Zahira Torres has been named editor/news director of the El Paso Times.
Torres, 36, returned to El Paso from the Los Angeles Times last year to lead the newspaper’s investigations under former editor Robert Moore. She has deep roots in El Paso and at the El Paso Times. 

Brian Brisendine, 38, has succeeded his late father as as editor and publisher of the Brownfield News.
Lynn Brisendine, publisher since April 1977, died Oct. 14. 
The younger Brisendine is a Brownfield native, reared in the community. He graduated from Brownfield High School in 1997.
He is a 2001 graduate of West Texas A&M  University in Canyon with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications/print journalism and a minor in English. While in college, he worked as sports editor, reporter, news editor, and advertising saleperson at the Canyon News.

Newspapers and other businesses built on advertising are nervously watching Congress as tax reform takes center stage. At stake: the deduction for advertising as an ordinary business expense, which has been the law of the land for 100 years.

Analysis by Donnis Baggett

For 24 days every autumn, throngs of visitors stream into the State Fair of Texas in Dallas for shows, music, exhibits, livestock judging, carnival rides and gastronomic delights such as corny dogs and fried butter. Millions worldwide know it as the home of Big Tex, the fair’s 55-foot animatronic cowboy.  

Photographers at all TPA member newspapers are encouraged to submit their best work in the 2018 Texas Newspaper Directory Cover Photo Contest. Entries are being accepted through Oct. 13.  
Photos should reflect the Texas spirit through landscapes, architecture, festival activities, wildlife and/or nature photography.

HOUSTON – Jim Simmon, 63, an editor whose career included stints with four Texas daily newspapers, was among the people lost during Houston area flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Simmon, who had retired and was coming to terms with early-onset dementia, disappeared from his Montrose home on Aug. 30. He was the subject of an area-wide search for two weeks. His body was found in Fort Bend County. An autopsy was ordered, but law enforcement officials believed the cause of death was drowning.

DENTON – Patsy Cross Patterson, a past co-owner of the Denton Record-Chronicle and an active community leader in Denton, died Aug. 29. She was 88.
Mrs. Patterson was born Oct. 24, 1929, in Paris, Texas. In 1945, her parents, Riley and Vivian Cross, bought the Record-Chronicle and the family moved to Denton. She grew up at the Record-Chronicle, holding many positions and eventually serving as secretary of the Board of Directors. She and her husband, Fred Patterson, were the owners when the newspaper was sold to the A. H. Belo Corp. in June 1999.

This year marks the 77th anniversary of National Newspaper Week. The annual observance set Oct. 1-7 celebrates and emphasizes the impact of newspapers to communities large and small.
Materials for NNW are available for download at www.nationalnewspaperweek.com, according to Tom Newton, chairman of the 2017 observance. 
The NNW content kit contains two editorials, the 2017 logo, a promotional ad and more, all available for download at no charge to daily and non-daily newspapers across North America.

New publishers have taken over at four Texas newspapers

Promotions, staff additions at Texas newspapers.