Elvia Aguilar received one of only six Diversity Outreach Leadership Grants for the 2006-07 year from the Society of Professional Journalists. The grants aim to strengthen diversity within the SPJ leadership and to build its ongoing efforts in this area internally. Aguilar is a business reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, where she participates in the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Parity Project to get minorities into newsrooms. Before that, she was a reporter for Conexión of the San Antonio Express-News.

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Clifton E. “Cliff” Clements is the new editor and publisher of The Baytown Sun, succeeding Wanda Garner Cash who starts this fall in the S. Griffin Singer Professorship at the University of Texas School of Journalism in Austin.

Clements most recently served seven years as editor and publisher of The Sand Mountain Reporter in Albertville, Ala., which like The Sun is owned by Southern Newspapers Inc.

Clements has worked at several Texas newspapers including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Houston Chronicle, The Houston Post and The Galveston County Daily News.

He also worked for the Texas Daily Newspaper Association and Harte-Hanks Inc.

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A.J. Mistretta has joined the Austin Business Journal as the commercial real estate, economic development, retail and energy beat reporter. Most recently, he was associate editor of lifestyle magazine Modern Luxury Dallas.

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Kim Nussbaum has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing for the Abilene Reporter-News. Nussbaum was advertising director and has been with the newspaper about two years. She has 23 years experience in advertising, including working for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls and Gannett Co. newspapers.

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A. Chad Piper joined the Paducah Post as sports editor and columnist/photographer. He is married to Jody, daughter of publisher Jimmye Taylor and her husband Frank. The Pipers have 15-month old twins, a daughter and a son. Piper studied journalism at West Texas State University. He was a graphic arts illustrator for Affiliated Foods at Amarillo for the past 10 years.

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Sally Sexton joined the Palestine Herald-Press as sports writer. Sexton has written stories as a freelance journalist for the Waco Tribune Herald, the Houston Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News. She graduated from Baylor University in August 2005 with a major in editorial journalism and a minor in English.

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William Dean Singleton, vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc., has been elected chairman of the board of directors of The Associated Press.

Singleton became vice chairman of the board immediately and is expected to succeed Burl Osborne, publisher emeritus of The Dallas Morning News, as chairman at the AP’s annual meeting in May. Singleton was first elected to the AP board in 1999. He founded MediaNews Group in 1983.

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Katy Times publisher Ken Steger retired as publisher after 20 years of service to the newspaper. He recently announced his retirement to move to Austin.