March 2005

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Newsmakers Kevin Barry has been named acting chief executive officer of ASP Westward, which owns 60 newspapers in Texas and Colorado. Barry succeeds Robert McMaster who announced his retirement after eight years as CEO. Barry was recruited to serve on the Westward board a year and a half ago because of his 40 years in the newspaper business including 18 years as publisher of the San Angelo Standard-Times. -- Phil Berkebile, former executive vice president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association, was honored Feb. 23 by the Texas Legislature. Berkebile spent 20 years at TDNA and helped implement voluntary newspaper recycling programs and worked to uphold open meetings and open records laws. He retired from TDNA at the end of 2004. -- Lew K. Cohn, editor of the Bowie County Citizens Tribune and DeKalb News, has been promoted to publisher and editor of the Grand Saline Sun and Edgewood Enterprise. Cohn began his editorial stint at the Tribune and News in August 1999. He has 16 years experience working in the newspaper industry. -- Nicole Cunningham joined the Valley Mills Progress as an unpaid intern. She is a sophomore at Hill College in Hillsboro. -- Tania French, lifestyle editor of the Port Lavaca Wave, has been promoted to general manager. She joined the staff in October 2000. -- Deborah Howell retired as Washington bureau chief and editor of the Newhouse News Service to become The Washington Post’s ombudsman. Howell started her newspaper career in Texas and is a member of the advisory board of the University of Texas’ College of Communications. -- The Jasper Newsboy received the 2005 national media award from the Youth Service America’s fourth annual Harris Wofford Awards, named for the former U.S. senator. Newsboy publisher Willis Webb and contributing editor Julie Webb were nominated by Dr. Eddie Dunn, superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District. Dunn wrote “A local newspaper is ‘expected’ to cover school activities, sporting events and student accom plishments. The Webbs do this without fail, and they go above and beyond of what is ‘expected.’” The Newsboy was cited for consistently covering school events, student accomplishments, and positive news stories about community happenings. The Newsboy also offers youth many opportunities to work in the newsroom. The Wofford Awards will be presented on March 18 at the 16th annual National Service-Learning Conference at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention Center. An individual winner and institutional winner also were named nationally. -- The Light and Champion in Center announced a change in publisher. Candace Velvin turned in her resignation Feb. 1. JoAnna Martin is the new publisher and president. She has been with The Light and Champion 14 years and has served both on the news side and advertising as well as carrying the title of editor. -- Steven Metzinger has been named advertising director for the Amarillo Globe-News. He succeeds Joanne Gosselin who was recently appointed general manager. Metzinger served the past two years as online director for the newspaper’s Web site. He began his career almost eight years ago as a proof-runner. -- Kurt Mogonye, who joined the Elgin Courier staff in September, transferred to the Boerne Star & Hill Country Recorder, another Blacklands Publications, Inc. affiliate. He graduated in August 2004 from Tarleton State University and worked for the Stephenville Empire-Tribune while attending college. -- Two reporters with the San Antonio Express-News won the Jim Lehrer Award for Journalism. Jerry Needham and Cindy Tumiel wrote about the ways development could affect the Edwards Aquifer, an underground water table that feeds many wells and the Guadalupe River. -- Robert Lee Observer/Enterprise publisher Hal Spain accepted a plaque as a Texas Farm Bureau statewide award winner for promoting agriculture in Coke County. Bureau president Kenneth Dierschke presented the award. Representatives from Coke-Sterling Farm Bureau also were on hand. -- Shannon Smith left her position as creative director at the Colorado County Citizen after getting married on March 12 to longtime boyfriend Andrew Stilwell and relocating to Houston. She started working at the Citizen as a proofreader in February 1995 and had just celebrated her 10th year with the newspaper. -- Rico Vasquez, a route carrier for the Hill Country News in Cedar Park, left temporarily in February for Iraq where he will be working as a civilian helping U.S. military forces.