Start of Akron Newspaper Guild

In the From The Morgue section on page 8 of the Guild Reporter of March 11, 2005:

Seventy years ago this month:

John S. Knight signals that he's willing to sign a first contract with the Guild unit at the Akron Beacon Journal

BJ retiree Ted Milligan dies

MILLIGAN THEODORE G. MILLIGAN "TED", age 74. Beloved husband of 52 years to Carole (nee Larner); loving father of Mark (Kathy), Kathleen Mihocik (Norm), Kelley Milligan and Stacey Walton (Tom); devoted grandfather of Nicholas, Bethany, Kieran, Jennifer, Elizabeth, Matthew, Timothy and Kaitlyn; great grandfather of Rachel and Lucas. Korean War, U.S. Army Veteran. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Cleveland Metropark System. Services at the funeral home, Wednesday, March 23 at 5 p.m. Friends received at RIPEPI FUNERAL HOME, 5762 PEARL RD. (AT SNOW), WEDNESDAY 2-5 P.M. 440-888-0800 www.cleveland.com/obits
[Published in The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, Wednesday, March 23, 2005]

Ted worked in the national advertising department of the Beacon Jourmal as an account executive mainly with major food accounts until his retirement sometime in the 1990s. He died Monday. He lived in Brook Park.

A happy Mountaineer

I was in Cleveland State's arena for alma mater West Virginia's NCAA victories over Creighton (of Omaha) and Wake Forest (of North Carolina). WF was a double overtime, and I almost wore out my nearly new walking shoes by pacing a 3 x 6 concrete area during the final 15 minutes of the game. I think I paced for about 7 miles. My heartbeat has come down to almost normal, finally. I think my companion was looking for some defib paddles in case the Wake Forest game went into a third overtime.

I'm proud of my alma mater despite the Elite Eight loss to Louisville in Albuquerque.

Winges moving from newsroom to IT

Bruce Winges

Bruce Winges, night managing editor, will leave the newsroom in April to help run the day-to-day operations in the information technology department. A 23-year newsroom veteran, Winges has held a number of key roles since joining the newspaper in 1982. In addition to night managing editor, he has been assistant managing editor, executive news editor, metro editor and assistant news editor.

“Bruce commands respect in the newsroom and throughout the building,” said Editor Debra Adams Simmons. “His commitment to journalistic excellence night in and night out will be missed. But we’re happy he’ll be down the hall.” Winges’ responsibilities as night managing editor will be divided between Mark Turner, Susan Kirkman and Mike Burbach.

Jim Kavanagh returns to copy editing
Jim Kavanagh is returning to the role of copy editor, having served five and a half years as copy desk chief.As he puts it, he wants to return to his “first love, to the pure practice of journalism, free of the burdens and distractions of supervising a department.”

[Source: Hot Type]

Knight Ridder readership survey

Trust: Down from previous survey.

Timely: Down from previous survey.

Useful: Down from previous survey.

Handling of area interests: Down from previous survey.

Holds community & state leaders accountable: Down from previous survey.

Easy to use: Up from previous survey.

Daily circulation: Down 1,990 from previous year.

Sunday circulation: Down 4,412 from previous year.

Advertising: Up 4.3 percent from previous year.

Trust, timeliness, usefulness, area coverage and investigative skills and daily and Sunday circulation are down. Think there's a connection?

Knight Ridder agrees to sell Miami land

SAN JOSE, March 7, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI), parent company of The Miami Herald Publishing Co., confirmed today a contract for the sale of approximately 10 acres surrounding The Herald's bayfront building to Terra Group, headed by Pedro Martin, for a purchase price of $190 million.

"Closing on the agreement is contingent upon the completion of a successful due diligence process," said Larry Marbert, Knight Ridder VP/production and facilities. "It could take a few weeks and it could take some months."

Closing on the 10 acres will "probably be in a few months," said Pedro Martin.

The land, which is now occupied by a low-rise garage, surface parking lots and one, relatively small, two-story building on Biscayne, Ave., was put up for sale in November. Edie Laquer, the broker for Knight Ridder, assisted in securing several offers before Terra emerged as the winner.

Plans for the parcel are preliminary, but could include residential, office, hotel and retail components, said David Martin, Terra's chief operating officer. Terra plans to audition architects from around the world to develop a master plan.

Under the deal's terms, Terra must provide some 740 parking spaces for Herald employees and not interfere with the newspaper's delivery trucks.

In making the announcement Friday, both Knight Ridder and The Herald scotched earlier rumors that the Herald's building, at 1 Herald Plaza, was a part of the deal. "It is not for sale," Marbert stressed. Should Knight Ridder ever want to sell it, Terra would have the right of first refusal, he said.

Knight Ridder is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 9.0 million daily and 12.7 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company's Internet operation, Knight Ridder Digital, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (www.RealCities.com), the largest national network of city and regional Web sites in more than 105 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are headquartered in San Jose, Calif. FR

Certain statements contained in this report are forward-looking. They are based on management's current knowledge of factors affecting Knight Ridder's business. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated, depending upon -- but not limited to -- the effects of interest rates, of national and local economies on revenue, of the evolution of the Internet, of unforeseen changes in the price of newsprint and of negotiations and relations with labor unions.

SOURCE Knight Ridder

Kirksey dismissed from hospital

Ron Kirksey has been dismissed from the hospital and is now recuperating at home:
3995 Falconsway Ct.
Stow, OH 44224

Photos from Pam McCarthy

Giving Us The Eye

These two photos are from Pam McCarthy, a former Beacon Journal reporter who now teaches journalism and newspaper production at Hoover High School in North Canton. The top photo was published in the Beacon Journal Community Extra section on page F14 on Sunday, March 13, 2005 with the headline “"Giving Us the Eye." ” Pam photographed her daughter, Kate Pakenham, with the school newspaper'’s Nikon D-70 digital camera.

Pam also sent the bottom photo of twins Michael and Kate Pakenham, 16, on either side of her oldest daughter, Bethany Marvin, 26. (Those of you who worked with Tom Marvin will note the resemblance, Pam points out.) Beth is a second-year law student at UCLA. The twins are sophomores at Hoover High School in North Canton. Their father is Ken Pakenham, a professor at the University of Akron. Pam is two years away from retirement. She did not send us a self-portrait but you can find her in the February posts, one on Feb 9 is at a wake for the old State Desk and the other is Feb 12 at a picnic at the Bud Morris home in Copley.

Ron Kirksey recovering from surgery

Ron Kirksey, director of media relations at Kent State University and former editorial writer for the Beacon Journal, is recovering from surgery Wednesday at Akron General Medical Center for bladder cancer and is doing well, his wife Susan reports. He shoud be dismissed in seven to 10 days. He is in Room 5266 tel: 330-344-2646.

It is probably best to send cards to his home: 3995 Falconswalk Ct., Stow, OH 44224

BJ clock tower to come down for fix

Don't fret when you see the clock tower disappear from above the Akron Beacon Journal building. It will return.

The rotating landmark at East Exchange and South High streets sits on a steel frame that is corroded beyond repair.

A crane will be used to lift the structure onto the Beacon's roof while a new frame is built, said Terry Whitney, vice president of circulation and production.

The clock should be returned to its nest in six to eight weeks.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Saturday, March 12, 2005, page A1, col. 1]

Great news for Polly Paffilas

This is nothing but great news.

Retiree Polly Paffilas’ doctor took her off dialysis and she is scheduled to have the catheter removed on Monday. Dialysis usually involves three trips a week to the lab for a treatment lasting about three hours. Polly has been in and out of the hospital since November and was at The Ledges at Rockynol for a while.

Want to cheer her up a bit more? Call or write:

Polly Paffilas
900 W. Market St. #503
Akron, OH 44313
Tel: 330-864-1130

Beacon Journal artists honored

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Two Akron Beacon Journal entries took prizes in the 71st annual National Headliner Awards.

Artists Dennis Balogh, Dennis Earlenbaugh, Kathy Hagedorn and Rick Steinhauser were awarded second place for a portfolio of work in the illustrative graphics category. Their submissions included illustrations of real people and situations -- LeBron James (Steinhauser), Usher (Hagedorn) and the Cleveland Jazz Fest (Balogh) -- as well as the imaginative -- an Arts & Living centerpiece on fear (Earlenbaugh) and a Health centerpiece on fats that are good for you (Steinhauser).

Chip Bok placed third in the Editorial Cartoon category for a portfolio of his work.

The Headliner Awards, sponsored by the Press Club of Atlantic City, honor journalism in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Awards will be presented at a May 14 banquet. The winners were announced Wednesday.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Friday, March 11, 2005, page B6, col. 2]

Joe Pulitzer IV and former KR veep

“Pultizer Pain,” a two-part series in the Riverfront Times, tells of the banishment of Joseph Pulitzer IV over a decade ago, and the sale of the St. Louis Post Dispatch to Lee Enterprises Inc. Pulitzer now lives in self-imposed exile in Wyoming.

Lee will now have 44 dailies in 19 states with a 1.7 million daily and 2 million Sunday circulation.

Post-Dispatch publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger holds roughly $9.3 million in Pulitzer stock and Pulitzer Inc. president and CEO Robert Woodworth, most recently a Knight Ridder vice president, an estimated $25 million.

The Riverfront Times, which published the first of the two-parter on March 2, 2005, describes itself on its web site, RivertfrontTimes.com, as St Louis’ alternative newsweekly and claims an audited weekly circulation of 100,000.

Click on the headline to go to the first of the series and then click on
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2005-03-09/news/feature.html
for the second part.

Woodward reported on the progress of the sale in a letter to employees on March 8, 2005.

See the letter at http://www.lee.net/pulitzer/ptz-lee_ltr_3-8-05.pdf

Robert Hollister dies in Tampa

Robert Hollister

Robert T. Hollister, 88, of John Knox Village in Tampa, Fla., went home to be with the Lord on Sun day, March 6, 2005.

He is survived by Doris, his loving and devoted wife of 57 years; sons, Terry and wife, Janie, Phil and wife, Karen; daughter, Jill and hus band, Tony Wait. Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph M. and Laura, and his son, Jeff. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, Amy, Lisa, Tim, Deann, David, Darlene, Brian, Lloyd, and Peta, and five great-grandchildren, Andrew, Claire, Jaxon, Gabriel, and Kaelyn.

Robert was a World War II veteran, serving in Europe and the Pacific. He was honorably discharged from the Army as a captain. Robert had a lifelong career in journalism and advertising/PR. He founded his own advertising agency in Akron, Ohio, and held positions with the Akron Beacon Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, and Orlando Sentinel. Robert retired from the Tampa Tribune, having served as the director of research and promotion. Robert was past president and a life time member of Ohio Jaycees.

A family graveside service will take place at Stow Cemetery in Stow, Ohio. Donations may be made to LifePath Hospice, 3010 W. Azeele St., Tampa, Fla. 33609.
Please sign the guest book at www.ohio.com/obituaries
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Thursday, March 10, 2005, page B6, col.4]

What's next? Dancing girls!

Guess what? The DVD promotion did not work. Tom Moore promised to give a free DVD of Fran Murphey's retirement party to everyone who attended the March 9 BJ Retirees Lunch at Papa Joe's. So attendance may have hit an all-time low. Only 9 retirees attended even though Norm Hanzel brought along wife Norma to swell the total to 10. It certainly was not Fran's fault, but the weather may have contributed. No new promotions are planned. Attending, in alphabeticaly order, were Art Cullison, Calvin Deshong, Dick Gresock, Ed and Norma Hanzel, Harry Liggett, Tom Moore, Russ Musarra, John Olesky and Carl Nelson. Five editorial types and four printers with one wife. Another attendance tie.

KR corrects form with faulty address

Knight Ridder corrects claim form
for flexible spending accounts
Original claim forms had incorrect address. Knight Ridder has forwarded new claim forms for flexible spending accounts to its newspapers. The original claim forms have an incorrect address. The corrected forms, which feature an El Paso, Texas, address, are available now in the human resources department. To avoid confusion, staff members who already have taken a supply or made copies of the incorrect forms should discard them. Knight Ridder is working with United Healthcare and the U.S. Postal Service to put a forwarding order in place. However, at this time, the forms are being returned to employees as undeliverable. Knight Ridder apologizes for the inconvenience.
[Reprinted from Hot Topics]

Get a free DVD just for attending lunch

CD of Fran Murphey's retirement and Retirees' lunches

Everyone who attends the BJ Retirees Lunch at 1 p.m. Wedesday at Papa Joe's will receive a free DVD of Fran Murphey's retirement in 1996 and also of Retiree lunches that year. Tom Moore who has videotaped many such events is now converting the videotapes to DVD which will last longer. Moore promised to give one free to everyone who attends the lunch. Normally he must ask $3 to cover the costs of the DVD, a case and mailing.