ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Jeffrey Gerritt, editor of the Palestine Herald-Press, has won this year’s National Headliner Award for editorial writing. 
Gerritt was honored for a collection of editorials, including commentary from his newspaper’s “Death Without Conviction” series that examined the death of county jail prisoners by medical neglect before they got their day in court.

Obituaries published in the May Messenger.

Cornerstone Publications owner Natalie Elizabeth Spencer, 53, of Rio Medina, died following an automobile accident in the early evening of April 2.
She was born April 11, 1966 in Houston, the daughter of William E. “Bill” Youngs and Martha Eloise Hanby Youngs.
She graduated from Medina Valley High School in 1985. She loved to play golf and was the first female golfer at MVHS. 

Texas newspapers and their journalists are on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering government actions in dealing with the coronavirus and keeping readers informed with vital and credible information while coping with the same personal and economic challenges.

SPUR – Paragraph Ranch LLC, a media company based in Spur, purchased The Caprock Courier, the weekly newspaper serving the region of Briscoe, Hall and Motley counties. 
The Courier absorbed the earlier Briscoe County News and the Motley County Tribune in 2016 under the editorship of Tori Minick.

Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open records and open government, came at a time when local agencies are adapting their public meetings under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on gatherings of ten or more people.