As part of newspaper in Education offerings, author Janie Lancaster has written a historical fiction serial story of Opal Fleming and how, as a small girl in the 1930s, learning American Sign Language opened up a whole new world for her. How her new language made her feel equal to others and not left out and in a dark lonely world. 
Opal’s resilient spirit overcame so much in her lifetime. She became a well educated, dignified person loved by so many. For 20 years she was a teacher’s aide at the North Carolina School for the Deaf. She died in 2003.

Seeing government in action is an eye-opening experience, especially in Austin. 
Last week, I received a call from the Texas Press Association asking if I would come to the state capitol and testify against a bill in the current Special Session.

Opinion by Melissa Perner, Ozona Stockman

Q: Is it O.K. for a photographer to use a drone to photograph the city’s Fourth of July fireworks event and then send us the photos to publish?

To be sure, that question is top of mind with some TPA members and staff.  TPA’s Legislative Advisory Committee is busy monitoring the current special session of the Legislature to fight any bill that harms the interests of Texas newspapers.

In a challenging environment with fewer resources, greater vulnerabilities and increasing attacks from politicians and the politically motivated, how should news organizations respond? One editor-publisher's approach — a calm, respectful but strong defense of journalism and its essential role in democracy — seems to work.

I continue to get calls and emails on sampling non-subscribers. This rewrite will attempt to draw a sharper line between the two confusing rules that govern non-subscriber copy mailing.
The non-subscriber rules in the Domestic Mail Manual are there to allow you to promote your newspaper to non-subscribers and increase your mail delivery. Too many papers fail to use this tactic, but more are showing interest as newspapers struggle to attract readers and advertisers.

The Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame exists to honor dedicated Texas professionals who made a difference in their local communities, raised journalistic standards – set the bar high - then encouraged and inspired others.
Each year, up to four of these leaders are honored at the Hall of Fame Induction dinner held during TPA’s Midwinter Conference and Trade Show. 

Q: Our school board just accepted the resignation of a trustee. Then the board went into executive session to discuss his replacement citing “personnel.” How can that be? The replacement is not an employee of the school district, so how could this person be considered personnel? If the exception allows for closed-session discussion of an appointment to what would otherwise be an elected position, that’s so wrong.

Well, we just wrapped up what I like to call the Texas Press Association’s very first “international conference” — the TPA Summer Leadership Retreat in Ruidoso, NM. Heck, we were even in a different time zone!
As always, the gathering was a great success. It featured great programs and discussion. And it gave us the opportunity to offer a huge “Thank You!” to outgoing TPA President Randy Keck for the stellar job he did for the organization this past year.

RUIDOSO, NM – The 2017 Texas Better Newspaper Awards were announced during the awards brunch at the Texas Press Leadership Retreat held this year at the Inn of the Mountain Gods.
This year, 143 newspapers submitted 1,410 entries in the contest. The results are published annually in the TPA Winners’ Circle and a list of winners by newspaper is available now by clicking here.