By John Foust, Greensboro, NC

School Districts are empowered to enact appropriate security measures  to protect their students

            I know parents are asking themselves this question today: As a parent concerned about the safety of my child at school how do I get involved? 

The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) is accepting entries for its annual Golden Quill editorial writing contest. Deadline is Feb. 1.
Entries should reflect the purpose of the ISWNE: Encouraging the writing of editorials or staff-written opinion pieces that identify local issues that are or should be of concern to the community, offer an opinion, and support a course of action.

Texas Press Association has partnered with Column to modernize TPA's Statewide Legal Notice website (texaslegalnotices.com) and strengthen legislative efforts to keep newspapers as the primary publishers of legal notices in Texas.
Column has helped 13 other state press associations improve access to notices by making critical improvements to accessibility, as well as adding improved search and alert functionality for the public.

The Texas Medical Association invites Texas journalists to enter the annual Anson Jones, MD, Awards competition for a chance at the title Texas Health Journalist of the Year or to win in other categories tailored for print and online work. Entries are being accepted now.
Any work first published by a Texas-based publication during 2021 is eligible. Visit the TMA website to learn about the updated award categories and to see award-winning work from past competitions. 

Texas Press Association has entered an agreement with Digiversity.tv to co-sponsor the subscription fee for employees of member newspapers to access training sessions on publishing tools.
Digiversity.tv Host Russell Viers invites TPA members to visit the newly revamped www.digiversity.tv training site and “snoop around a bit” to see the new website in the making. The site is a storefront to a growing library of training videos.

Webinars, online and in-person workshops and other training opportunities for staffs of Texas Newspapers:

Obituaries published in the September 2021 edition of the Texas Press Messenger

By Scott Yates, JournalList.net

With a little more than two weeks remaining in the legislative session, it appears that newspaper public notice will survive the biennial barrage of nasty legislation.
If that turns out to be the case, the reason is clear: Texas publishers have never been more engaged in the legislative process than this year.

Analysis By DONNIS BAGGETT, Texas Press Association