Skip to main content
Keep eye out for 11th-hour election volleys

By Jim Pumarlo, consultant

Time for newspapers to get their swagger back

I’m sick and tired of apologizing for being in the newspaper business, and I suspect you feel the same way.

Our industry suffers mightily from self-inflicted wounds. We’re more likely to publish stories about our problems than our successes. We focus on print copies trending down instead of digital readership going up. And we fail to engage detractors who claim falsely that nobody reads newspapers anymore.

By Leonard Woolsey, TPA President

Week of Sept. 5 - 9

Note: This is a bulldog edition of the  Capital Highlights column for the week of Sept. 5 - 9, to accommodate papers with early Labor Day deadlines. It will be updated on Sunday if events dictate.

Week of Aug. 29 - Sept. 2

Flooding prompts disaster declaration

Week of Aug. 22 - 26

Farmer’s Almanac predicting a white winter
 
As Texas gets at least a temporary reprieve this week from the heat, with a nice round of rain blanketing much of the state, the Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting January will bring significant snowfall to the state.
The periodical, founded in 1818,  develops its extended forecast “using a 204-year-old mathematical formula focused on sunspot activity, planet positions and tidal actions of the moon.” The almanac’s website claims its forecasts are 80% to 85% accurate.

Week of Aug. 15 - 19

Texas gas prices lowest in nation
While gas prices nationwide dropped below $4 per gallon average last week, the state boasts the lowest prices in the country at an average of $3.49 — 50 cents below the national average, according to AAA Texas.

Plan now to recognize first responders

By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant
Are you looking for a project that can energize your news staffs, generate new advertising revenue and underscore the value of a local newspaper to potential new subscribers?
Mark Oct. 28: National First Responders Day.
Full disclosure on two fronts.    
First, highlighting the accomplishments of first responders is not my original idea. I picked it up while presenting earlier this year at a Management Boot Camp sponsored by the Texas Center for Community Journalism.

Committed to serving Texas newspapers

I am honestly confused about how I ended up as the president of the Texas Press Association.

Let me first say that I will do everything in my power to deliver on your trust and confidence in me. Secondly, I will need a lot of help from my friends.

By Leonard Woolsey, TPA President

In the proverbial tool shed of life, there are sharp, blunt and curious tools no one is quite sure what they might be good for. I consider myself a card-carrying member of the latter.

Week of Aug. 8 - 12

Drivers urged to be alert as school begins
 
Millions of Texas children are heading back to school this month, as early as this week in some districts. The Texas Department of Transportation urges drivers to be especially alert and focused when driving in school zones and near bus stops. 

Week of Aug. 1 - 5

DSHS gets nearly 15,000 monkeypox vaccines
 
The Texas Department of State Health Services has received and distributed 14,780 doses of the monkey pox vaccine to local health departments and DSHS regional offices. Another 27,000 doses could be made available by the Strategic National Stockpile.

Subscribe to Columns