It’s almost time for Texas newspapers to file annual recycled newsprint reports.
Every year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) collects data on recycled newsprint. Texas law requires that newspaper publishers submit their report for 2017 to the TCEQ by Jan. 31, 2018.
This year, there's a new contact person for the Recycled Newsprint program - Alex Frame.  
More information about the reporting requirement is available in the Texas Health and Safety Code, Section 361.430.

Texas A&M University Chancellor John Sharp, leader of the Governor's Commission to Rebuild Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, will speak at the final function of the 2018 Midwinter Conference and Trade Show Jan. 18-20 at the Moody Gardens Hotel, Convention Center and Spa in Galveston.

Registration and hotel reservation deadline is Jan. 3 for the Texas Press Association Midwinter Conference and Trade Show scheduled Jan. 18-20 at Moody Gardens Hotel, Convention Center and Spa.
The conference is themed “Come Hell or High Water” to honor Texas newspapers’ response to natural disasters ranging from wildfires to Hurricane Harvey. It features topical programs by guest speakers, member-led discussions, the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet and a 60-booth trade show, as well as the annual silent auction benefiting the Texas Newspaper Foundation.

AUSTIN — Texas Newspaper Foundation announces the selection of Dolph Tillotson, Mike Cochran, John C. Taylor Jr. and Victor B. Fain for induction into the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame for the year 2018.
An induction ceremony will be conducted during the Texas Press 2018 Midwinter Conference & Trade Show at Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa & Convention Center in Galveston on Jan. 19. 

The official inflation factor used to file price increases under the current postal reform law of 2006, in which the National Newspaper Association was instrumental, is 1.9 percent for the 12-month average used by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

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.