Casino resort to replace Miami Herald

The Miami Herald will be replaced by a casino repot.

A $3 billion Downtown Miami resort will be built on Miami Herald land by
Genting Group, one of the world's largest international casino developers, .

Genting, the Malaysian developer bought 140 acres of Biscayne Bay-fronting land on May 27 from The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) for $236 million or about $1.69 million per acre.

The Miami site has 800 feet of waterfront along Biscayne Bay.

That was one of the highest prices for commercial dirt in South Florida in the last decade, according to brokers who track land transactions.

The deal took two months to put together.

The Florida Legislature has still not approved the operation of full-based casinos in the state despite millions of dollars spent by casino-hired lobbyists to change the law over the last 10 years.

"Everybody is posturing and planning and hoping the Legislature will make a decision to make destination resorts a reality" and Genting's deal just "upped the ante,'' he said.

The Miami Herald Media Co.'s newspaper, The Miami Herald, sits on 14 acres of the acquired 140-acre site. The Herald has two years to find another publishing venue, according to a May 27 news release from McClatchy.

The land's owner of record is a Genting subsidiary, Bayfront 2011 Property LLC. The Herald's building is part of the sale.

Genting and its affiliates are leading developers and operators of destination resorts around the world, including the United States, Malaysia, Manila, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

In his prepared statement, Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chairman and chief executive, said, "This property, located on Biscayne Bay, has been home to The Miami Herald for many years. While locating newspaper operations on the bay may have made sense in the past, it no longer is the best fit.

"Importantly, the sale of this real estate has no impact on the mission of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald," Pruitt said.

"The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald's commitments to providing high quality, public service journalism on multiple platforms and to providing the broadest, most effective reach for their advertisers have never been stronger," Pruitt said.

Pruitt said McClatchy will use $236 million of the proceeds as follows:

$163 million will be contributed to the company's pension plan.
$65 million will be offered (the Offer) to the holders of the company's 2017 senior secured notes (Noteholders) at par as required by the note indenture.
$2 million will be used to pay for transfer taxes associated with the sale.


The remaining $6 million will be held in an escrow account payable to McClatchy upon relocation of its Miami operations.

Gannett lays off 700 newspaper division employees

That’s about 2 percent of the workforce, according to Gannett US Community Publishing division president Bob Dickey. “Publishers will notify people today and we will make every effort to reach everyone by end of day,” he says in a memo that’s posted below. “It is important to note that these decisions do not reflect individual performance and we thank and respect those employees for their work.” In March it was disclosed that Gannett CEO Craig Dubow received a $1.25 million cash bonus and had his salary doubled.

June 21, 2011
To: All US Community Publishing employees
From: Bob Dickey

As we reach the mid-point of the year, the economic recovery is not happening as quickly or favorably as we had hoped and continues to impact our U.S. community media organizations. We have made continued progress on the many initiatives underway to seek new sources of revenue, build a world class sales force and better serve our customers through watchdog reporting and stronger Sunday newspapers. While we are seeing improved circulation results and audience growth, weakness in the real estate sector, slow job creation and now softer auto ad demand continue to challenge revenue growth in the division.

National advertising remains soft and with many of our local advertisers reducing their overall budgets, we need to take further steps to align our costs with the current revenue trends. Each of our local media organizations faces its own market conditions, challenges and opportunities. Therefore, it has been up to each local publisher to determine his or her unique course of action.

While we have sought many ways to reduce costs, I regret to tell you that we will not be able to avoid layoffs. Accordingly, approximately 700 employees within USCP, or about 2% of our company’s overall workforce, will be let go. Publishers will notify people today and we will make every effort to reach everyone by end of day. It is important to note that these decisions do not reflect individual performance and we thank and respect those employees for their work. We will do everything we can to help them and to minimize the impact on our other employees going forward. In an effort to reduce the number of people being let go, there will be furloughs in the coming months but they will be limited only to those on the USCP corporate payroll who make over a certain salary. You will be notified by your publisher if you are among this group.

These have been extremely difficult and painful decisions to make. I know the impact is felt by everyone within USCP and companywide.

I appreciate and thank you for all that you do to create and deliver award-winning journalism to our customers and communities every day. Even under these challenging circumstances, I know you will continue to do so and your efforts are greatly appreciated by our customers and colleagues within Gannett.

As always, please feel free to email me directly at rdickey@gannett.com with any questions you may have.

Retired printers who got back cheaper prescriptions

In an earlier post about retired printer Hugh Downing, I mentioned that those who were named in the lawsuit are saving hundreds of dollars that those who did not join the lawsuit are paying. The original post:

Hugh and Sharon have another reason to be happy. They were among the retired printers in the health care lawsuit against the Beacon Journal. A judge’s preliminary injunction restored their prescription co-pay benefits, made the BJ reimburse them for their extra prescription costs above the retirement-day co-pays and reinstated secondary insurance coverage, which usually pays the 20% of the costs that Medicare allows but doesn’t pay. Medicare pays the other 80%.

Only those printers named in the lawsuit got their $2 to $5 co-pay prescription benefits back and reimbursement for overpayments -- husband and wife Dave and Gina White, who live in Venice, Florida after decades of residing in Sarasota; Norm Mattern; Ray Wolfe; Ruth West; Bob Abbott; and three or four others whose names I don’t know yet.

Retired printers who did not join the lawsuit continue to pay hundreds of dollars more than those who signed up for the lawsuit.

I asked the attorneys for the retired printers to give me the complete list of those who are in the lawsuit and thus have had their $2 to $5 prescription co-pay cards restored. His reply:

The named plaintiffs in the White case are:
Dave & Regina White
Hugh and Sharon Downing
Ruth and Tom West
Bob Abbott
Bob Walker
Larnie and Stephanie Greene
Ora and Shirley Thombs
Ray and Amy Wolfe
Norm and Naomi Mattern

However, I was not accurate about those who had the BJ going back to paying the 20% of the amount that Medicare approved (Medicare pays the 80%; the BJ the other 20%) for medical care (doctors, hospitals, etc.). Some got the 20% co-pay back, some did not, depending on when they retired. Again, the attorney's clarification:

While all have had their Rx benefit restored, only those who retired in or before 1992, under their retirement letters, will receive a secondary-insurance benefit.

So those who joined the retired printers lawsuit are paying hundreds of dollars less than retired printers who did NOT join the lawsuit. In my case, for example, losing the $2 co-pay card has cost me an extra $6,837.29 in out-of-pocket prescription payments since Feb. 1, 2007 when Black Press instituted the health care changes.

I have filed a similar lawsuit against the BJ for the health care coverage changes made for Guild retirees, particularly changes made Feb. 1, 2007 after Black Press became the BJ's owner.

--- John Olesky

Boston-Herald offers buyouts

The Boston Herald today offered employees voluntary buyout packages in order to trim staff and cut costs.

The offer was made to all the newspaper’s staff and managers, according to an e-mail sent to members of the Herald’s newsroom union. Guild members are being offered two weeks salary for every year of service.

Workers taking the buyout package would have until July 1 to make a decision, and any staff reductions would come next month, the Herald reported on its web site.

“The staffing adjustments we’re making are a result of revenue pressure all newspapers are experiencing. However, the financial efficiencies we are undertaking, coupled with the really great print and online products we publish every day, will position us well for the future,’’ Herald Publisher Patrick J. Purcell said in a statement.

The Herald has more than 200 employees, according to employee estimates.

Bill Brotherton, the newsroom chairperson for the Guild, wrote in his email to colleagues, “But don’t fret, this is nothing like the dire situation we encountered a few years ago, when so many of our union brothers and sisters left or were laid off. We are not going out of business. This is a belt-tightening move by Pat Purcell and his financial team.”

Remembering John S. Knight

JOHN S. KNIGHT Died, June 16, 1981

Report on Harold McElroy's surgery

BJ Alums got this email about Beacon Journal business department retiree Harold McElroy's surgery to remove his cancerous right lung. It came by way of Sheryl Scott Sheinin, who forwarded it from John Scott.


UPDATE on Harold.
From John Scott: just got off the phone with Mom. everything went great. It took 9 hours and they did find some more cancer, but were able to remove all of it. The Doctor is very pleased.

They feel that this has been the root of his problem all along. The tumor was larger than a baseball and was growing into the ribs.

Thank You to all for the thoughts and prayers. Keep em coming as he recovers from this.


Click on the headline to see an earlier story on the situation for Harold, who lives in Pauleys Island, South Carolina.

Carrie's husband writes about her recovery

BJ Alums received this email from John Krack, husband of Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, who is BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter.


This is the letter I’ve been waiting for 5 months to write. We brought her home to Minnesota on Monday, June 6. She’s doing very well. Her balance has improved. She’s able to walk most places with a single cane, and walks around the house with no support. She still has some weakness in her right side, but that’s expected to resolve as she (as she puts it) “gets back to being an adult,” and resumes her normal activities. She still needs a little bit more therapy, and we’re working on getting that set up. Every indication is that she will make a complete recovery. She’s lost about 40 pounds, and looks great. (I guess I'll have to buy her a new wardrobe, but I don't mind one bit!)

We saw the cardiologist May 31, and he said her cardiac ejection factor is 60%, which is spot-on normal. She has no apparent heart issues, and he was absolutely amazed that she has done so well. She did a driver evaluation June 2, and the examiner said she’s very close to being able to drive. The biggest problem was that the right-side weakness kept her from moving quickly enough between the accelerator and the brake, and that should improve as she gets stronger. She also needs to process information more quickly, and that should also get better. We don’t have a timeline, but I’d expect her to be driving again in a few months. Meanwhile, she's got a captive chauffeur, though we may need to enlist some of you to help from time to time..

She saw the ophthalmologist today, who said her eyes are very healthy. Next are follow-up appointments with her other doctors to transition her monitoring and care to MN.

I drove to Akron on May 30, and spent the week there. In addition to the doctor appointment and last few therapy sessions, we stopped by the ICU and specialty hospital where she spent January and February, and showed her off to the nurses and therapists who worked with her. Carrie, of course, didn’t remember many of them, but was glad to meet and thank them, and they were very happy to see how well she’s doing. Carrie took a bunch of scrubbies along and handed them out to the nurses. Most of the docs I wanted to see weren’t available, but we did run into the doctor who was in charge of her respiratory care at the specialty hospital (oversaw her swallowing tests and trach tube removal) . She (the doctor), who I pegged as pretty matter-of-fact and not particularly warm, almost went crazy with surprise at how well Carrie was doing. We think she even surprised some of the interns who were with her by her reaction. It was fun all around to see these care-givers again under more positive circumstances.

We drove to NW Pennsylvania for an overnight to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and my mom and sister and aunts/uncle. It was a trial to see how Carrie would do on long-distance travel, and she did fine. We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with her family on Sunday, and headed home Monday. I had planned to spend a night on the road, but she said she was feeling well and wanted to keep moving, so we got in late Monday evening, to be welcomed by lots of beautiful flowers left in our yard by friends. (And she was able to use the ladies' room entirely by herself!)

She’s been to several get-togethers with friends in the past week, and we’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up the house. She still tires easily and needs to take naps, but is able to do light housework and other activities with no problem.

So, things are moving forward and getting back to normal. The doctors all say she’s a “miracle lady,” and we would have to agree. We’re certain that your love and kindness and prayers and support throughout this journey had a great deal to do with her remarkable recovery. Her parents have been absolutely wonderful through all of this, providing her with loads of support, and a quiet place to recover, as she continued her therapy. Overall, we couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.

We thank all of you again, and look forward seeing you in the weeks to come.

You can email her at cjkrack@gmail.com

God Watch! Love and Hugs.

Carrie and John



Caroline/Carrie came down with meningitis in January and was in a coma for weeks.

Click on the headline to read earlier stories on her health situation.

BJ photos over the years

For dozens of photos of former Beacon Journal employees over the years, click on the headline.

Surgery for Harold McElroy

Beacon Journal business department retiree Harold McElroy will have his right lung removed Thursday. The email from Harold's wife, Linda:

Janet:

Just wanted you to know that Harold was diagnosed with lung cancer recently. He is having surgery to remove the rest of his right lung on Thursday. He has been in a lot of pain for about 6 months with the shoulder area. We now think it is the tumor in the top of his lung.

Take care.
Linda


BJ Circulation Department retiree Janet Hall forwarded the email to the BJ Alums blog.

The McElroys live on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, a block from retired BJ printer Dick Latshaw and wife Pat and a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. Both families have been there for at least a decade.

Retired BJ printer Sid Sprague moved from Pawleys Island to Colorado after Sid's wife died. Sid remarried and his second wife has family in Colorado.

Sid's wife, Sandra, 64, died in 2003. Sid's son, Steve, 38, of Middleburg, Virginia, died May 4, 2010.

Dick Latshaw emailed this about Harold's upcoming surgery:


The photo (of Harold and Linda) was taken in Hawaii on our 50th anniversary In January, 2011.

I saw Harold this morning. He is in good spirits.

Dick



Click on the headline to see more photos of the Latshaws and the McElroys in Hawaii in January 2011.

McClatchy names Kansas City Star publisher

The McClatchy Co. today named Mi-Ai Parrish publisher and president of The Kansas City Star effective June 20.

Parrish, publisher of the company’s Idaho Statesman since July 2006, succeeds Mark Zieman, who recently became a vice president of operations at McClatchy after 25 years at The Star.

Parrish, 40, had been deputy managing editor for features and visuals at the Minneapolis Star Tribune when promoted to the publisher’s post in Boise, Idaho.

Her journalism career has included work at the San Francisco Chronicle, Arizona Republic, Chicago Sun-Times and Virginian-Pilot.

“The Kansas City Star has a storied history, and I’m humbled to be part of its future,” Parrish said.

Read more

Catching up with . . . Hugh Downing

By John Olesky (BJ 1969-96)

Despite two heart attacks and a stroke over the years that left his right hand “a little weak,” retired Beacon Journal printer Hugh Downing rarely travels because “you don’t want to leave” The Villages retirement community in Florida. That’s the city where there are 100,000 people and 40,000 golf carts and 90 miles of cart paths to drive on for groceries, restaurants, the mall, and, yes, to play golf, although Hugh said he’s down to only twice a week nowadays. “Sharon plays more,” Hugh said.

Oh, Hugh and wife Sharon – who grew up in Galion, Ohio – do drive one of their two cars north to visit their four sons, but their two golf carts provide most of their transportation. Son Chris Downing lives in Hudson. Mark, Ben and Jonathan reside in Toledo, Vienna, Virginia, and Erie, Pennsylvania. The four sons – with their wives’ help, of course – have given Hugh and Sharon seven grandchildren. Hugh and Sharon, who have been married 51 years, will be driving to Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia next month to “make the rounds” of their sons and their families.

“By the time we make the rounds of the children (all four sons and their wives and children), I’m pretty beat,” Hugh said.

Retired printer Carl Nelson, who has a father-in-law in The Villages, “stopped here,” Hugh said. “Here” is 20 miles south of Ocala and 45 miles northwest of Orlando with 38 golf courses -- 29 nine-hole layouts are free for residents -- and 32 adults-only neighborhood centers with pools. The carts use tunnels and one overpass where highways and golf courses overlap.

Hugh and Sharon have taken a few cruises, including to Hawaii and another off California, but with everything that The Villages offers, “you don’t want to leave,” Hugh said. Maybe living in Medina for 37 winters has something to do with that attitude. They have been in The Villages, where the median age is 66, for more than 10 years.

Hugh said he’s chatted with BJ retirees on the phone, but seen only Carl Nelson face-to-face.

Hugh and Sharon were reunited with my late wife Monnie and I more than a decade ago on Siesta Key, which is adjacent to Sarasota, Florida. We were in our usual February hangout, Sea Castle, and the Downings rented an apartment once owned by retired printer Bill Gorrell, whose two-building complex got a lot of BJ visitors over the decades.

Hugh recalls that the late retired printer Bob Peel and his wife stayed with Gorrell before Bill’s death. Many a poker game and a few drinks happened in Poor Bill’s complex. The BJ crowd even squeezed in some golf at Sarasota’s many courses.

Sea Castle was torn down several years ago to make way for another beachfront high-rise, this one owned by Marriott, so Paula and I – who had continued the Sea Castle stays in February to escape Northeast Ohio winters -- had to switch to a Siesta Key rental about a block away.

Hugh and Sharon have another reason to be happy. They were among the retired printers in the health care lawsuit against the Beacon Journal. A judge’s preliminary injunction restored their prescription co-pay benefits, made the BJ reimburse them for their extra prescription costs above the retirement-day co-pays and reinstated secondary insurance coverage, which usually pays the 20% of the costs that Medicare allows but doesn’t pay. Medicare pays the other 80%.

Only those printers named in the lawsuit got their $2 to $5 co-pay prescription benefits back and reimbursement for overpayments -- husband and wife Dave and Gina White, who live in Venice, Florida after decades of residing in Sarasota; Norm Mattern; Ray Wolfe; Ruth West; Bob Abbott; and three or four others whose names I don’t know yet.

Retired printers who did not join the lawsuit continue to pay hundreds of dollars more than those who signed up for the lawsuit.

I also have a health care lawsuit against the Beacon for changing my Guild retiree coverage long after I retired. That case has not been resolved.

If you want to contact Hugh and Sharon, their phone number is (352) 789-7481. Their email address is Hudown@TheVillages.net Their U.S. mail address is 17900 S.E. 87th Bourne Ave., The Villages, FL 32159.

To catch up on what's happened to other former BJ employees, click on Catching Up under Labels on the left side of this page.

Giffen posts photos of African safari

Tom Giffen and wife are touring Africa and he has been posting some beautiful photos on his facebook page. You may have to friend him to see the photos.



Go to photos

Miami Herald congratulates Heat

As if reading the Sports section didn't suck enough for Heat fans this morning, Miami Herald readers opened their paper to find a nearly full-page ad reading "Congratulations Miami!" next to photos of Heat championship T-shirts and hats from Macy's

Read story

Newspaper stocks good, but avoid McClatchy

A Wall Street Journal story reports newspaper stocks have been depressed by the industry's woes. But some could reward investors because the companies possess valuable nonprint assets like TV stations and Internet properties, as well as still-profitable papers.

In contrast, investors probably should avoid two weaker newspaper companies: debt-laden McClatchy (MNI) and Lee Enterprises (LEE).

Only about 25% of adults from 18 to 34 read a daily paper. Newspapers, however, remain an important source of local news, and they have done a good job of cutting costs, resulting in healthy profit margins of around 20%.

Gannett, at about $14 a share, trades for less than seven times projected 2011 profits of $2.20 a share. Mr. Arthur argues that it's cheap, given the value of its 23 TV stations around the country and its digital properties, notably a 51% stake in CareerBuilder.com, a leading online jobs website. Mr. Arthur has a $17 price target.

New York Times, at around $8, looks appealing, based on a sum-of-the-parts analysis that factors in its ownership of the About.com website, along with the Boston Globe, some regional newspapers and a 16% stake in the Boston Red Sox and that team's regional sports network. When these assets are taken into consideration, investors may be paying little for the Times' flagship paper. Bulls see the stock hitting $10, where it traded earlier this year.

Read the article

BJ wins Cleveland Press Club awards

The Beacon Journal's Bob Dyer, Phil Trexler, Bob Downing, Cheryl Powell, Stephanie Warsmith and the team of Jim Carney, Jim Mackinnon and David Knox won first place in Cleveland Press Club reporting awards.

Photography first places went to the BJ's Ed Suba Jr. and Karen Schiely.

There were other lesser awards for BJ staffers.

Click on the headline to see the entire story in the BJ.

Beacon Journal tribute to Linda Golz

By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
Linda Golz, a Beacon Journal reporter who also reviewed letters to the editor, died Saturday afternoon.

Mrs. Golz, 61, suffered a brain hemorrhage while driving from the Beacon Journal to her Wadsworth home late Friday and died Saturday at Akron General Medical Center.

Mrs. Golz hit another car and when police arrived, she reported that she thought she had suffered a stroke, according to her husband, Mike Golz. There were no other injuries, Golz said.

Beacon Journal Metro Editor Rich Desrosiers said Mrs. Golz had moved from the newspaper's library, where she was a library researcher, to her current job in 2007.

She worked at night, splitting her time between the editorial section and the newsroom.

She enjoyed her new role, which included going out on assignments and making nightly calls to area police and fire departments.

Mrs. Golz, ''knew many of the dispatchers by name,'' Desrosiers said.

''She just loved to meet people.''

Mike Golz agreed.

''She just really enjoyed people . . . telling people's stories,'' he said.

He said his wife ''was one of the rare people who has had a lot of truly good friends. She had a whole bunch of best friends.''

Mrs. Golz's daughter, Carrie Frederick, said her mother ''was very giving, not only to her family and friends, but to strangers and other people in her community.''

Mrs. Golz began working for the Beacon as a correspondent in the late 1980s, covering various government meetings. Previously, she was a freelancer for area weekly and other local newspapers.

She became a Beacon employee in the early 1990s, working as a part-time library researcher. She was hired full time in 2001 before becoming a Beacon staff writer in 2007.

Mrs. Golz, a native of Pontiac, Mich., graduated from high school in Waterford, Mich., before moving to Northeast Ohio in the early 1970s.

Mike Golz said his wife was proud to be working as a professional journalist, even though she had no college degree. ''She did it on her own with no formal education,'' he said.

Mrs. Golz's only son, Jeff Little, died in a car accident in 1991. In addition to her husband and daughter Carrie Frederick, she is survived by daughter Alyson Brickey of Wadsworth and stepdaughter Laurie (Erik) Eberhardt of Massillon.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Monday, June 13, 2011, page B4, col. 4]

BJ's Linda Golz dies at 61

 Linda Golz suffered a stroke on her way home from work at the Beacon Journal on Friday and died at the hospital, according to an email from managing editor Doug Oplinger.  Oplinger said her daughter called the newsroom and talked to Bob Downing. Lida was 61.

Wheels in Hugh Downing's town

Retired BJ printer Hugh Downing and wife Sharon live in The Villages, Florida.

The Villages was designed with 90 miles of golf cart paths for its residents to get to the shopping mall, the grocery stores, the restaurants, the hospital and, yes, to the golf course, although there are 50,000 golf carts and only 16,000 of The Villages' citizens play golf. The carts are customized -- for $6,000 to $20,000 apiece -- to look like hot rods, Mustangs, you name it.

Hugh may be in this video, but he wasn't named in the audio.

It you want to contact Hugh, his phone number is 352-259-7556 and his address is

Hugh Downing
17900 S.E. 87th Bourne Ave.
The Villages, FL 32159

I haven't been able to find an email address for Hugh or Sharon.

To check out the video and the myriad of golf cart looks, click on the headline.

Glenn Proctor starts new venture

Harry and Beacon Gang:

I guess I am too young or too ---- to relax. So, this is much next venture.

Glenn

Glenn Proctor

Founder/Training Director

REDDjobb LLC

Leadership Training - Coaching - Motivational Products - Career Services

glenn@reddjobb.com www.reddjobb.com 888-557-5459

(goes live July 2011)

Personal contact: proctor.glenn@gmail.com 804-678-8570

Retired Record-Courier editor dies

Luella D. Cordier (nee Heupel), retired editor of the Record-Courier, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend to many, passed away June 8, 2011.

Lou was born April 7, 1922 in Akron, the eldest daughter of Philip A. Heupel, Sr., and Julia Cole Heupel, about whom she wrote Out of Their Silence: A Memoir of Philip and Julia.

Luella was married to Albert T. Cordier of Mogadore for nearly 60 years before his death in September 2001. Lou was a graduate of Springfield High School and Kent State University's School of Journalism. She was editor of the Record-Courier and received numerous awards for her work as a journalist. Luella was a member of The Chapel and its choir for many years.

Lou was predeceased by her parents; husband; and brother, Philip Jr. She is survived by daughters, Nancy (Dick) Bauer, Suzanne (Frank) D'Annolfo, Kristine (George) Karnezis; and son, James (Betty) Cordier; 12 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; sisters, Doris (Tom) Kot and Marie Dittebrand; brother, Ray (Judy) Heupel; many nieces, nephews and friends.

Funeral service will be held Monday, 10:30 a.m. at Hopkins Lawver Funeral Home, 34 S. Cleveland Avenue, Mogadore, Ohio 44260, with Pastor Jim Mitchell officiating. Burial at Greenwood Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Luella's memory may be made to Camp Carl c/o The Chapel, 135 Fir Hill, Akron, Ohio 44304, or, for a journalism scholarship, to the KSU Foundation, c/o Christine Isenberg, 131 Moulton Hall, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44240.
(Hopkins Lawver, MOGADORE, 330-733-6271)
www.hopkinslawver.com
[Akron Beacon Journal, Thursday, June 9, 2011, page B4, col. 4]

Mark Schlueb email in spotlight again

Mark Schlueb's parting email at Knight-Ridder CEO Tony Ridder is the lead in Jack Shafer's article about snappy retorts on the way out the door of your ex-employer. In Slate.com, Shafer quotes Schlueb's classic 2001 line, much in the manner of the huffy Ann Hill memo of Beacon Journal lore: "I would have loved to piss on your shoes."

Schlueb went to the Orlando Sentinel after his ouster from the BJ. He was laid off as BJ county government reporter 10 months after leaving his Daytona Beach News-Journal job and bringing his family to Akron

Click on the headline to read about what others wrote when their employers showed them the door.

To read Schlueb's email to Ridder, who rode K-R to its grave, click on Mark Schleub

Of loans, eye surgery, Africa

The talk at the monthly BJ Alums lunch at Papa Joe's restaurant included a major first loan, upcoming cataract surgery, a month-long visit to Africa and the "miracle" recovery from meningitis.

BJ Engraving retiree Pat Dougherty recalled the $4,200 loan he got from the Falls Catholic Credit Union from 1971-72 BJ State Desk reporter Paula Stone Tucker's dad, Paul. Pat bought a Volkswagen and a trailer home that he and wife Elizabeth lived in for 2 1/2 years -- behind the Midway Plaza shopping center off Brittain Road.

Paula's parents and Pat's parents were good friends for decades. Pat's dad was a BJ Engraver for years before Pat began working alongside his father at the Beacon. Pat's parents are deceased. Paula's parents Paul and Jane live in the Chambrel retirement complex in Montrose.

Pat is getting ready for cataract surgery on both eyes. Nearly everyone at today's lunch has had cataract surgery and expressed satisfaction with the results.

Pat's brother finally finished building an airplane inside his home, a project that took 2 1/2 years. He'll have to remove the wings temporarily to get the plane outside the building.

BJ Newsroom retiree Tom Moore said that he talked to former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen via Skype, the electronic contraption that lets you see the person on the phone. Giffen and his wife are in Africa for a month. Giffen runs the Roy Hobbs World Series for older baseball players in Florida every year, and Moore handles the daily newsletter and other chores for Giffen.

Tom Moore and wife Dot have their Akron home to themselves, now that daughter Caroline Moore Krack has gone back to Minnesota with her husband, John Krack. Tom says physicians describe Carolina's recovery -- other than some weakness on the right side -- from meningitis and a coma as "a miracle." Caroline was stricken in January and has been staying with Tom and Dot since her release from Summa's care.

Click on the headline for earlier stories on Tom Moore's daughter, Caroline.

Besides Pat Doughterty and Tom Moore, others at the BJ Alums lunch were retired printers Carl Nelson, Gene McClelland and Al Hunsicker and newsroom retiree John Olesky. Only the March lunch, which drew seven, had more in attendance in the past nine months.

The BJ Alums lunch is at 1 p.m. the second Wednesday of every month in Papa Joe's Restaurant on Akron-Peninsula Road and adjacent to Portage Trail Extension. Current or former BJ employees and their friends are welcome to show up for the food and conversation.

How are freelancers faring? Guild asks

The Newspaper Guild is conducting a survey to get a feel of how freelancers are faring today. Does it suck? Not so bad? Doing terrific, thank you very much? "We are seeking important feedback from people about ways organized labor could help improve the state of freelancing, whether it be print, video, blogging or photography,” a Guild official said. The Guild is asking freelancers to fill out its survey so it can use the results “to build a support system for those who remain committed to acts of journalism without the assurance of a steady paycheck.”

See the survey

Connie Bloom at Akron Art Museum Aug. 4

Former BJ staffer Connie Bloom, who has become something of a fabric art guru in Ohio circles, will give a talk and trunk show Aug. 4 at the Akron Art Museum's Downtown at Dusk series. 4. Her topic: "That's No Potholder Buster; How Contemporary Artists are Changing Public Perception About Quilts."

Connie also has been nominated as button artist for First Night Akron 2012, the annual New Year's Eve doings in downtown Akron.

Connie is publisher/editor of QSDS (Quilt Surface Design Symposium), a quarterly online publication. She has a studio at Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market Street in Akron. Her phone is (330)472-0161.


The photo shows Connie in 1965 as a Garfield High majorette.

Click on the headline to go to Connie's web site for more details on all this and more.

Coming soon: New newspaper size and shape

Ready for a radical redesign of your daily print newspaper? A new press system that would produce a compact, sectioned print edition has been on the market for nearly three years now.

So far, there have been no takers (and that’s a story in itself). But industry sources say that the considerable potential savings and punishing newsprint price increases will lead to the adoption of so-called “three-arounds” in at least a few places by the end of the year.

Jim Gore and Mark Huck of Pressline Services believe they have developed the pressroom equivalent of a better mousetrap and expressed plenty of frustration that the many nibbles from top companies had not resulted in a sale.

“We have a lot of people who say they want to go second,” Gore said, “but no one wants to be first.”

Click here to read about it on Poynter Online

Click here to read Pressline’s explanation

Oops! D-Day no longer worth a mention

Retired BJ printer Cal Deshong, 92, brings up a startling point:


Harry and John.... Looks like the Beacon Journal forgot about D-Day.... June 6, 1944 ..... [cal]

For those too young to remember and who haven't read their history books lately:
D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with more than 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944 along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy area of France. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in more than 5,000 ships were involved.

More than 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy.


Actually, Cal, the BJ had a long Bob Downing story on D-Day, but that was on Sunday. No reminder on Monday.

Click on the headline for details of D-Day, which is a military term meaning the first day of an offensive.

Tom Moore's daughter goes back to Minnesota

Caroline Moore Krack in van that is taking her back to Minnesota

Our daughter Caroline and husband John came for a holiday visit at
Christmas time.

That visit lasted until today became of Carol's illness.

Today she climbed into their van and headed back to Minnesota.

That's thanks to all the thoughts and prayers for her recovery and of
course we have to thank the great care she received in the Summa health care system.

Dot and I are a bit sorry to see her go, but we're flying to Minnesota
soon, so we'll see her again there.

Tom


Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack contracted meningitis and was in a coma for weeks. It's been a long road back, but now she's taken the road back to Minnesota.

Click on the headline for previous stories on Caroline/Carrie.

Add Kathy Fraze to BJ authors

Add Kathy Fraze to the list of Beacon Journal authors.

She has self-published six crime novels through Xlibris (Her son Bryan Larrick, also son of the late BJ staffer Bruce Larrick, does all the artwork).

When Mike Needs, once a BJ editor and Ohio.com honcho, heads back to California each year for his work with the Forest Service, Kathy posts a blog of “Letters from Louie” that chronicle the (mis)adventures of their dog.

New adventures start soon and prior years back to 2009 are archived as well.

Click on the headline to check Kathy's web site.

Click on "BJ Authors" under "Labels" on the left side of this page to see other stories on current or former Beacon people who wrote books.

Bit of freeze at BJ

The Beacon Journal is freezing vacation accrual for three months for non-union employees, one of them has advised this blog. The employee also complained the company had required them to use a week earlier this year.

Suburbanite to charge for web content

The Suburbanite, a weekly published in the city of Green in SummitCouunty, will begin charging to view some content on its website, theSuburbanite.com.

The move reflects the growth of the newspaper’s digital offerings over the years.

The Suburbanite is owned by Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media Inc. The publication is one of the first owned by the company to adopt a subscription model for its website.

Visitors to theSuburbanite.com will get unlimited access to the website’s homepage, breaking news, obituaries, weather, and multimedia offerings, including photo galleries.

Other articles on the website, including those in the news, region, sports and lifestyle sections, will fall into a premium category.

After reading 20 premium articles, readers will be asked to pay a monthly subscription to gain unlimited access for the site.

Occasional visitors to the website probably won’t know the subscription system exists. Heavier users who visit the website several times a day and want premium content will find themselves having to pay for full access.

To get full access to theSuburbanite.com, readers will be asked to pay $2.95 per month or $29.95 for an entire year. The annual subscription offers a discount worth two months of service.

See the announcement.

Louise Henry, 91, once wrote for BJ

Anne Louise Henry was born March 28, 1919 in Akron, Ohio to Axel and Christine Larson, who were both emigrants from Sweden. Louise always went by her middle name as did her husband, Rev. Wilbur Dean Henry. They married on December 26, 1944 and a snow storm the following day cancelled their plans for a Niagara Falls honeymoon. Louise lived her whole life in Akron until her move to Columbus Alzheimer Care Center in 2006. She died there on May 28, 2011.

She attended Coventry Township schools and graduated as valedictorian of her 1937 class. As a schoolgirl, she proudly delivered newspapers for the Akron Beacon Journal and briefly wrote for this paper too. After graduation, she worked for both Sun Oil and Seiberling Rubber Company as a secretary until her marriage.

Click on the headline to see all of Louise's obituary in the Beacon Journal.

2 Soap Box Derby books & movie heading your way

Carol Biliczky's story in today's Beacon Journal reports that The University of Akron Press is releasing two books on the All-American Soap Box Derby.

Former BJ reporter Melanie Payne is updating her 2003 "Champions, Cheaters, and Childhood Dreams: Memories of the Soap Box Derby." Former derby employee Jeff Iula, Cuyahoga Falls councilman, authored "How I Saw It: My Photographic Memory of the Soap Box Derby" with cowriter Bill Ignizio of Cuyahoga Falls, which will be out July 15. Jeff's dad, Ralph Iula, former BJ promotions director and Soap Box Derby chief, died in 2006.

Both books will appear in time for the debut of "25 Hill," a derby movie produced by actor Corbin Bernsen, on July 9 and the 74th All-American race for about 500 local race champions on July 23.

Click on the headline to read Carol's story in the BJ.

Chuck Strouse on Miami Herald building sale

By Chuck Strouse

​The McClatchy Co. announced this morning that it has sold one of Miami's most iconic buildings to a Malaysian resort and gambling company.

The company's chairman, Gary Pruitt, said it was no longer the era for a newspaper to be located on the bay. That says something about daily newspapers.

The good news: Herald reporters get to stay in 1 Herald Plaza for two years rent-free.

The bad news: They are going to knock down the building where I and thousands of Miamians worked for years. This must be what it feels like when your parents sell the house and tell you it's time to move out.

Scratch that: That's EXACTLY what it feels like.

The price: $236 million.

The buyer: Genting Malysia Berhad, or actually a subsidiary of that company.

News has been reported from that building for years. It was Herald founder John S. Knight's pride and headquarters of one of the nation's largest newspaper companies, Knight-Ridder, for years.

People hid under desks there when Hurricane Andrew went through in 1992. They held up there when riots burned down the town in the 1980s and 1990s. Then there was that unfortunate incident involving my onetime source, former Miami commissioner Arthur Teele.

I'll miss 1 Herald Plaza. I spent a chunk of my life there. And I am not alone.

McClatchy sells Miami Herald land, building

The struggling McClatcy newspaper chain sold 14 acres and its bayside building to a Malaysia-based company, which plans to develop the property as an entertainment complex. (A long-stalled agreement to sell about 10 acres of that land for $190 million a a Miami developer was terminated in January.) The cash deal allows the Miami Herald and El Nuevo to continue to operate from their current location rent free for two years as owner McClatchy searches for a new location. The Herald reports:
 

McClatchy will use the $163 million from the sale to bolster the company’s pension plan and $65 million to pay down debt. The remaining monies will be used to pay for relocation and taxes associated with the sale.

 “While locating a newspaper operation on the bay may have made sense in the past, it no longer is the best fit,’’ said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy’s chairman and chief executive.

Read the Miami Herald story

Geigers to celebrate 50th wedding anniversary

Sandy and Pete Geiger on their wedding day and today (inserts)

BJ Alums got this email from former BJ staffer Pete Geiger, who lives in Penney Farms, Florida, a Christian retirement community 38 miles west of St. Augustine, after spending 13 years in Mongolia:


Good Morning,

Some of you were there; you know who you are.

Sandy graduated from Eastern Baptist College (now Eastern University) and we all trooped westward to New Castle, Pa. to celebrate her birthday. And then there was the wedding in First Baptist Church, where she married Pete. (He, a part-time student, took another two years to finish college.)

Hard to believe that was a half-century ago, eh?

Well, it was; and now we're going to mark the occasion by renewing our vows. We'd thought you'd like to know. There must absolutely be no remembrances other than your good wishes, OK?

Our renewal ceremony will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 3, 2011 in First Presbyterian Church of Green Cove Springs, Florida. That's 50 years and five hours from the time we tied the knot. The Rev. Dr. W. Hunter Camp II will officiate. If you're close enough to be there, we definitely want to see you in the congregation. A very small reception with cake and punch will follow in the church's "Friendship Hall."

God has been extremely good to us. Our ceremony will be one of gratitude and much of our thankfulness has been for all of you who have been with us through some or all of the years of our marriage. May He bless you abundantly, as well.

With love,

Sandy and Pete Geiger
P.O. Box 2000
Penney Farms, FL 32079


If you choose to email the Geigers rather than mail them a card, the email address is

psgeiger@bellsouth.net

Their phone number is (904) 284-2220.

The Geigers returned last month from a cruise of the Danube River in Europe.

Click on the headline to see earlier stories about the Geigers.

BJ's Dyer wins commentary award

The Society for Features Journalism has awarded Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer third place in the General Commentary category among newspapers with a daily circulation of 90,000 to 200,000. His entry consisted of a cross-section of columns from 2010. The first- and second-place winners both write for the Palm Beach (FL) Post. The awards will be presented in August at the group's annual conference in Tucson, Ariz.
[Source: Beacon Journal]

Jeff Iula writes Soap Box Derby memoirs

Jeff Iula, who followed in the footsteps of his dad Ralph (former BJ promotions director), has written a book with Bill Ignizio about Jeff's tenure as All-American Soap Box Derby general manager.

"My Photographic Memory of the Soap Box Derby" will go on sale July 15 at the University of Akron bookstore. Jeff will host a presentation July 15 at the University of Akron’s Martin Center. Corbin Bersen’s derby movie, "25 Hill," will premiere in Akron July 9.

Four of the groomsmen at Jeff's wedding 21 years ago were derby world champs.

Jeff is a Cuyahoga Falls councilman.

Ralph died in 2006.

To read the story on the Cuyahoga Falls Patch news web site, click on the headline.

Listen to Ted Gup at 10 a.m. Sunday on WVIZ

Author Ted Gup's appearance this week at the City Club forum in Cleveland will air on WVIZ-Channel 25 at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Ted, a former BJ reporter, discussed "A Secret Gift," about his grandfather, Samuel J. Stone, who wrote numerous checks anonymously under a made-up name to help out people in financial straits in the Canton area.

Ted also wrote “Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life” (Doubleday, 2007), winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and the bestseller, “The Book of Honor: Covert Lives And Classified Deaths At The CIA” (Doubleday, 2000.) He is a former investigative reporter for The Washington Post and wrote for Time magazine.

Since 2009, Ted has chaired the Emerson College (Boston) journalism department. He also taught at Case Western Reserve University, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

He and wife Peggy live in Boston and Bucksport, Maine. Their children are David and Matthew.

Click on the headline to see a previous BJ Alums article on Ted.

Paul Tople's grandson dies

Michael Ryan Tople, grandson of BJ photographer Paul Tople, died May 17

Michael Ryan Tople

Baby Michael was taken into the arms of Jesus on May 17, 2011. He was born January 18, 2011 in Akron.

He is survived by his loving parents, Mike and Jamie Tople. In his short time here he touched the lives of all of his family and friends.

We trust that Jesus Christ needs little angels for bigger things than we can understand.

Funeral service will be held 1 p.m. SATURDAY at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Private family interment at Greenlawn Memorial Park. Friends may call from 11 a.m. until time of the service on SATURDAY at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Michael Ryan Tople memorial fund at any First Merit Bank.
(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Friday, May 20, 2011, page B5, col. 5]

About getting the news

Bob Dyer’s column in today’s Beacon Journal ['Big news' has changed over time] is worth reading. It discusses an alarming trend on where people get their news and how little they know.

Read it.

Bob Dyer -- 33 awards and still typing away

Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer's selection by the Associated Press Society of Ohio for columnist of the year is old hat to Bob. It's his 32nd national or state award in a career that began in 1975 with the Wooster Daily Record and switched to the BJ in 1984.

In three years Bob -- my Blue Room lunch partner till my 1996 retirement from the BJ -- has een named Ohio columnist of the year FOUR times -- by the Associated Press Society of Ohio (2011), Ohio Society of Professional Journalists (2010 and 2009) and the Press Club of Cleveland (2010).

Bob one-upped that honor in 2008, when the National Society of Professional Journalists named him the best columnist in the nation.

Among the 13 first places for Bob:

General-Interest Column, Press Club of Cleveland, 2010.
Personality Profile, Press Club of Cleveland, 2005.
Feature Writing, Ohio Associated Press, 2001.
Feature Writing, Press Club of Cleveland, 1993.
Arts/Entertainment Writing, Press Club of Cleveland, 1987.
Arts/Entertainment Writing, Press Club of Cleveland, 1986.
Investigative Reporting, Women in Communications, 1986.
Newspaper Series, Women in Communication, 1986.

The rest of a long list of accomplishments for Bob:

Second place, Column Writing, Ohio Associated Press, 2008
Second place, Newsmaker Profile, Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, 2005.
Second place, Personality Profile, Ohio SPJ, 2000.
Second place, Public Service Journalism, Ohio SPJ, 1998.
Second place, Sunday Magazine Human Interest Story, Press Club of Cleveland, 1995.
Second place, Arts/Entertainment Writing, Press Club of Cleveland, 1990.
Third place, Best Columnist in Ohio, Ohio Associated Press, 2010.
Third place, Feature Reporting, Ohio Associated Press, 1993.
Third place, General-Interest Columns, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, 2008.
Third place, Herb Caen Award, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, 2010
Third place, Multiple-Topic Columns, National Society of Newspaper
Columnists, 2009.
Third place, general commentary, Society for Features Journalism.
Fourth place, Multiple-Topic Columns, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, 1996.
Honorable Mention, Personality Profile, Ohio SPJ, 2006.
Honorable mention, Feature Writer, Ohio Associated Press, 2002.
Honorable mention, Feature Reporting, Ohio Associated Press, 1989.
Finalist, Best Newspaper Series, Penney-Missouri Journalism Awards, 1987.
One of lead writers, Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, 1994.
Contributor, Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting, 1987.
Nominated for Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, 1993 and 2004.

Phil Trexler, this year named first in news writing and second in enterprise reporting by the Associated Press Society of Ohio, was third in news writing a year earlier and got an honorable mention in breaking news in 2007.

Former BJ staffer David Giffels was chosen best news writer in 2008, when the Beacon Journal was first in community service.

Ken Love was first in spot news photo in 2007, with Phil Masturzo second.

Former BJ staffer Terry Pluto, now at the PD, won first place as sports writer in the latest Associated Press Society of Ohio awards.

The Columbus Dispatch had the most winners (52) this year.

Massillon Independent was first among newspapers with circulation under 13,000. The Indie also was first in 2007, second in 2009 and third in 2008.

Click on the headline for the list of all the winners of this year's Associated Press Society of Ohio awards in the BJ's circulation category.

Pete Hammill discusses future of news

Author Pete Hamill discusses future of journalism (and newspapers) on Morning Joe

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NY Times editor on Morning Joe

New York Times editor Bill Keller discusses the NYTimes online paywall on Morning Joe

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Winges elected AP Society director

Bruce Winges, vice president and editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, was elected as a director of the Associated Press Society of Ohio for 2011-12 at the group's annual convention Sunday. Winges will represent newspapers with a daily circulation of more than 50,000.

Also serving on the board, with a term expiring in 2012, is Jeff Gauger, editor of the Canton Repository, representing newspapers from all circulation divisions as an at-large director.

Laura Kessel, managing editor of The (Willoughby) News-Herald, was elected president of the Associated Press Society of Ohio for 2011-12 at the group's annual convention Sunday.

Lance White, managing editor of The (Wooster) Daily Record, was named president-elect, and Peter Mattiace, editor of The (Findlay) Courier, was named trustee.

Jim Bebbington, managing editor of the Springfield News-Sun, was elected to represent newspapers with a daily circulation of 10,000 to 50,000.

David Fong, executive editor of the Troy Daily News, was elected to represent newspapers of up to 10,000 daily circulation.

Winges, Bebbington and Fong were elected to two-year terms.

BJ staffers win AP awards

Beacon Journal staffers won honors in the Associated Press Society of Ohio on Sunday. Bob Dyer won a first place as best columnist, Phil Trexler won a first as best news writer and Nate Ulrich won a second place for best sports writer. Trexler also won second place for best enterprise reporting.
[Source: Beacon Journal, Monday, May 16, 2011, page B1]

Delano Massey laid off again

Former BJ staffer Delano Massey apparently just can't keep a job. Massey, a J-grad of University of Akron, got a job at the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader in the early 2000s and worked his way up from cop reporter to regional editor. At some point he jumped to the Beacon Journal, which he considered his dream job, but then was laid off, maybe within a year or so. The Herald-Leader was thrilled to get him back. Then last week he was let go again. Newspapering's a tough racket these days.

BJ advertises leasing of building space

As reported earlier on this blog, the Beacon Journal will combine all it departments on the third floor and lease space on other floors of the building. Here is an advertisement for the leasing:


Pickard Commercial Group announces the appointment as the exclusive representatives for the Historic Akron Beacon Journal building located at
44 E Exchange Street, Akron, Ohio.

Office/Retail Space for LEASE
44 E Exchange Street
Akron, OH 44308



Available Space: 29,890 SF, including Mezzanine space, 2nd Floor Office Space, and First Floor Office/Retail Space

Lease Rate: $10.50/SF and $8.50/SF

Features:

Beautiful landmark building with distinctive architecture
Built in 1929 in the heart of downtown Akron
Secured entrance and attached parking deck offer convenient access for employees and clients
Unique mixture of surrounding businesses and residents, including the University of Akron
Easily accessible to greater Cleveland/Akron area via Route 8, I-77, and I-76
CISCO VOIP (phone service) available



For information on this property, please contact:

Jim Pickard at (330) 794-7986

Quartet at BJ Alums lunch

From left: Gene McClelland, Calvin DeShong, Al Hunsicker, Tom Moore

Newsroom retiree Tom Moore filed this report on the 1 p.m. second Wednesday of the month BJ Alums lunch at Papa Joe's:

John:

Just four of us. Next month a phone booth?

Tom

Joining Tom were retired printers Gene McClellan, Calvin DeShong and Al Hunsicker.

Except for January 2011 when no one braved Northeast Ohio's winter to show up, the quartet was the lowest total since three made it to the December 2010 lunch.

I confess that I forgot about it, again. I didn't post it on my calendar, as I usually do, and I didn't have anything else going on of any consequence. I since have put the monthly dates for the rest of the year on my calendar.

Sorry, Tom.

There hasn't been a double-digit attendance since the dozen who made it to the March 2010 lunch. It's beginning to feel like The Last Man Club.

If you show up at 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month at Papa Joe's, you would be welcomed with open arms. It's open to current and former BJ employees, and spouses of both categories. Heck, if you are a neighbor to either category, show up and swell the attendance total. We're a dying breed. Literally.

LA Times wins SDX award

Sigma Delta Chi 2010 award winners:
The Los Angeles Times wins yet another award (Investigative Reporting; Daily Circulation 100,000+) for its Bell investigation. The Public Service Journalism Award (Daily Circulation 100,000+) goes to the Washington Post for “Top Secret America.” The award for Breaking News Coverage (Network/Syndication Service/Program Service) goes to “NBC Nightly News” for its Chilean mine rescue coverage.
PLUS: Many more winners

Update on Marv Katz's daughter

Marv Katz, who included the Beacon Journal in his 40-year career, posted this information yesterday about his daughter, Lisa, on the CaringBridge.org web site:

This is from Lisa's dad, Marv Katz, with editing by both Lisa and her sister, Susie...payback for the editing I did of their high-school papers.

The majority of Lisa's surgery did not go forward today. The surgical oncologist did a laproscopy first and found a number of rice-grain sized nodules throughout her abdomen that a quick biopsy showed to be cancerous. They provided something less than the "pristine" environment he'd hoped to find, and he decided not to go ahead. He closed the two small incisions he'd made and sent Lisa home. The nodules aren't immediately threatening to Lisa's well-being, so Lisa will go back on chemo in two weeks.

The better news is that what appeared to be a tumor near one of her ovaries is instead a cyst, and also apparently non-threatening. The other tumor is less accessible and the surgeon decided not to examine it because that would involve more dissection. He also determined the source of Lisa's recent abdominal pain likely was her liver, which showed a considerable amount of scar tissue from the chemo and radiation treatments.

There's no way of knowing whether the small nodules may have been larger earlier, and reduced in size by the chemo and radiation, but that's a possibility -- one we can hope to be the case. Knowing more about them may enable the medical oncologist to make changes in the chemo cocktail to make it more effective.

The information gained today also may help make Lisa eligible for any appropriate clinical trials at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, if she chooses to participate.

In the meantime, Lisa is home and, after a four-hour nap this afternoon, she has joined us in the living room for a while, kicked back in half of the reclining love seat with Susie next to her doing some charting for work. We've been recounting the day together and, since Lisa had been down for most of Sunday afternoon and evening with her bowel prep (Happy Birthday!), reading through posts to CaringBridge from midday yesterday through today. Lisa has also gotten to field a couple of phone calls as they've come in within the hour, surprising the callers who sure didn't expect her to be here or answering the phone.

Lisa is experiencing the dry mouth that is routine after surgery and is also a bit tender where the surgeon did his work. She and Thomas have felt the love and support of all of you, particularly those among the sisterhood, and now brotherhood, of the purple toes (and shirts). I'm sure she'll be posting here herself as soon as she feels fit enough to deal with her laptop.


Click on the headline for an earlier report on Lisa's health situation.

Pete & Sandy Geiger cruise the Danube

Sandy and Pete during Mongolia Days

Former BJ staffer Pete Geiger and wife Sandy live in Penny Farms, Florida, a Christian retirement community 38 miles west of St. Augustine, after spending 13 years in Mongolia, sent this email in reply for my request for information about them:


John,

Sandy and I are just back from cruising the Danube; a wonderful experience! We've never before been on a group tour, preferring to buy plane tickets, rent a car and go find B&Bs. We may not do so again, but figured this was a good way to get an education about a part of Europe where we'd not been previously. All-in-all, that proved true.

Pete


Their sightseeing included Wallfartsbasilika Church atop Pöslingburg Hill in Linz, Austria.

When I emailed back, requesting yet more details, Pete replied:


We enjoyed the travel and appreciated the local information
afforded by the guided aspect of the trip. I, more than Sandy, did not
especially enjoy being herded.

Being on tour enabled us to do some things we otherwise could not have done: a visit to a Kindergarten in Bratislava; lunch in a private home in Cesky Krumlov. I suppose it's a trade-off. I would hesitate doing it again, not to say I would resist,
and Sandy is enthusiastic about it.

Everyone told us -- and the Internet comments seem to agree -- that
Grand Circle is the premier river cruise line for Europe. They're based
in Boston, 1-866-313-3744. You'll still wind up spending (a lot of money),
all-in-all, but we believe it's a worthwhile price.

You might want the Danube on your bucket list and this is probably the way to do it.

Pete

Cathy Strong trip to Kenya

Click on the headline to read the first journal entry of Cathy Strong on her trip to Kenya. You will need a facebook log on.l

Jane Scott turns 92

Jane Scott, the legendary journalist who covered four decades of rock 'n' roll for The Plain Dealer, turned 92 on Tuesday, May 3. Her byline appeared in the newspaper thousands of times, above music features, concert reviews and her long-running "What's Happening" column in Friday! magazine.

Her first day at The Plain Dealer was March 24, 1952, three days after the world's first rock concert -- Alan Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball at the old Cleveland Arena. She retired 50 years later on March 28, 2002. She lives in Lakewood.

See the story with photo album on Cleveland.com

[Source: PD Alumni News blog

Staging of Obama photo described

Reuters White House photographer Jason Reed says that “once Obama was off the air, we were escorted in front of that teleprompter and the President then re-enacted the walk-out and first 30 seconds of the statement for us.” Al Tompkins points out:

That means the photograph that appeared in many newspapers Monday morning of Obama speaking may have been the staged shot, captured after the President spoke. This type of staging has been going on for decades. …

This practice of re-enacting an historic speech flies directly in the face of the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics which includes this relevant passage: “Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities.”

Kathy Lally and husband a lonely pair in Egypt

Former BJ staffer Kathy Lally reports on the drastic economic costs of Egypt's revolution. While in Cairo with her husband, Kathy writes:

On a short four-night trip to Cairo, we found ourselves walking blissfully alone around attractions usually surrounded by fleets of buses, overrun by long lines of tourists and immersed in a din of languages. The revolution here, with its attendant uncertainties, has made tourists keep their distance, to the profound regret of a nation that depends on them.

Paula and I were in Cairo only a few weeks before the protests began that led to the February 2011 ouster of long-time dictator Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak. Popular sightseeing sites were crowded with buses filled with tourists, which unleashed hundreds of people traveling to the Great Pyramids, King Tut's golden artifacts in the Egyptian Museum, the Aswan Dam, the Valley of the Kings, etc.

Egypt is a desperately poor country that depended heavily on tourists to keep it afloat financially. We saw hundreds of dilapidated buildings and horrid sanitary conditions.

Kathy left the BJ in the mid-1970s for the Baltimore Sun and rose to Moscow correspondent and deputy foreign editor. Kathy left the Sun for the Washington Post about seven years ago, where she is deputy business editor. Her husband, Will Englund. won a Pulitzer in 1998 for an investigative reporting series on shipbreaking.

They have two daughters: Kate, who is a photo editor for Getty Images in New York, and Molly, who graduated from Emerson in theater.

If you want to read Kathy's tale of the financial penalty of political unrest, click on the headline.