in the past and was a “great writer and diligent worker.”
“We are also looking forward to Zach bringing a lot of digital reporting to the mix of quality print stories,” Franklin said.
Collums served as an intern at the Miami News-Record and attended Okla-homa State University where he served on the campus newspaper, The O’Colly.
“I am honored to take up the role of editor for the Delaware County Journal, and I’ll do my best to give Jay and Dela-ware County the best news possible,” Collums said.
CNHI NOW HAS FULL-TIME WRITER TO COVER OKC THUNDER
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. recently hired a journalist to cover the Oklahoma City Thunder full-time.
Fred Katz, a native of New York City, graduated from the University of Mis-souri with a degree in journalism.
He is a multimedia journalist with experience in television, radio and online journalism.
Katz’ content, which will go beyond game scores and explore the team in-depth, will be available online through-out the year.
On Katz’ first day in Oklahoma, he was welcomed with a tornado warning.
“I spent an unexpected amount of time huddling with others at the base of my Oklahoma City hotel stairwell,” he said. “It was a heck of a welcome.”
TREVOR BROWN JOINS OKLAHOMA WATCH STAFF
Oklahoma Watch has hired Trevor Brown as its State Capitol/State Issues reporter. From 2011 to 2016, Brown worked at the Wyoming Tribune’s Eagle as a statehouse reporter.
He also previously covered state issues for CNHI’s Oklahoma newspa-pers.
Brown received his bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Indiana University.
The University of Cen-tral Oklahoma’s Depart-ment of Mass Commu-nication has named Joe Hight as the E.K. Gaylord Endowed Chair for Jour-nalism Ethics.
Hight has more than 35 years of news-paper experience as an editor, reporter and managing editor.
During his career he has worked at the Guthrie News Leader, Lawton Con-
stitution, the Shawnee News-Star and The Oklahoman.
Currently, Hight is the president and co-owner of Edmond’s Best of Books and writes a weekly column for The Journal Record.
Hight earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Central State Uni-versity, which is now the University of Central Oklahoma.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2013.
Joe Hight named UCO chair
Julie DelCour, who has worked at the Tulsa World for 39 years, received the Tulsa County Bar Association and Foun-dation Liberty Bell Award at a Law Day event on April 29.
The award recognizes non-lawyers for outstanding service to the legal pro-fession and community.
During DelCour’s career at the Tulsa World, she reported on the Tulsa Coun-
ty and U.S. district courts, as well as the Oklahoma City bombing investiga-tion and trials of defendants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in Denver.
She has served as an editorial writer for the past 18 years, writing about legal issues and trends including prison reform, victims’ rights, the death penalty and legislation affecting the judiciary and legal system.
Tulsa World reporter honored with Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award
Roundup of staff changes at state newspapers
The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016 3
2 0 1 6 O P A Q U A R T E R C E N T U R Y C L U B I N D U C T E E S
Enid News & EagleBrian Blansett, Tri-County HeraldTed Streuli, The Journal Record
Ray Dyer, El Reno TribuneMike Strain, Tulsa WorldJohn Denny Montgomery,
The Purcell RegisterMark Millsap,
The Norman Transcript
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The OPA Nominating Committee met in Oklahoma City on April 21 to recommend the slate of OPA officers and directors for 2016-17.
The seven-member committee is composed of the six most recent OPA past presidents who are still active as newspaper executives and the current OPA president.
Attending were Nominating Com-mittee Chairman Rusty Ferguson, The Cleveland American; Rod Serfoss, Clin-ton Daily News; Jeff Mayo, Sequoyah County Times, and Robby Trammell, The Oklahoman.
Those not attending but contrib-uting input were Jeff Shultz, Garvin County News Star; Jeff Funk, Enid
News & Eagle, and Gloria Trotter, The Countywide & Sun.
The committee reviewed the OPA By-Laws, Nominating Committee Structure, board policies regarding board service and the board positions to be filled by the committee.
Upon completion of the discussion, the committee recommended the fol-lowing slate of officers and directors for the year beginning July 1, 2016.
Current OPA Vice President Dayva Spitzer, co-publisher/editor at Sayre Record & Beckham County Demo-crat, was recommended to serve as president. Brian Blansett, publisher of the Tri-County Herald in Meeker, was recommended to serve as vice president, and Serfoss, publisher of
The Clinton Daily News, was recom-mended for a second one-year term as treasurer. Current OPA President Trammell was recommended to serve as past president.
The committee also recommended the renewal of a three-year director term for Mike Strain, managing editor at the Tulsa World. Recommended as a new director to serve a three-year term was Barbara Vice, publisher of the Drumright Gusher.
A general election for new officers and directors will be held at the annual convention during the OPA business meeting at 3:00 p.m. on June 10 at the Sheraton in downtown Oklahoma City. Nominations for officers and directors may also be made from the floor.
OPA Nominating Committee makes recommendations
ing on the Issues,” presented by Phillip Reid, CEO of Reid Newspapers. Reid will share a step-by-step process to take back politics. “Growing Active Accounts with Non-Traditional Ads” is the concurrent advertising session, led by Amie Stein. Stein will talk about creative ways to open more doors right inside your print product.
The evening will conclude with the Awards Reception beginning at 6:00, followed by the Awards Banquet at 7:00.
The OPA Milt Phillips Award will be presented to Dr. Terry M. Clark, direc-
tor of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and professor of journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma. Andy Rieger will receive the ONF Beachy Musselman Award. Rieger retired as managing editor at The Norman Tran-script in 2015. He is now a part-time teacher at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
The OPA Quarter Century Club will induct four new members at the award banquet. This year’s honorees are Gina Cato, Mike Gifford, Dawnyal Hill and Dagmar Perry.
Newspapersbring
communitiestogether.
SHIRT BACKOnly $10
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Don’t miss out on the 2016 shirt featuring a community around a circle. The inside of the circle reads “Newspapers bring communities together.” Order your shirt at www.OkPress.com/convention-tshirts.
Dawnyal HillGina Cato
The evening concludes with the announcement of winners of the OPA Better Newspaper Contest.
For more information or to register, visit www.OkPress.com/convention.
OPA Convention Continued from Page 1
2 The Oklahoma Publisher // May 2016
I jumped out of my car and snapped a picture of a Seminole County dump truck unloading gravel onto a driveway at a house in Konawa.
Two Excise Board members had earlier refused to sign off on bud-get expenditures claiming in a public meeting that county equipment, work-ers and materials were illegally being used by elected commissioners on pri-vate property at taxpayer expense.
As a young reporter for The Semi-nole Producer, I drove to Konawa to find out if the allegations were true. To my surprise, the first thing I spotted was the dump truck.
I ran up and asked the driver why he was dumping gravel at a private residence.
“You’ll have to ask the commission-
er,” he replied, advising that I should follow him to the county barn.
That’s when things turned ugly.It was near quitting time, and some
15 workers were in the barn. As I walked with the driver through the large bay doors, he suddenly shouted, “Here’s the son of a b…. from the newspaper that’s been writing all those bad things about the commissioner!”
Immediately I was surrounded by angry employees. They were glaring at me, glancing at one another, not sure what to do next, almost seeing who was going to throw the first punch.
I raised my camera to my chest and pointed it at them, and quickly asked to see the commissioner. “He’s not here,” someone growled.
“Then I want to leave a message for him to call me at the newspaper
as soon as he can – it’s important.” I started backing towards my car. The men, now silent, kept pace.
I was never so glad to lock a car door in my life. Then I realized I had not snapped a picture, but the story was clear. The Producer’s banner headline read: “Threats, Insults Greet Reporter at County Barn”.
Reporting on the county commis-sioner scandals of the late 1970s and 1980s created some wild times.
The Producer’s aggressive “watch-dog” reporting – backed and support-ed by publishers Milt Phillips and son, Ted, – cost the paper financially, but rewarded it with credibility beyond measure, and a growing circulation countywide among concerned citizens.
Consider:– Accused commissioners cut The
Producer off from publishing the coun-ty’s legal notices and critical dollars to a small-town newspaper. We reported the boycott on Page 1 and The Pro-ducer responded by publishing the county’s legal notices for free as a public service. (The notices were later restored by newly elected commission-ers.)
– Papers with stories that chal-lenged the commissioners’ practices were stolen out of The Producer’s racks in Konawa. The thefts ended when The Producer twice responded with a “circulation promotion” that had carriers throw a sample paper – with the commissioners stories reprinted – at every house in Konawa.
– On two different occasions, the newsroom came under brick attacks
at night that shattered the front plate glass windows of The Producer’s offic-es on Main Street in Seminole. The vandalism was reported in The Pro-ducer as well as The Daily Oklahoman.
– Commissioners brought hand-picked supporters – two chartered buses full – to the county courthouse in Wewoka where the officials vowed to continue their questionable prac-tices. They denounced The Producer and Excise Board members to loud applause, cheering and standing ova-tions. I tape-recorded the proceedings and the transcripts were published verbatim in The Producer. (Later, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investiga-tion would play the tapes for a grand jury as evidence of commissioner wrongdoing.)
The Seminole County scandal fore-shadowed Oklahoma’s massive state-wide commissioner scandal of the 1980s.
It was the largest public corruption scandal in U.S. history in terms of the number of cases. Federal prosecu-tors obtained public corruption convic-tions and guilty pleas from 240 county commissioners, ex-commissioners and suppliers.
Prices dropped more than 40 per-cent in the massive bid-rigging scan-dal’s wake, saving taxpayers about $200 million a year, prosecutors said.
The Oklahoma Press Association’s annual top journalism award is named after the late courageous, civic-minded Seminole newspaper publisher, H. Milt Phillips.
THURS., JUNE 9, 2016INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING TOOLS
Cost: $35, 1:00 PMThis webinar will introduce you to some of these tools, demonstrate why they are effective and explain how to use some of them. Most important, it will explain the process behind learning a new tool. To register, visit www.onlinemediacampus.com.
FRI. & SAT., JUNE 10-11, 2016OPA ANNUAL CONVENTION
DOWNTOWN OKLAHOMA CITY SHERATON HOTELThis year’s convention will be held on Friday and Saturday. Education/networking sessions and social events are scheduled 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 or to register, visit www.okpress.com/convention.
FRI., JULY 15, 2016ACES EDITING BOOT CAMP
9:00 AM TO 5:00 PM, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMACost: $100 for members, $175 non-members
The Editing Boot Camp workshop covers a broad range of topics including why editing is important, grammar and punctuation basics, elements of proofreading, and much more! To register, visit www.copydesk.org/about/join-now.
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].
OPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Courageous watchdog reporting broke commissioner scandal story
Three journalists with Oklahoma roots were part of teams that won 2016 Pulitzer Prize honors.
Hailey Branson-Potts and her hus-band, Mark Potts, were part of the Los Angeles Times team that won the Break-ing News Coverage award for coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
The LA Times was cited “for excep-tional reporting, including both local and global perspectives” in its coverage of both the shooting and subsequent ter-ror investigation.
Branson-Potts, a metro reporter for the LA Times, is a former reporter, photographer, layout designer and copy editor at the Perry Daily Journal.
Mark Potts, a graduate of Enid High School, is an LA Times video editor and feature-film director of the super hero movie “Spaghettiman,” which just
screened at the 2016 Dallas Interna-tional Film Festival.
The couple were featured on the front page of the Perry Daily Journal on April 20.
Former Tulsa World reporter and editor David Fallis was part of the team at the Washington Post that won the National Reporting Award for its police shootings project.
Fallis is deputy investigations editor at the Post.
The Post staff was cited “for its reve-latory initiative in creating and using a national database to illustrate how often and why the police shot to kill and who the victims are the most likely to be.”
All three of the journalists with Okla-homa ties are graduates of the Univer-sity of Oklahoma and worked for the stu-dent publication, The Oklahoma Daily.
Journalists with Oklahoma roots receive Pulitzer Prizes
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