Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association

The Oklahoma Publisherwww.OkPress.com

www.Facebook.com/okpressVol. 86, No. 11

16 Pages • November 2015

INSIDENEW OWNERS: Three Oklahoma newspapers recently sold – The Wynnewood Gazette, Boise City News and Freedom Call. See who the new owners are at these papers.

PAGE 3

SALES PROMOTIONS: Take a look at some of the first place winners in last year’s Better Newspaper Contest’s Sales Promotion event.

PAGE 9

COVERING TRAGEDY: The Stillwater News Press and The O’Colly cover the homecoming parade tragedy .

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DONATE TO ONF to receive this Will Rogers print. Details at OkPress.com/will-rogers.

Special section focuses on Oklahoma’s missing children

The McAlester News-Capital recently confirmed that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation at McAlester Public Schools.

“We have opened an investigation into an allegation of official misconduct involv-ing an employee of the school district,” OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown told the News-Capital. She declined to identify the employee.

Brown said it’s possible the investigation could take weeks to complete.

“Our main objective is to gain informa-tion and put it into a report and provide it to the district attorney,” Brown said.

The OSBI initiated the investigation at the request of the McAlester Police Depart-ment.

The News-Capital began a special inves-tigation into finances at McAlester Pub-lic Schools in early September after MPS Superintendent Dr. Marsha Gore’s reas-signment of former MPS Business Manag-er/Treasurer Brent Grilliot and the hiring

of outside financial consultant and trea-surer Paula Crawford.

In the Oct. 3 issue of the News-Capital, Editor Glenn Puit told readers that the newspaper was beginning a review of the school’s finances “just to make sure every-thing was okay.”

Puit, along with reporters David Dish-man and James Beaty, reviewed records detailing school district finances.

“We’ve asked repeatedly via state open records requests for a specific, line item list of expenditures from that account, along with details of what the money was spent on and who spent it,” said Puit.

“Reporters Beaty and Dishman, under the guidance of Editor Puit, have done exemplary work regarding this investiga-tion,” said News-Capital Publisher Amy Johns. “Our community deserves to know how their tax dollars are being spent and it is our responsibility to shine the light where there is darkness. I can say based

on our investigation, the spending is out of control at MPS.”

The newspaper’s conference room has been overtaken by boxes and stacks of paper over the past few months, said Johns.

“The stacks of paper are financial doc-uments obtained from McAlester Public Schools as part of our newsroom’s com-prehensive review of finances at the school district,” she wrote in a Nov. 8 column. “All of the documents were obtained through open records requests.”

Puit said the investigation is part of a long-term project to detail school district spending.

“Why are we doing this?” he asked. “It’s your money the school board is spending.”

Johns said these type of stories don’t come around very often. “My job is to loosen the reigns and give the news team the time and the tools to make certain it is done right.

“I am beyond proud and humble to work with such great journalists.”

McAlester News-Capital investigates school board’s questionable spending

A special section dedicated to child safety and the missing chil-dren of Oklahoma recently ran in six Oklahoma newspapers.

The Sequoyah County Times, McIntosh County Democrat, Okmulgee Times, Henryetta Free-Lance, The Eufaula Indian Jour-nal, Eastern Times Register and Vian Tenkiller News all ran the 28-page tabloid in October.

This is the first special section published in the six newspapers under the direction of Publisher Jeff Mayo.

“This was a starter piece for us,” Mayo said. “I hope it leads into more sales.”

On the date the section was published, there were 62 missing children from Oklahoma.

Each child’s photo, description and information about their dis-appearance was presented in the section.

The section also contained stories about how schools work to maximize each child’s safety at school and in the community as well as tips on Internet safety for children.

A story on human trafficking by Roy Faulkenberry, editor of the Sequoyah County Times, also appeared in the section.

Denise Gordon, a sales executive at the Henryetta Free-Lance, came up with the idea for the section, said Mayo.

Information was readily available from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website at www.missingkids.org/Safety.

“They maintain a database and were glad to have it publicized,” said Mayo. “Of course we asked permission before doing it.”

2 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

The source was confidential. The gov-ernor was livid.

I had waited on the governor for more than two hours in the hallway outside his office at the state Capitol.

I wanted to ask him about a land deal – that, according to my source – involved the governor. But, the property had been placed in the names of rela-tives to apparently hide the governor’s involvement.

As the governor and his security, staff and associates entered the hallway and headed for their cars, I fell in step with them, held a tape recorder toward the governor and asked about the land transaction.

I had never seen the governor more aggravated. Furious better describes him.

-RT-The last person who wants to use

an anonymous source in a story is a reporter.

When sources are unnamed, all the responsibility of what is being disclosed rests squarely with the reporter whose byline is on the story. The reporter and newspaper’s credibility is on the line.

Any story is better if sources are fully disclosed so the public can evaluate who is speaking, what they are saying, consider their expertise and knowledge, and explore their possible motives.

But, if the story is important enough, sometimes sources must remain anony-mous to shield them from retaliation, such as loss of employment, harassment, or even at extreme times to ensure their personal safety.

It is only by the press granting ano-nymity at times that the public is able to learn important information about the operations of federal, state, tribal and local governments, the military, law enforcement, colleges and schools, polit-ical campaigns, etc.

Allowing “whistleblowers” to remain anonymous on occasion allows the “watchdog” journalist to find out and report about wrongdoing within com-panies, corporations and other private institutions and businesses whose opera-tions impact the public such as hospitals,

nursing homes, day care centers, private prisons, casinos, etc.

Oklahomans are fortunate that the state has a Shield Law that helps journal-ists protect confidential sources.

At least twice during my long career – once during a grand jury investiga-tion – I have been on the witness stand and asked by hostile lawyers to reveal sources. Both times I declined by invok-ing the state Shield Law and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guaran-tee of Freedom of the Press.

In both cases, judges ruled that I did not have to reveal the sources of my stories. (I was sure glad that my wife and I didn’t have to try and explain to our children why dad was in jail, but hadn’t done anything wrong.)

Often times I’ve wished that I could have revealed sources – such as the story about the governor’s land deal years ago – because some of them were prominent and readers would have found their identities interesting. Some of the very people who have screamed the loudest about leaks surrounding politi-cal, court and law enforcement stories were the very leakers of the information.

-RT-The governor – visibly angered –

hurried with his staff down the steps of the Capitol to their waiting cars. I contin-ued to try and ask questions about the secret property deal, but the governor was having none of it.

As the governor slid into the back seat of his chauffeured car, I reached my arm through the open door and offered a hand shake. I remarked that it was nothing personal; that I just wanted to get his side of the story.

Instead of a shake, he grabbed the handle and jerked the door shut. I barely was able to extract my hand without getting hurt. The red-faced governor glared at me. (The story about the land transaction ran on the front page the next morning.)

I remember pausing and watching as the governor and his entourage sped away. Also witnessing the whole thing was my confidential source, pale as a ghost.

THURS., DECEMBER 10, 2015

WEBINAR: POWER OF DATACost: $15 for OPA members, 10:30 a.m.

This session will provide a roadmap for implementing data-driven operations at your organization. How to get started with data. How to use demographic data. How using data can save marketing money for your organization. It also includes ways to avoid veering off the data road by getting lost in reports or overwhelmed with the information you unleash. To register, visit inlandpress.org/training/webinars.

MON., DECEMBER 14, 2015

HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS DUEThe Hall of Fame honors Oklahoma journalists who have dedicated their lives to excellence in serving the citizens of our state and country. Nominations may be sent to Terry Clark at tclark@uco.edu or Journalism Hall of Fame, University of Central Oklahoma, 100 N. University Ave., Edmond, OK 73034. To download the nomination form, visit okjournalism.uco.edu/nomination-form.asp.

THURS., FEBRUARY 11, 2016, 9:30 AM

OPA LEGISLATIVE SUMMITCost: FREE but please register in advance

Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma CityOPA’s Legislative Summit is free to attend, so all OPA members are encouraged to meet at the State Capitol on Feb. 11. We’ll have a short group meeting in the Blue Room on the 2nd floor, then split up to visit your legislators’ offices. Lunch will be provided by OPA in the 2nd floor Capitol rotunda area. Please register by Feb. 8. Email OPA Member Services Director Lisa Sutliff at LSutliff@okpress.com with any questions.

FRI. & SAT., JUNE 10-11, 2016

OPA ANNUAL CONVENTIONDOWNTOWN OKLAHOMA CITY SHERATON HOTEL

There will be a few changes, most importantly a schedule move to Friday and Saturday. We’ll host education/networking sessions and social events Friday afternoon through Saturday leading up to the annual awards banquet Saturday evening where we will celebrate the winners of the Better Newspaper Contest.

For more information on upcoming events, visit the OPA website at www.OkPress.com or contact

Member Services Director Lisa Sutliff at (405) 499-0026, 1-888-815-2672 or email LSutliff@okpress.com.

OPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Using anonymous sources

After more than a year and a half, Gov. Mary Fallin’s office released more than 40,000 pages of documents related to state executions.

In December, the Tulsa World, its par-ent company BH Media Group and for-mer World editor Ziva Banstetter sued Gov. Fallin and Public Safety Commis-sioner Michael Thompson for alleged violations of the Open Records Act.

Attorneys for the Reporters Commit-tee for Freedom of the Press are repre-senting the newspaper in the lawsuit, which is pending in Oklahoma County District Court.

The governor’s office declined to

release 54 pages of documents it deemed confidential.

In a separate lawsuit, the Oklaho-ma Observer newspaper and a nursing home reform group, A Perfect Cause, is suing Fallin’s office for records related to nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

The nursing home reform group requested the records concerning the execution of two inmates in May 2014; the Oklahoma Observer requested the records in July 2014.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order the immediate release of all records related to the requests, and attorney fees.

Governor releases execution records

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 3

The Oklahoma Publisher

PUBLISHERMark Thomas

mthomas@okpress.com

EDITORJennifer Gilliland

jgilliland@okpress.com

OPA OFFICERSRobby Trammell, President

The OklahomanDayva Spitzer, Vice President

Sayre Record &Beckham County Democrat

Rod Serfoss, TreasurerClinton Daily News

Mark Thomas, Executive Vice President,

Oklahoma City

OPA DIRECTORSJeff Funk, Past President

Enid News & EagleBrian Blansett, Tri-County HeraldTed Streuli, The Journal Record

Ray Dyer, El Reno TribuneMike Strain, Tulsa WorldJohn Denny Montgomery,

The Purcell RegisterMark Millsap,

The Norman Transcript

SUBSCRIBE TO THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER

$12 PER YEAR

THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER (USPS 406-920) is published monthly for $12 per year by the Oklahoma Press Association, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499. Periodicals postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499.

ISSN 1526-811X

Official Publication of the

Oklahoma Press Association

3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499

(405) 499-0020Toll-Free in Oklahoma:

(888) 815-2672www.OkPress.comnews@OkPress.com

www.Facebook.com/OKPress

LEWIS FLOYD handles the Southwest and Southern States. Lewis Floyd – (850) 532-9466; lfl oydmedia@gmail.com

W. B. GRIMES & COMPANYhas sold over 1,400 newspapers over the years and appraised thousands of others.

What’s Your Paper Worth? Find Out Today.A Free Confi dential Appraisal awaits via our web site.

www.MediaMergers.com

Looking for an acquisition?

NNA hires IPA as new management firmBeginning in January 2016,

the Illinois Press Associa-tion, based in Springfield, Ill., will become the National Newspaper Association’s new man-agement firm.

The press associa-tion will take over from American PressWorks, Inc., which will resume its public policy work and manage-ment of NNA’s Washington office, when the transition is complete.

APW began managing NNA’s busi-ness affairs in 2010.

Stanley Schwartz, NNA’s long-time

editor, will join the Illinois team. Schwartz oversees

the industry’s leading trade newspaper, Publish-ers’ Auxiliary.

Dennis DeRossett, executive editor of the Illinois Press Association,

said IPA was honored to be chosen to provide man-

agement services to NNA.“We are confident the syner-

gies of our combined resources will greatly benefit both organizations,” DeR-ossett said.

“Our missions are parallel – we are both strong advocates of newspapers

and the important role they play in our communities and in our democracy. At this time in our histories, this part-nership is an important next step that will strengthen both organizations and enable us to move forward in new ways to the benefit of our member newspa-pers.”

NNA was founded in 1885 and repre-sents about 2,100 community newspa-pers across America, with an emphasis on weekly and small daily newspapers.

The IPA was founded in 1865 and is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2015. Its membership consists of approximately 475 newspapers located throughout Illinois.

Islia Barnes recently sold the Free-dom Call to Lynn Martin, owner and publisher of the Alva Review-Courier/Newsgram.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks for your continued support of The Freedom Call over the past six years,” Barnes wrote in the Oct. 29 issue of the weekly news-paper. “The Freedom Call is 109 years old, and I am pleased to announce that it will continue to be published by Lynn

and Marione Martin of the Alva Review-Courier.”

Martin said after he heard that Barnes was going to close the newspaper, they “made a quick deal to continue publish-ing” it.

“We have plenty of photos and news items we don’t have space for in our other two publications,” Martin said.

Martin said there are plenty of busi-nesses surrounding the community that would welcome Freedom customers.

“We hope their interest will be suf-ficient to keep this historic newspaper going,” he said.

Several thank you notes convinced Martin he had done the right thing. Tom Gregory of Rockwall, Texas, wrote, “I cannot remember a time in my 60 years on this earth that a newspaper from Freedom wasn’t available. Thank you for ‘stepping up to the plate.’ The new for-mat is a welcome sight and the increase in news stories is a nice addition.”

Alva Review-Courier publisher purchases Freedom Call

THE WYNNEWOOD GAZETTE is under new ownership. Mark and Cindy Lewis purchased the weekly publication from longtime owner and publisher Larry Russell on Oct. 6.

The new owners moved to Wyn-newood from Noble more than four years ago and have become immersed in the community, city government and schools, said Russell.

Mark Lewis is a firefighter in Oklahoma City, just two years away from retirement. He also is a licensed plumber. The Lewises purchased and

renovated a historic home in Wyn-newood.

“Cindy hired on as a reporter in August and Mark jumped right in to help us out chasing down stories and doing backup photography,” said Rus-sell.

Russell said she searched for four years to find someone who would run the newspaper and care for it as she had.

“I have been fully blessed and can retire with a full and happy heart,” she said.

THE BOISE CITY NEWS recently sold to Blake and Ashley Wells.

C.F. David reported the sale in the Sept. 23 issue of the newspaper.

David has been in the newspaper business for 18 years.

“I have covered birth, death, mur-der, robbery and rape, along with cel-ebration anniversaries, birthdays and political events,” he said in his column.

“It’s been fun but it’s time to step aside,” he said.

Faith Wylie, co-publisher of the Oologah Lake Leader, won an award at the national writers’ conference at Rose State College in Midwest City in September.

Wylie won the award for the opening page of her first novel. The novel, “The Revelation Key,” is nearing completion.

Wylie also conducted one-on-one seminars on how authors can edit man-uscripts to make the writing crisper, shorter and more vivid.

Faith Wylie wins writing award

Wynnewood, Boise City under new ownership

4 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

Farmer joins Grove as sports editorChloe C. Farmer has joined the Grove

Sun staff as sports editor.Farmer graduated from the Univer-

sity of Central Oklahoma in Edmond in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications.

She has received several awards,

including “outstanding broadcaster of the year” at UCO in 2013. She also won first place at Oklahoma Broadcast Edu-cation Association for her role on the sports show, The Huddle, where she covered the football team from Edmond Memorial High School.

New publisher in Tahlequah

Beau Simmons was recently named as managing editor of the Stillwater News Press.

As managing editor, Simmons will be in charge of managing the news coverage of the daily newspaper, as well as its website, stwnewspress.com, the quarterly Stillwater Style magazine and various special sections or projects.

Prior to accepting the Stillwater posi-tion, Simmons was news editor at The Norman Transcript following a stint as chief copy editor. He also worked as sports editor at the Durant Daily Demo-crat and began as staff writer at the Pryor Daily Times. While at the Tran-script, he was section editor of the Bed-lam special section that ran throughout the state.

He has worked in newspapers for

more than 10 years after graduating from Northeastern State University with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communi-cations.

“I love the environment and vibrancy that is inherent in college towns,” Sim-mons said. “This is an incredible com-munity, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Dale Brendel, publisher/editor of the News Press, said Simmons has devel-oped strong skills in writing, editing and design, and gained experience in other markets delivering quality news products.

“We’ve made a number of changes the last couple of years to improve our local coverage of Stillwater and the Payne County area, and we think Beau will help us make some further improvements in both our print and digital products.”

Stillwater gets new managing editor

Sara Fisher has been appointed gen-eral manager of the Pauls Valley Demo-crat.

Fisher succeeds Loné Beasley, who recently retired. Fisher is currently advertising director of the Democrat. She will continue in that role, as well as serving as general manager.

“It is truly an honor to become gen-eral manager of the Democrat,” said Fisher. “I am totally committed to con-tinuing our strong tradition of quality journalism and outstanding customer service.”

“Sara has been an outstanding leader

since she first joined the newspaper in 2008,” said Steve McPhaul, executive vice president and chief operating offi-cer of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., the paper’s parent company. “We are very confident that she will continue to grow as an executive in her new role as general manager of the Pauls Valley Democrat.”

Fisher has made Pauls Valley her home since 1992. She is involved in numerous community organizations and activities. She is married and has two children.

Pauls Valley Democrat names Sara Fisher as general manager

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Terry Erwin, former publisher of the Poteau Daily News in LeFlore County, has been named as publisher of the Tahlequah Daily Press.

Erwin plans to work with businesses and community leaders to help Tahle-quah grow and prosper. To assist in his goal, Erwin will focus on digital and print advertising.

“This is a great community, with the lake and the river and the downtown,” said Erwin. “I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Erwin is a native of Santa Barbara, Calif., and a 1981 graduate of Pepper-dine University, which he attended on a water polo scholarship.

He has an adult son and two grand-children.

Steve McPhaul, chief operating offi-cer of Community Newspaper Hold-ings, Inc., owner of the Tahlequah Daily Press, said Erwin has the experience to serve the market well.

“We look forward to continued suc-cess under Terry Erwin,” said McPhaul.

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 5

You’ve Got Questions!• Can I photograph minors without consent?

• Can police deny access to recordsby issuing a press release?

• Should I alter my archiveswhen a person demands it?

• Can I report inaccurate tesimony given in open court?

• What are the laws about liquor advertising?

These are questions answered by the attorneys for the OPA Legal Services Plan members in recent months. Newspapers always need timely legal advice on issues related to newspaper publishing.

You should join OPA’SLEGAL SERVICES PLAN!

See www.OkPress.com/LSP or contact Lisa Sutliff at (405) 499-0026 or toll-free in Oklahoma 1-888-815-2672

The Oklahoma City Mayor’s Commit-tee on Disability Concerns honored out-standing Oklahomans with disabilities and their advocates on Oct. 27.

Among the winners were Paula Burkes, business reporter for The Okla-homan and NewsOK.com, who won the media public affairs award.

Don Sherry, producer of “The Last Poster Child,” received the media public service award.

Vicky Golightly of NewView Okla-homa received the George Lewis Award.

Other winners were Joe Cordova, executive director, Oklahoma Depart-ment of Rehabilitation Services, public personnel employee of the year; Willis Washington, policy adviser and advocate for the Oklahoma United Spinal Asso-ciation, Don David Award; and Paula Falkenstein, Oklahoma City General Services director and Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns outstanding member of the year.

Governor Mary Fallin recent-ly appointed Sherry Muchmore of Ponca City to the board of directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) for a second three-year term.

Married to Tom Muchmore, pub-lisher of The Ponca City News, Sherry writes a weekly Lifestyle page, “The Neighborhood Chef,” in The Ponca City News each Tuesday, and a week-ly Neighborhood Chef column in The Tonkawa News.

Sherry Muchmore previously served on the Oklahoma Literacy Council and numerous boards in Oklahoma City and Ponca City. She has been active in Ponca City for over 20 years, serving as president of the Marland Estate Commission, Friends of the Pioneer Woman Statue and Museum, the Ponca City Council of Garden Clubs and Four O’Clock Garden Club.

She was on the steering committee for the Standing Bear Statue; twice chaired the Gala at the Marland Man-sion; and is currently president of the Ponca City Herb Festival, an event held on the first Saturday in June each

year that attracts over 10,000 visitors and over 100 vendors annually.

The mission of the Oklahoma His-torical Society is “to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma.” The OHS maintains 31 museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. The Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City is one of the museums overseen by the OHS.

The organization is based out of the Oklahoma History Center at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoman business reporter receives media award for advocating disabilities

Sherry Muchmore appointed to Historical Society board Phillip Reid, owner of Reid Newspa-

pers, Inc., has joined the Board of Advo-cates at the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma.

The Stephenson Cancer Center Board of Advocates includes community lead-ers from across the state. Members are invited to learn about cancer research and treatment at bi-annual meetings, and serve as an advocate for the Stephenson Cancer Center, and cancer awareness, in their communities.

Board members are asked to make a two-year commitment, which includes attending meetings at Stephenson Can-cer Center, connecting in small working groups in between meetings, and raising awareness for the center.

Reid, who lives in Weatherford, is publisher of the Weatherford Daily News, Vinita Daily Journal, Nowata Star, Perry Daily Journal, The Bethany Tri-bune, Afton American and The Grand Laker.

Phillip Reid joins Board of Advocates at OU’s Stephenson Cancer Center

When a high school student who loves video was asked to participate in a new mentoring program at Canadian Valley Technology Center, he had no idea he would be paired with the pub-lisher of The Express-Star in Chickasha.

Michael Kashay, a senior at Amber-Pocasset High School, was assigned to place videos alongside news stories on the newspaper website by Express-Star Publisher James Bright.

Kashay said every Friday Bright would give him a new story to work on. At first Bright helped by setting every-thing up, but about three to four weeks into it, he began paying Kashay for each story.

“Michael took an instant liking to

the work,” Bright said. “I’d give him an assignment, and he produced eight or nine videos over a range of topics. After each video, I’d give him my opinion. After about the third assignment, he started editing on his own.”

The program at the Canadian Val-ley Technology Center is called men-tor match, and was developed by Gay Pettit, the center’s career development counselor.

More than two dozen students were paired with mentors last year.

Kashay said the experience enhanced his love of shooting videos and he plans to enroll in Oklahoma City Community College’s film production program for a career as a news videographer.

Chickasha publisher participates in high school mentoring program

Carla Hinton, The Oklahoman’s reli-gion editor, recently received the Clarus Award from the Public Relations Society of America-Oklahoma City chapter.

She was honored at an award dinner in Oklahoma City.

PRSA said the Clarus Award is pre-

sented to a member of the working media who exhibits fairness in report-ing and whose work reflects favorably on the practice of news reporting. It symbolizes the importance of clarity of purpose in reporting the news affecting the lives of readers, listeners or viewers.

Religion editor wins Clarus Award

6 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

DEATHS

DAVID RANDALL FISK, a retired news-paper editor, writer and photographer, died Oct. 9, 2015. He was 62.

Fisk was born Dec. 15, 1952, in Dal-las, Texas. He was a 1975 graduate of East Texas State University (now Texas A&M Commerce).

He worked for newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma since he first picked up a camera in about 1970, and had a knack

for finding interesting perspectives in his photography.

Fisk was managing editor of The Commerce Journal after college and then moved to Tyler, Texas, where he was city editor of the newspaper there.

He came to Oklahoma in 1979 to work as an editor at The Oklahoman. After retiring in 2007, he combined his love of sports with a long-time dream

and opened Images Gallery, The Art of Sport, in Edmond, Okla., which closed in 2010.

In recent years, he spent much of his time traveling and photographing new places.

He is survived by his daughter, Lisha; three sisters, Rothy Moseley, Heather Myers and Jennifer Storz; a niece and two nephews.

Donate to ONF

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Foundation will support

its efforts to improve the

state’s newspaper industry

and quality of journalism.

ONF’s programs include

training and education for

professional journalists,

scholarship and internship

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ONF relies on donations

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RICHARD ‘TED’ BUSWELL, former guest columnist for the Kingfisher Times & Free Press, died Oct. 15, 2015, at his home in Kingfisher. He was 81.

Buswell was born Feb. 3, 1934, in Kingfisher. His mother was a well-

known teacher in the town and after trying different career paths, he decided to follow in her footsteps. After retiring from school work, he agreed to write a bi-weekly column for the Kingfisher Times & Free Press.

Buswell is survived by his daughters Carmen Barrios, and Julie Coughlen and her husband Leo; two siblings, Enid May Bates and Dr. Arthur ‘Bill’ Bus-well, both of Kingfisher; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

JANE CAROLYN MORGAN, former owner of The Hughes County Times, died Aug. 7, 2015. She was 85.

Morgan was born July 15, 1930, in Henryetta. After graduating from Bartlesville College High School in 1948, she attended Lindenwood College in Missouri for one year before transfer-ring to Oklahoma State University. She graduated in 1952 with a degree in fash-

ion merchandising. She married William C. “Bill” Morgan that same year.

After Bill’s service in the Army, the couple moved to Henryetta where Bill worked for the local newspaper. In 1958, the couple bought the Wetumka newspa-per, The Hughes County Times.

In 1963, Jane decided to start a pri-vate kindergarten class that was later integrated into Central Elementary. She

commuted to East Central University in Ada to earn her state teaching certifi-cate. She later earned a master’s degree in education from ECU.

Morgan is survived by daughter Julie Morgan of Pompano Beach, Fla.; son Andy Morgan and wife Chris, of Dallas; brother Tom Robertson of Bartlesville; sister Sue Pike of Oklahoma City, and two grandchildren.

JOHN B. CRISWELL, a former Okla-homa journalist, died Oct. 16, 2015. He was 84.

Criswell was born Oct. 3, 1931, in Tulsa and adopted as an infant by Bert and Gertrude Criswell. He graduated high school in 1949 and then attended Tulsa University.

His journalism career began at the Stigler News Sentinel and Haskell Coun-ty Tribune. He later became editor of the Tahlequah Star Citizen. After a short stint at a paper in Arkansas, Criswell

was hired as editor of the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, a position he held until he joined the Army and was sent to Korea.

After returning home, he rejoined the Phoenix before moving on to the Houston Press and then Scripps-Howard Daily.

Criswell also was involved in poli-tics, becoming the press secretary for J. Howard Edmondson, former gover-nor of Oklahoma. He eventually was named by President Lyndon Johnson to be director of the Democratic National

Committee, and then elected as trea-surer. He was invited to join President Johnson on his return to Austin and become manager of the Johnson televi-sion property. Instead, Criswell returned to Stigler and worked as an arbitrator for the National Mediation Board until his retirement.

He is survived by his partner of more than three decades, Don W. Hickman; sister Patricia June Beall and husband Harry of Mesa, Ariz., and various nieces and nephews.

In Memory of Our Friends & ColleaguesJohn Edward Speaker

Oct. 1, 2014

John & Tinker HrubyOct. 13, 2014

Jackie Leroy FarleyOct. 23, 2014

Royal Glen ‘Sonny’ StoneNov. 2, 2014

Charles ‘Chuck’ DownsNov. 7, 2014

Lisa RollinsNov. 13, 2014

Mac Leone BradleyNov. 17, 2014

Gloria Dee LeatherockNov. 18, 2014

DEATHS Continued on Page 7

JAMES R. KUKAR, 73, a newspaper edi-tor for a half-century including 15 years editing the Miami (Fla.) Herald, died Oct. 20, 2015, in Sochi, Russia, during a tour of the Black Sea region.

Kukar of Boynton Beach, Fla., was associate editor of Florida Bulldog, an independent online newspaper, follow-ing his 2008 retirement from the Herald. At the age of 21, Kukar was tapped as

city editor of the now-defunct Oklahoma Journal daily newspaper in Oklahoma City.

Born June 26, 1942, in Fort Smith, he launched his journalism career as a cub reporter for the Fort Smith Times Record, then was a reporter at the Sapul-pa Herald before becoming state editor of the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times, then accepting the Oklahoma City editor’s slot.

Kukar attended the University of Oklahoma and Central Oklahoma State University while a full-time newsman.

Kukar is survived by sons, Blake Kukar of Somerville, Tenn., and Jacob Kukar of Boynton Beach, Fla.; a daugh-ter, Paloma Kukar, of Delray Beach, Fla.; stepson, Gabriel Espino of Fort Lauder-dale, Fla.; and a sister, Patsy Jo McBride of Hackett, Ark.

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 7

Make Hall of Fame nomimations by December 14

ROBERT REED, a former Oklahoma col-umnist, died Oct. 11, 2015, in Fairfax. He was 81.

Reed was born Oct. 20, 1933, in Pawnee and graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University. He was employed at Southwestern Bell Telephone Com-pany for many years and enjoyed writ-ing editorials for newspapers in Fairfax, Shidler, Pawhuska and many others.

His editorials were titled Farmer Bob’s Report.

He is survived by his five children, Jody Markus and husband Paul of Fair-fax, Robyn Roach and husband John of Ralston, Mary Reed of Dodge City, Kansas, Douglas Reed and wife Aliyse of Pawhuska, and Roger Ray Reed and wife Julian of Mountain Home, Ark.; and many grandchildren and great grand-children.

WILLIAM MILNER ‘BILL’ WALLER, for-mer managing editor of the Claremore Daily Progress, died Oct. 19, 2015, at his home in Tulsa. He was 89.

Waller was born Feb. 21, 1926, in Pawhuska and spent his childhood in Wynona. In 1943 his family moved to Claremore after his father became employed at the DuPont “powder plant.”

After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Waller graduated from the University of Arkansas with

a degree in journalism. He served as managing editor of the Claremore Daily Progress, editor of Tulsa Magazine, and contributed countless op-ed pieces to the Tulsa World and The Tulsa Tribune.

Waller was heavily involved in the Tulsa community, serving on several association boards and working for the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.

He is survived by Jo, his wife of 60 years; daughter Sarah Scott and hus-band Doug; son Barrett Waller and wife Mary, and two granddaughters.

JEAN WHITE, a columnist for The Coun-try Connection News in Eakly, died Oct. 22, 2015. She was 84.

White was born Feb. 23, 1931. She graduated from Mooreland High School in May 1949, and married Dean White in June.

She was active in the Crow Roost Community, boosting the community in her Crow Roost column in The Country

Connection News. She always had the latest joke to tell on Mondays when she brought her news to the newspaper office, and often had a little gift she had made.

White is survived by her children, Ronnie White and wife Donna of Moore-land, and Randa Jean Sims of Yukon; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and siblings Jo Miller, Joyce Irvin and Jack Miller.

DEATHS Continued from Page 6

SUE NELL YOUNG, a former employee for the Bethany Tribune, died Nov. 8, 2015. She was 89.

Young was born Jan. 8, 1926, in Bethany. She attended Bethany-Peniel College before marrying Robert ‘Bob’ Young in 1949. She spent the majority of her life raising their five children. Young

enjoyed accompanying her husband on various aircraft club events, working for the Bethany Tribune and baking.

She is survived by daughter Kim Boughten and husband Gary; daughter Denise Young; son Phillip Young and wife Reeca; son Jeff Young; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

TONY L. WILLIAMS, a former reporter for The Oklahoman, died Oct. 23, 2015. He was 63.

Williams was born Feb. 11, 1952, in Holdenville. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Univer-sity of Central Oklahoma, where he was elected one of the United States’ out-standing journalism school graduates by the Society of Professional Journalists. At UCO, he served as editor-in-chief of the school paper, “The Vista.”

After graduation, Williams worked as a reporter for The Oklahoman and United Press International. Eventually he went on to work as a writer in several industries, and then as a radio personal-ity, news anchor and traffic reporter.

Williams is survived by his son, Brian Andrew Tony Williams and wife Car-rie; one grandson, Noah; brother Jerry Williams and wife Nancy; and several nieces.

Monday, Dec. 14, is the deadline for nominations into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame honors Okla-homa journalists who have dedicated their lives to excellence in serving the citizens of our state and country.

Nominations may be made by email to tclark@uco.edu or mail to Terry Clark, Journalism Hall of Fame, Univ. of Central Oklahoma, 100 N. Univer-sity Ave., Edmond, OK 73034. Nomi-nation forms are available on the hall’s website at okjournalism.uco.edu.

8 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

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Patriot Guard Riders from Oklahoma retire tattered American flags during a special ceremony honoring Oklahoma’s fallen heroes at the Vietnam War Memorial in the Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park at Enid Woodring Regional Airport.

Photo by Bonnie Vculek, Enid News & Eagle, September 13, 2015

SIGN OF THE TIMES – Ringling’s Jenny-Lu Zachary, a junior at Oklahoma State University, is a member of the American Sign Language Club and will be signing the Star Spangled Banner and the OSU Alma Mater at the home football games for the Cowboys. This was her first time to do this on Boone Pickens Field.

Photo by Jay Grace, The Ringling Eagle, September 15, 2015

The September 2015 contest was judged by a member of the

Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

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SEPTEMBER 2015 DAILY WINNER:

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Enid News & Eagle

SEPTEMBER 2015 WEEKLY WINNER:

JAY GRACE

The Ringling Eagle

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 9

Award winning sales promotions from 2014It’s beginning to look a lot like … con-

test time. That’s right, it won’t be long until rules for the OPA’s Better Newspa-per Contest are sent to members, who will be scurrying to find award-winning entries.

While you’re thinking about what you might enter, we thought we would share some of last year’s first-place entries in the Sales Promotion category.

In no particular order are those win-ners. We’re looking forward to seeing the great entries that come in this year.

THE MCINTOSH COUNTY DEMOCRAT won first-place with its special section, full-color magazine that focused on com-munity businesses, industrial growth and tourism schedules. The magazine was inserted into local papers and distributed around the county in hotels, restaurants and travel stops.

THE MIDWEST CITY BEACON collabo-rated with the City of Midwest City to produce a holiday section promoting local businesses and holiday events. This winning section served as a component of the city’s Shop Local campaign and was mailed to a target zip code.

Every year, the TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS produces The Green Country Visitors Guide to encourage visitors to Northeast Oklahoma. To give it a fresh look, the newspaper changed the name and layout of the magazine to target an audience outside of the area, which appealed to more businesses – and made it a winning entry.

THE PURCELL REGISTER produced a pre-season football preview section that was inserted in both subscription copies and rack sale copies. In addition, a copy was given to each football player and coach in the coverage area. The Register ended up with a 64-page magazine that was produced entirely in-house – from layout and design, to writing and photog-raphy.

THE SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR put their reader’s in a zombie apocalypse state-of-mind with its Zombie Apocalypse Sur-vival Guide. The guide was included in every newspaper, was available on their website and was given to every visitor at their Boo On Bell Halloween event. The guide included an event calendar for the Boo On Bell festival along with maps and diagrams. It also included tips on how to survive if you happened upon a pesky zombie. The purpose was to entertain, draw new readership and promote Hal-loween activities.

THE JOURNAL RECORD received first-place with its special publication and awards event, which recognized busi-nesses that give back to the nonprofit

community. Not only did it allow the paper to spotlight charitable businesses and the nonprofits they support, it also provided the opportunity to draw rev-enue through event sponsorships, event sales and magazine advertising. Top-level sponsors included a bank, a production company and two charitable foundations. The event sold over 400 tickets and approximately 30 companies advertised within the magazine. The event was pro-moted by email solicitation and postcard mailing by the Oklahoma Center for Non-profits. House ads and a story were also published in The Journal Record before the event.

BROKEN ARROW LEDGER was a winner with its 2nd Annual Community Calen-dar. The benefit of the calendar to its advertising partners is its shelf life. The Ledger partnered with Broken Arrow Public Schools, contacting fourth-grade teachers at each of the 13 elementary schools. Each school was assigned a month to illustrate in the calendar and a variety of topics were offered for teachers to choose from. A panel of judges chose the drawings and essays that would be featured in the calendar from hundreds of entries received. The calendar allowed advertisers sponsorship at different lev-els, with the main sponsor having the most visible presence.

For the holiday season, the COWETA AMERICAN created the Hunt for Christ-mas, which allowed readers to participate in a “scavenger hunt” for a $1000 cash prize. Ten advertisers were featured each week in a two-page spread. In addition, each business had five map pieces at their location. Businesses took turns as the featured ad in the spread and donated a prize. Ten sponsors paid $75 per week for a 10-week hunt period. The eleventh advertiser was the Presenting Sponsor. This sponsor received coverage through-out the 10 weeks, which included stories, and their logo on house ads and web ads. They also donated the $1000 cash prize.

THE SEQUOYAH COUNTY TIMES created the “Find Our Diamond in the Rough” scavenger hunt promotion last year to generate interest and excitement within the community as well as boost ROP, cir-culation and readership.

Locations were chosen to hide clues, which also were added to participating advertiser ads. One advertiser agreed to be the headline sponsor, donating two recliners and a big screen TV for the grand prize. The Times ran several house ads to promote the scavenger hunt. Rules required participants searching for clues to have an “Official Hunting License,” which was available at the newspaper office free of charge.

10 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

“It was all hands on deck.” How do you cover a tragedy when it

rips your hometown and makes national news?

That’s how Barbara Allen, adviser for Oklahoma State University’s O’Colly, and Beau Simmons, managing editor for the Stillwater News Press, describe the quick reactions and work of their staffs after the homecoming parade tragedy last month.

Both papers had people covering the parade when it happened, and out of the chaos, those journalists produced great journalism under extreme emotional and physical stress and pressure. Makes you proud of community newspapers.

The O’Colly – Reporter Stetson Payne of Broken Arrow was prepping for a tailgate nearby when Managing Editor Kaelynn Knoerschild of Edmond alert-ed him about the accident. She began group texting to pull the staff together. Photo editor Kurt Steiss of Richardson, Texas, was already at the parade.

Editor-in-Chief Kassie McClung of Tulsa and digital editor Emily Farris of Carrollton, Texas, worked from home to coordinate print and online cover-age in the immediate aftermath. Social media editor Savannah Evanoff of Bro-ken Arrow and audio editor Luke Spen-cer of Stillwater were in the newsroom immediately, also to help coordinate. Sierra Winrow of Oklahoma City is the design editor.

“These students did a really great job handling the violence,” Allen said. “It was a great lesson. They thought you had to cover the news with stoicism and detachment, but when it’s very personal they learned it’s okay to be emotional, and you still do your job.”

Afterward, The O’Colly provided coun-selors to help students cope with what they’d been through, and she said the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman bought the students dinner Sunday and Monday nights.

Allen credited The Oklahoman’s online “Live Article” for helping keep the staff up to date, “It’s a great model, very inclusive regardless of source.”

Tiffany Gibson, assistant enterprise editor at The Oklahoman, said the paper began the practice about three years ago for covering big breaking news.

“It’s the best thing we’ve found to feed information to our readers at a rapid pace,” she said. The paper posts everything that is relevant from reliable

news sources – Twitter, Facebook and other sources. Editor Kelly Dyer Fry called her at home that Saturday, and she worked from there. Here’s the link to the Stillwater coverage: http://news-ok.com/article/5455763.

Stillwater News Press – Simmons praised his staff for how they covered everything.

“They were so professional it seemed as though they had actually had crisis training,” he said.

Reporter/photographer Michelle Charles and David Bitton were both covering the parade, and Bitton was only about a block from the accident with his family.

He heard screams and first thought a bomb had gone off or something. Mak-ing sure his family was safe, he texted Simmons and went to the scene. With-out a camera, he began taking photos with his phone. The main photo on Sun-day’s paper and others that went nation-al on the wire were from his phone. Charles was further back in the parade route and arrived to start reporting and photographing. They soon had news up on the website and on social media.

Sally Asher of the Enid News & Eagle was there to watch the parade and came in to see how she could help. She ended up filing a hospital story. Jimmie Gil-lispie, sports writer, came into the office to help with social media, and get photos

out to AP. CNHI executive Bill Ketter suggested the timeline sidebar on page one.

Their work made the News Press news-central nationally, for the AP and other news organizations seeking sto-ries, photos and interviews.

The O’Colly – And, here is dramatic narrative from Monday’s lead of Knoer-schild’s O’Colly story:

“The faint melody of the Oklahoma State alma mater faded into the dark at the core of campus just after 8 p.m. Saturday.

“On Library Lawn, illuminated only

by the light shining through the win-dows of Edmon Low Library, nearly 100 people gathered at a student-led vigil to remember those killed and those fight-ing for their lives.

“Students formed a circle around the remaining homecoming signs speckled with words boasting loyalty, tradition and community – words with meanings that had been tested continuously since 10:31 a.m.

SEA OF CHAOS“Throngs of people proudly sporting

orange gear packed the sidewalks sur-

Journalists shine in darkness of tragedyClark’s Critique

by Terry ClarkJournalism Professor,

University of Central Oklahoma, TClark@uco.edu

Continued on Page 11

Featured newspapers this month: The O’Colly, Stillwater News Press, The Oklahoman, Tulsa World, The Journal Record, Owasso Reporter, The Ada News and The Hennessey Clipper.

By David Bittondbitton@stwnewspress.com

The driver suspectedof DUI, who plowed avehicle through a crowdof people Saturdaymorning – killing fourand injur-ing morethan 40othersduring theOklahomaState Uni-versityhomecom-ing pa-rade –was seenleaving her place of workdistraught 30 minutesbefore the incident.

Adacia Chambers, 25,of Stillwater, was a part-time employee in “goodstanding” according toMark Thompson, ownerof the Freddy’s FrozenCustard & Steakburgersin Stillwater.

By David Bitton andMichelle Charlesdbitton@stwnewspress.commcharles@stwnewspress.com

Four are dead andmore than 40 injuredafter a sedan travelingat a high rate of speedran into a crowd of spec-tators during the Okla-homa State Universityhomecoming paradeSaturday morning.

The driver, identifiedby the Stillwater PoliceDepartment as AdaciaChambers, 25, of Still-

water, was arrested onsuspicion of drivingunder the influence.

Eyewitnesses said thevehicle was headingsouth on Main Streetabout 10:30 a.m. whenit struck a parked policemotorcycle before run-ning through a crowd ofspectators who were sit-ting and standing on theblocked-off Main Streetat the intersection withHall of Fame Avenue.

Bodies were scattered

Fond memories ofCharlie Fowler C1

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23

Marred by tragedy

Deadly crash strikesOSU homecoming parade

Employer of suspectedDUI driver says Chambers wasfine when she left work

Incident Timeline

Four dead, dozens injured as car plows through homecoming parade

DAVID BITTON/STILLWATER NEWS PRESSPeople react moments after more than 40 people were injured when a vehicle was driven into a crowd of people during the Oklahoma State University home-coming parade in Stillwater on Saturday.

BLAINE LEWIS/PONCA CITY NEWSAdacia Chambers is led away from the scene of anaccident after she drove a vehicle into a crowd ofpeople during the OSU homecoming parade.

MICHELLE CHARLES/STILLWATER NEWS PRESSTwo women console each other at the scene afterSaturday’s wreck on Main Street.

Many patients treated and releasedfrom Stillwater Medical CenterBy Sally Asher andMichelle CharlesStillwater News Press

Stillwater MedicalCenter treated 43 pa-tients and transferredfour patients by air am-bulance to other hospi-tals in Oklahoma City

and Tulsa, hospitalspokesperson ShylaEggars said.

Three patients wereadmitted to StillwaterMedical Center but allof them either had beendischarged or were ex-pected to be discharged

See ➤ Crash, page A8

See ➤ SMC, page A8

Chambers

See ➤ Driver, page A8

Despite three recent botched attempts leading to a state-ordered moratorium on executions, a majority of Oklahomans continue to support the death penalty, according to new polling data.

A poll of 500 registered voters conducted last week by The Oklahoman in partnership with Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates found that 67 percent of Oklaho-mans support the death penalty, with 49 percent express-ing strong support.

“(The state) may have made a mistake, but I don’t believe they should stop doing their duty to society,” said Elizabeth Heath, 21, of Tulsa, a poll respondent who said she sup-ports the death penalty and opposes the moratorium. “I do believe they need to have some safe walls, maybe more people checking they have the right drugs, but if it’s sched-uled that they are set to die at this particular time, I think it should be carried out.”

But support for the death penalty in Okla-homa could be waning. The poll found

BY GRAHAM LEE BREWERStaff Writergbrewer@oklahoman.com

SEE POLL, PAGE 2A

TODAY’S PRAYERWe know You care for us, dearest God, and we ask You to take away our anxieties. Amen.

WEATHER

SOME SUN H: 67 L: 48

PAGE 10A

Volume 124, 295Four sections Copyright 2015The OklahomaPublishing Co., Oklahoma CityAll rights reserved

Classified 1DComics 6CDeaths 7ALottery 3AOpinion 8ASports 1B

New poll results shed light on how Oklahomans feel about executions

Preachers lead rally against abortion, same-sex marriage

Abortion and same-sex marriage came under fire Sunday as preachers and politicians urged Oklaho-mans to take a stand against the U.S. Supreme Court rulings they said go against biblical Scripture.

Several thousand attended the “Protect Life and Marriage Rally” held on the south steps of the State Capitol building.

The gathering, about two-and-a-half hours long, included speeches from congressional leaders and state legislators, plus prominent metro pastors.

The event’s organizer, the Rev. Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church and leader of Reclaim-ing America for Christ, told the crowd that the rally was designed to educate, motivate and, ultimately activate their rights as U.S. citizens troubled by

BY CARLA HINTONReligion Editorchinton@oklahoman.com

Two hours after kissing her boyfriend goodbye and leaving for work Saturday morning, a 25-year-old Stillwater woman found herself in handcuffs, accused of mowing down a crowd at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, injuring dozens and killing four.

Adacia Avery Chambers is being held on four complaints of second-degree murder and driving under the influence of drugs.

Alcohol is not believed to be involved in the crash, Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas said Sunday.

Chambers has not been charged. She is expected to face a judge Monday after-noon.

“I don’t believe right now that she was intoxicated,” said Chambers’ attorney, Tony Coleman.

“I have deep concerns about her

BY MATT DINGERStaff writermdinger@oklahoman.com

‘Nobody knew

what was going on’

Stillwater community, others mourn OSU homecoming crash victims; lawyer says driver is mentally ill

Nikita NakalNash Lucas

Bonnie Stone

Oklahoma State University senior William Brown listens to a prayer Sunday night during a candlelight vigil on the campus of OSU. The community gathered to remember those affected by the homecoming crash. [PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN]

THE OKLAHOMAN MONDAY , OCTOBER 26 , 2015 REACHING MORE THAN 475,000 PEOPLE EACH DAY NEWSOK.COM OKLAHOMAN.COM75¢

Marvin Stone

BETHANY RALLIES AROUND PARALYZED FOOTBALL PLAYER PAGE 1B

INSIDE: Read about Oklahoma City’s firstjudicial execution, PAGE 1C

Go Code

NPRI

Go to oklahoman.com and enter the code to view related videos, photos and stories.Also: View a list of the injured online at NewsOK.com. In Sports: Mike Gundy gets emotional about crash, PAGE 1B

SEE CRASH, PAGE 4A

Read more about the victims on Page 4A

SEE RALLY, PAGE 5A

ANOTHER LOSS FOR ZOOThe Oklahoma City Zoo is trying to determine why Bogy, a 15-year-old male giraffe, died.PAGE 6A

Inside today’s Tulsa WorldAsk Amy .......... D8Books ................ G4Bus. People ....... E2

Celebrations .... D5Crosswords ..... G5Horoscope ...... C13

Letters .............. G2Money Power .. E3Movies .............. D6

Obituaries ......A22Outdoors.......... B11Tech .................... E5

Follow the World online Breaking news at tulsaworld.com facebook.com/tulsaworld twitter.com/tulsaworld

Today High 71, Low 43Partly cloudy. More weather on D10Get more weather coverage and check out our weather blog at tulsaworld.com/weather

www.tulsaworld.com

SUNDAYOctober 25, 2015

$2.00final home edition

8 1 1 7 7 5 0 0 0 0 2 3

Sunday - $2.00

SERVING NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA SINCE 1905

OSU TRAGEDY

BY BILL HAISTENWorld Sports Writer

STILLWATER — Gail Lamb was among the hundreds who massed near the southwest cor-ner of Main Street and

Hall of Fame Avenue, securing a prime location from which to view the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade Saturday.

Lamb is a Stillwater resident who attended OSU. Her daughter is a university employee. Her son-in-law is a university professor. Lamb says she was excited to attend the parade because her 8-year-old granddaughter and other members

of a dance troupe were to be fea-tured passengers on a float.

The granddaughter’s float rolled past the Main and Hall of Fame in-tersection only moments before a car careened into a crowd of spec-

Woman, 25, arrested on suspicion of DUI after

crashing into spectators

Parade shattered with four dead and more than 40 hurt, several critically

OSU community rocked as more lives lost in

horrific accident

Bystanders help the injured after a vehicle crashed into a crowd of spectators during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, causing dozens of injuries, on Saturday in Stillwater.  

DAVID BITTON/The News Press via AP

ARRESTEDAdacia Chambers: The 25-year-old

was arrested and

jailed on a com-

plaint of driving

under the influ-

ence.

Watch videos Witnesses discuss the tragedy

they saw unfold Saturday in Stillwater.

OSU, Stillwater officials share their thoughts.

tulsaworldtv.com

For moreLocals among

victims. A8 For fans, a

solemn, surreal

game. A9 For third time

in 15 years,

OSU hit with

tragedy. A9

JohnKlein

Senior Sports

Columnistjohn.klein

@tulsaworld.com

918-581-8368

Twitter:

@JohnKleinTW

Too many days like this for OSUSTILLWATER — There have been too many days

like this for Oklahoma State.“The Cowboy family pulls together,” said OSU

President Burns Hargis. “Unfortunately, we’ve had to do it before. We’ll do it again.”

Oklahoma State, wrestling with the emotions of yet another tragedy, played a football game Saturday.

OSU coach Mike Gundy said he went into a meet-ing room with his team in the morning and “we told them the truth.”

Atwell

‘Little kids were sitting all along that curb, getting the candy and everything. I just realize that they all could have been taken so quickly, when they were all so happy.’ — Gail Lamb, bystander

SEE KLEIN A9SEE CRASH A8

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 11

Clark’s Critique Continued from Page 10

rounding the parade path. People in the parade passed out candy and waved with grins to those in the crowd. The OSU Sea of Orange Parade, a decades-old tradition, was in full swing.

“And then it wasn’t.”

LOOKIN’EM OVER: I was stunned. I see a lot of good journalism and layouts every month, but am rarely stunned. That distinction goes to The Ada News for thrill-killing crime coverage, by Carl Lewis, Eric Swanson and Managing Edi-tor Shannon Lowry.

Lowry said she was striving to reflect the way the crime, and not-guilty-because-of-insanity verdict, has emotion-

ally torn the community. Saying readers described the events as creepy, she went for a different type face and created the torn look with help of paginator Breann Pinley. The issue sold out.

Kudos to Sarah Terry-Cobo of The Journal Record for her reporting on Sandridge Energy’s financial troubles, “Shaky foundation – Is Sandridge Ener-gy close to crumbling?” This in-depth investigative and informational piece took months. Here’s a story that never comes from corporate PR releases, or announcements. Instead she writes a story for more than just oilies…explain-ing for regular citizens about earth-quakes, fracking, injection wells, the Corporation Commission and more.

Lots of coverage for Veterans Day, including full page “We Salute Our Vet-erans” at The Hennessey Clipper, and a unique approach at the Morris News, showing photos of local vets from Korea, the Gulf and Afghanistan.

Also, the Delaware County Journal devoted 3/4 of its front page to Veterans Day; The Boise City News with photo of local memorial. Guymon Daily Herald’s April Coble writes about a local soldier on weather duty in Afghanistan. North-west Oklahoman & Ellis County News and The Purcell Register’s Jeanne Grimes, told the story of Armistice Day, “They Ceased Firing.”

Should be imitated: Bravo to Pot-tawatomie County commissioners for calling a Nov. 10 election to levy a half-penny sales tax for education, and The Countywide & Sun for Virginia Brad-shaw’s article and chart showing how much money each school district would receive. Rather than griping about taxes, this is editorial leadership.

Bravo to The Ardmoreite and the Tulsa World as the only newspapers to put a big political story on page one. Why was this ignored? AP reported it. First reported by the Dallas Morning News and The Frontier website in Tulsa, the Democratic Party wants an investigation of the governor and AG, after the Texas governor intervened in a case.

Lots of stories about the anti-texting law. Ralph Schaefer of the Tulsa Busi-ness and Legal News tells the story of the eight high school students who helped spark that law.

Morris News Editor Barry Thompson takes on politics and the press in his front page column, blasting the debate “joke” and the press, asking if they graduated from the “Buffoons School of Journalism?”

HEAD’EM UP AWARDS:First place, Okeene Record,

AND ‘SOW’ IT BEGINSover Toni Goforth’s photo, and what has to be the cutline of the month:

“J R Nusz of Homestead still does wheat sowing with his John Deere Model A. He’s pulling an old M & M drill, probably from the 1930s or 40s, belonging to Donald Goforth. The John

Deere A tractor was a two-cylinder let-ter series, built from 1934 to 1952. The A was John Deere’s first true row-crop tractor.”

Second place, tie, Hugo News and Still-water News Press:

Hugo, about continuing water prob-lems:

CITIZEN MORALE DOWN THE DRAINStillwater, Simmons’ head over Timo-

thy Cole’s story on the tragedy homicide charges and what many people are won-dering:

ABLE TO STAND?Third place, The Journal Record, head

by copy editors Adam Brooks and Ron-nie Clay:

SHAKY GROUND

Honorable mentions: Lone Grove Ledger, on Jerry Benson’s story about unused phone lines costing $900 a month, “Another mystery at the court-house”; Claremore Daily Progress on a Jean Dickens wreck photo, “Crash course”; Clinton Daily News on a Robert S. Bryan photo of a firemen in full gear, hosing down a flaming skillet, “Ready for anything”; Sayre Record & Beckham County Democrat, “Are you ready for the flu?”

The Ada NewsAda, Oklahoma www.theadanews.com

East Central Football Notebook — page 1B

Vol. 112 No. 169 75 cents

Serving the Heart of the Sooner State and Chickasaw Nation since 1904Friday, November 6, 2015

Thrill killer sent to asylum

By Eric Swanson

SHAWNEE -- In Decem-ber 2012, East Cen-tral University stu-dent Generro Sanchez agreed to give fellow student Jerrod Mur-ray a ride to Wal-Mart in exchange for gas money.But what started as a

routine chore quickly turned deadly. After Murray climbed into the vehicle, he pulled a gun on Sanchez and forced him to drive north of Asher, Sanchez drove toward

Asher, begging Murray to spare his life. But Murray shot him twice in the head, causing the vehicle to strike a tree.Murray pulled San-

chez out of the vehi-cle and shot him again, then pushed the body into a creek and cov-ered it with leaves and sticks.When Murray was

arrested near the scene, he allegedly told investigators he wanted to know what killing someone felt like.Murray was ulti-

By Carl Lewis

Five-year-old boys often exhibit erratic, unpredictable behav-ior, but attempting to commit suicide is not typically among their arsenal of antics. Yet that’s exactly what admitted killer Jer-rod Murray told psy-chologist Shawn Rob-erson he did on his fifth birthday. Mur-ray said the knot he tied didn't hold and he was found, lying unconscious on the ground, by his broth-

er.That was the begin-

ning of a long his-tory of bizarre and eccentric behavior that, on the evening of Dec. 6, 2012, culmi-nated in the murder of Generro Sanchez just outside Asher.Murray grew up in

the tiny community of Asher, about 20 miles northwest of Ada. From an early age, his behavior drew attention,. He often wore a suit to school because he said he liked the “weight” of it. Murray

Bank robber captured in Latta; others may have helpedBy Randy Mitchell

Prestige Justin Roberts, 25, of Ada, was

arrested early Thursday morning in the

Latta area by a contingent of area offi-

cers for allegedly robbing the Ada Wal-

Mart branch of Citizens Bank around

12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Victim The Murderer

See THE VICTIM, Page 4A

Photo of Generro Sanchez provided by his aunt, Michelle Gaarder Photo of Jerrod Murray by Carl Lewis

See THE MURDERER, Page 4A

Thurs., November 5, 2015 75 centsVol. 126 No. 19

UPCOMING

OUR MEMORIAL PARK

REMINDS US:

LEST WE FORGET

NEWSPAPERSIN EDUCATIONSUPPORTER

OF THE WEEK

EDNA L.BECK

Thurs., Nov. 5TOWN BOARD MEETING —7 p.m. Town Hall. Open tothe public.BLOOD DRIVE — 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. St. Joseph Catho-lic Parish Hall.

Fri., Nov. 6MEAL BEFORE THEGAME — 4:30 p.m., grassyarea south of the tenniscourts on Mitchell Rd.Hennessey and ChisholmFootball Cook-off. Dona-tions will determine thewinner. To-go boxes willbe available.SENIOR NIGHT — 6:45p.m. Parents of ALL fallsports should be on thefield.EAGLES VS. CHISHOLM—7:30 p.m. Eagle Stadium.

Wed., Nov. 11VETERAN’S DAY — Vetswill be honored at HHSAuditorium at 1 p.m. Vet-erans to gather in SeminarRoom at 12:30 p.m. formarch-in at 1 p.m. Recep-tion will follow programwith guest speakerStanley Funderburg,brother of retired HHSprincipal JackFunderburg, and one ofeight brothers who servedour country.

Fri., Nov. 13KOLACHE DAY — 3-6 p.m.Catholic Parish Hall. Walk-ins limited. Order by Wed.,Nov. 4 (405-714-3674).Kolaches $12 dozen(cherry, apricot and creamcheese); dinner rolls, $7dozen, and cinnamonrolls, $15 dozen.

Gritz will receive Legacy Award in Enid

WE SALUTE OUR VETERANS

Bob Gritz1943-45

R.L. “Bob” Gritz, 93, of Hennessey, a U.S. Air Force B-17 tailgunner and weapons instructor during World War II, will berecognized at the 2015 Legacy Awards Ceremony to honor veteransnext week in Enid.

The ceremony is part of a Veteran’s Day program in which fiveveterans will be honored Tues., Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. at the WoodringAirport Wall of Honor and Veterans Park located at 1026 S. 66thSt., Enid.

Other honorees, all from the Enid area, are Roland Rikli andClifford Morton, World War II veterans and infantrymen whoserved in the 45th of Patton’s Army; Michael McCauley, Vietnamveteran, Disabled American Veteran and Toys for Tots coordinator,and Frank “Watermelon” Campbell and Robert Keiser, both U.S.Navy veterans.

Honorees will receive medals, certificates and awards for theirservice.

The program is open to the public and there is no admission fee.It will officially start at 10 a.m., but the opening will start at 9:50a.m. with an 80-member children’s choir from Taft ElementarySchool.

Cowboy singer, songwriter, actor and playwright R.W. Hamptonwill also perform during the Tuesday program, as well as during a

free concert at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Emmanuel BaptistChurch. The five 2015 Wall of Honor recipients will also berecognized at the Monday night event.

Keynote speaker at the Tuesday program will be Todd Lamb,lieutenant governor,and the program em-cee will again be JonWelsh, pilot/reporterfor KFOR Chopper 4.

The $1 millionWoodring Wall ofHonor was dedicatedNov. 11, 2013. Thepark was started inmemory of OrvilleDawson, a longtimeHennessey resident,and grandfather ofElaine Johns. She di-rects the annual recognition ceremonies.

Nominations for 2016 candidates may be sent at anytime anda form may be downloaded at www.woodringwallofhonor.com.

See Page 4 to findout how a farm boylike Bob ended uphanging from the tailof a B-17 duringWorld War II

by Linda M. Craun

Rod Means, 81, was willing toshare his Honor Flight experi-ence, but emotion occasionallymade it difficult for him to speak.

“We visited the Lincoln Me-morial and some of the gift shopson the main floor,” said Rod, aformer Hennesseyite who nowlives in Enid. “I didn’t know if Icould make all the steps, but Idid, then we took the elevatorback down.”

His group of veterans trav-eled to Oklahoma City Tues.,Sept 15, where they stayed thenight for an early start on Wed.,Sept. 16.

The veterans gathered at RoseState College Tuesday for lunchand a program, then on to theirmotels. They were back at the

A veteran’s Honor Flight,

where memories come home

Rod Means at Memorial Gardens in Washington, D.C.

college for coffee and breakfastat 3:30 a.m., then the groupboarded their four buses at 5a.m. for the 30 minute ride toOklahoma City airport.

“We had a police escort whoswept us through traffic andchanging lights,” Rod said.“That was the only way we’dhave made it to the airport ontime.”

Each of the 180 veterans wereaccompanied by an escort. Rod’s46-year-old son, Andy ofEdmund, an independentlandman for oil companies, washis.

A number of the veteranshad to have someone who couldhelp them if they needed it.Many of the veterans were inwheel chairs, or used walkers,

crutches or canes.“From the moment we arrived

at the welcome event at RoseState the afternoon before we flewto D.C., I could tell without adoubt that this trip was special,”said Andy, a 1987 HS graduate.

Rod served in the U.S. Army,Seventh Division, in Korea fromMay until Oct. 1954, when hewas transferred to Scoffield Bar-racks in Honolulu, Hawaii. Heserved for a year and a half thereand was ranked a specialist thirdclass/sergeant at his discharge.

Their flight left Oklahoma Cityat 7 a.m. and, “We filled theplane,” said Rod. “They treatedus like we were special passen-gers.”

(See HONOR FLIGHT, back page)

RAIN

WHEATTues., Oct. 27 $4.53Wed., Oct. 28 $4.50Thurs. Oct. 29 $4.53Fri., Oct. 30 $4.58Mon. Nov. 2 $4.47

We finally got some last week,but only .79 of an inch fell here.Oct. rain totals next week.

Stanley Funderbergwill speak here atHHS Vet’s Program

Stanley Funderberg, brother of Hennessey’s retired principalJack Funderberg, will speak at the Hennessey High School Veteran’sDay Program at 1 p.m. Wed., Nov. 11.

The event will be held at the HHSauditorium and is open to the public.

Veterans are to gather in the Semi-nar Room at 12:30 p.m. for a march-inat 1 p.m.

Stanley was one of eight sons andtwo daughters born to John Henryand Rhoda Funderberg. As a family,they were known as a hardworking,honest and Godly family with integ-rity and highly-honed athletic ability.Also notable was their story-telling,joking and prank playing.

Most notable about the eight sonswas their service in different branchesof the military between 1942-52.

Stanley was mobilized during theKorean Conflict serving in the Army45th Division (1950-52) while attend-ing EastCentral,where he

graduated with a bachelor’s degree in1957. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt.and served as a line officer in the 95Division. He resigned his commissionin 1968 with the rank of Captain.

He graduated in 1950 fromWilburton High School, where heserved as class president in high schoolfor three years; one year as vice-presi-dent (sophomore) and was captain ofhis football team. He received theCrider Award at East Central and theOutstanding Athlete in 1957.

Coach Funderberg started a track program at Wilburton HighSchool in 1957. They became runner up champions in 1960, andstate champions in 1961. That was the only state championshipWilburton holds. He served as head football and track coach atWilburton High School through 1960.

He returned to Wilburton in 1963, serving as head football andtrack coach until 1965, when he became an agent with The Princi-pal Life Insurance Company. He was an industrial coordinatorwith the Dewey Bartlett Staff, 1967-71 and served as executivevice-president for the Oklahoma Business Development Corp.,1971-76, as a loan officer for more than 180 banks.

He owned and operated Stan Funderberg and Associates, man-aging General Agency specializing in insurance for banks, andretired in 2002.

Stanley Funderberg

The event will beheld at the HHSauditorium and isopen to the public. Veterans are togather in theSeminar Room at12:30 p.m. for amarch-in at 1 p.m.

Athlete drug testing policy on school board agenda

Board starts search for a new superintendent

ON THE BACK PAGE

The Journal Record 11/06/2015 Copy Reduced to 66% from original to fit letter page

2 OGE Energy postslower earnings OGEEnergy Corp. on Thurs-

day reported lower earningsfor the third quarter. The de-cline was due in part to lowercommodity prices, mild sum-mer weather and a loss fromEnable Midstream, of whichOGE Energy owns a controllingshare. Pollution compliancecosts also contributed to lowerquarterly earnings.

• • •

2 SandRidge looks forlow-cost production inNiobrara SandRidge

Energy’s latest move into Col-orado will help the companydiversify its portfolio and buildon its strengths, said CEO andPresident James Bennett.

• • •

3 Closed Pauls Valley fa-cility eyed for prison,infirmary A closed state

facility in Pauls Valley that wasused for decades to houseadults with severe develop-mental disabilities could po-tentially be converted to aprison and infirmary to houseOklahoma's growing inmatepopulation, the state's prisondirector said Thursday.

• • •

7 Spreading wings OralRoberts University hasembarked on a five-year

program to boost its enroll-ment 38 percent, improve in-ternal operations and raise itsfaculty credentials.

FRIDAY11.06.2015

journalrecord.comVol. 120, No. 218Two sections

Single copy $1.00

• • •

INSIDE

County looks for ways to settle corrections debtBY BRIAN BRUSThe Journal Record

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma CountySheriff John Whetsel has been askingcounty commissioners for more than ayear to help cover a shortfall in hisbudget worth millions of dollars, meetingrecords show.

On several occasions since September2014, Whetsel told other county officialsthat he needed more money as state Depart-

ment of Corrections income dried up andthat some of those funds would go to pay abill due for inmate medical expenses. Ulti-mately, that contract with Armor Correc-tional Health Services Inc. was settled, butin October Armor filed another lawsuitagainst commissioners for a related con-tract worth $3.3 million.

Some of Whetsel’s entreaties to theboard were denied. On Jan. 15 and April 16,his motions for fund transfers died for lackof a second. By June 11, Whetsel told Budget

Board members that his office was about$2.8 million in arrears.

The situation has left his colleaguesfrustrated and exploring options to resolvethe lawsuit without pushing the debt for-ward into a new fiscal year, they said.

“We believed that he would balance hisbudget just as the seven of us (other countyofficials) do the same,” Commissioner BrianMaughan said Thursday. “When we have an

No drop

BY MOLLY M. FLEMINGThe Journal Record

OKLAHOMA CITY – Low oil priceshaven’t oozed their way into dramati-cally affecting the city’s industrial realestate market.

Price Edwards and Co. industrialspecialist Danny Rivera said few indus-

trial buildings have returned to the mar-ket, meaning companies are still leasingtheir spaces. When those businesses doleave, others are ready to fill the space,he said.

“There are still a handful of compa-nies that are circulating the area, lookingfor those deals,” he said. “(Other compa-nies) feel like there should be a turnover

of properties, but there hasn’t been.That’s a positive.”

The Price Edwards industrial surveyreports a small change in the vacancyrate, from 5 percent during the first quar-ter to 6 percent by midyear. Rivera saidthe trucking industry is keeping the

A new Bobcat dealership is under construction at Interstate 35 and Britton Road in Oklahoma City. PHOTO BY BRENT FUCHS

Turn to NO DROP » p22

Turn to DEBT » p22

Despite low energyprices, industrialbuildings stay full

BY JOSH BURTONNews Editor

Working hard and showing how great Oklahoma is are two things Hadley Brown wants to bring to the attention of Americans.

Brown, the 2015 National Ameri-can Miss Oklahoma Junior Pre-Teen, also wants to give a voice to food insecurity in Oklahoma.

“I want to show the nation how great Oklahoma is and I want to do my best,” she said. “Of course I want to win, but I would be happy to place, but I think most happy be-cause I get to go. I think the best thing I can do is work hard, do my best and be myself.”

Hadley wants to bring to light is-sues involving childhood hunger as well.

“It means to me I now have a louder voice. So now, I can in-form people about food insecurity in Oklahoma children,” she said. “Now, more people will hear me, because when you’re wearing a

crown, people will see you. Like Spiderman’s uncle, Ben Parker said ‘With great power comes great re-sponsibility.’ Knowing people are watching you makes you remember you have to always be a good ex-ample.”

Hadley will travel to California for the National Pageant Thanks-giving week in Anaheim, Califor-nia.

Her mom, Whitney, said Hadley’s hard work and determination has paid off.

“But it also means a lot of respon-sibility for a 10-year-old to have to be a role model for others,” Whit-ney said. “She told someone the other day, ‘Once you put this crown on your head, you have to know people are watching you, and what you do.’”

The determination began earlier than this past year, she said.

“Hadley is quite the overachiever, and most things she has tried come

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SEE HUNGRY 3

12 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

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Rusty Ferguson, publisher of The Cleveland American, visits a kindergarten class taught by his daughter, Libby Bayouth, at Cleveland Primary School to talk about community helpers.” After explaining what a newspaper does for a community, Ferguson presented each child in the class a printer’s cap and explained the cap’s role in printing history. Ferguson said that because web widths have shrunk over the past few years, it’s more difficult to create the hats following the true and tested instructions. Ferguson prevailed and found enough newspapers to make 22 hats.

By ED HENNINGER, Design Consultant

Want to make your page – espe-cially your front page – more compel-ling? Give it more impact? Get more readers to give it a close look?

Use a dominant visual.Most times, that will be a photo.

But occasionally, it may be a grouping of smaller pix or a graphic or illustra-tion.

Whatever that visual may be, there’s one quality it must have to make it work. That quality? Size. If your visual isn’t large enough to dominate the page, then it isn’t a dominant visual.

How big? My guideline has always been 3 columns wide by 8 inches deep, 4 columns wide by 6 inches deep – as a minimum. Again, that’s a minimum. And, yes, those figures apply to tabloid pages as well. If your visual isn’t big, it hasn’t got the impact and pull you need to bring readers into the page.

Other points:RELATIVE SIZE: One of the ways you can guarantee the dominant size of your key visual is to take care that no other visual elements compete with it for attention. You can do this by making sure that other elements are no larger than half the size of your dominant visual.OPTICAL CENTER: As indicated in the illustra-tion, optical center is an area of the page that’s above and left of dead center. Precisely how far above…and how far left? No one’s been able to determine that, but we do know that optical center is an area of the page where the reader’s

eye naturally falls first. And that’s where we want to place the dominant visual element.THE FOLD: Does your dominant visual have to be above the fold? Well, on the front page, the answer is usually “yes.” If you place the visual over the optical center, it goes without saying that it’s also above the fold.GROUPING: Instead of one visual ele-ment, it’s OK to package a few togeth-er. This can work well, for example, if you have group of photos taken at the same event. CONTENT: Select an element with compelling content for your dominant visual. Check-passing photos and grip-and-grin shots certainly have their place in community newspapers, but they lack the interest needed to give the key visual strong reader appeal. If it’s a photo, look for action and strong color.CROPPING: Give the element even greater impact by removing unimport-ant or extraneous content. A photo of a car/truck crash, for example, need not show yards of pavement at the bot-tom and miles of sky at top.

You want readers to look forward to the content and impact of your pages – especially your front page and section fronts. One of the best ways you can do that is by offering them a dominant visual.

ED HENNINGER, an independent newspaper con-sultant and director of Henninger Consulting, offers comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, design training and design evaluations. Contact Henninger at www.henninger-consulting.com, email edh@henningerconsulting.com or phone (803) 327-3322.

Mail service is still desirableSubscribers to The Ada News are

enjoying having their newspaper deliv-ered to their mailbox.

On Oct. 1, The Ada News convert-ed to mail delivery and switched to a Tuesday through Saturday publication schedule.

Wilbur Cameron, a Konawa resident who has subscribed to the paper for several months, said the mail delivery system works better for him than the carrier system.

The newspaper consistently shows up in his mailbox and he doesn’t have to worry about it getting wet in stormy weather, he said.

“It’s working fantastic,” Cameron said.

He added that he is pleased with the switch from a Sunday paper to a Satur-day edition.

Doug and Sandy Poe are no strangers to mail delivery. As long-time subscrib-ers, they had the newspaper delivered to them in 1992 when they lived in San Antonio.

Now that they live in Ada, the news-paper is once again being delivered by mail. Sandy Poe said there were some problems at first, but those issues have been resolved.

She recently called Dawn Keathley, the News’ audience development direc-tor, to praise her work with the post office on implementing mail delivery.

The Oklahoma Arts Council announced the 12 individuals and eight organizations that will be honored for their contributions to the arts in Okla-homa during the 40th annual Governor’s Arts Awards on Dec. 2.

Among the honorees is Brandy McDonnell, a reporter for The Oklaho-man. McDonnell will receive the Media in the Arts Award.

The award is given to an individual member of the media or media outlet that demonstrates commitment to the arts in Oklahoma documented through public awareness, support, fairness, ini-tiative, creativity and professionalism in reporting.

Oklahoman reporternamed as honoree for Media in the Arts

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 13

Alva Review-Courier receives honor

OPS ADVERTISING INSERTION ACCURACY Oklahoma Press Association recognizes the 149 business member newspapers that successfully ran all ads

placed by Oklahoma Press Service for the third quarter of 2015 (July through September).

Congratulations for a job well done.The Ada NewsThe (Afton) AmericanThe Altus TimesThe Anadarko Daily NewsThe Antlers AmericanThe Apache NewsThe ArdmoreiteAtoka County TimesThe (Barnsdall)

Bigheart TimesBartlesville

Examiner-EnterpriseThe (Beaver)

Herald-DemocratThe (Bethany) TribuneBlackwell Journal-TribuneThe Blanchard NewsBristow NewsBroken Bow NewsThe Canton TimesThe Carnegie HeraldThe Chelsea ReporterCherokee Messenger &

RepublicanThe Cheyenne StarThe (Chickasha)

Express-StarClayton TodayThe Cleveland American

Clinton Daily NewsCoalgate Record-RegisterThe Comanche County

ChronicleThe Comanche TimesThe Cordell BeaconCoweta AmericanCushing CitizenThe Cyril NewsThe Davis NewsThe Delaware County

JournalThe Dewey County RecordDrumright GusherThe Duncan BannerThe (Eakly) Country

Connection NewsThe Edmond SunEl Reno TribuneEnid News & EagleThe Fairfax ChiefFrederick Press-LeaderThe Gage RecordGarber-Billings NewsGarvin County News StarThe Geary StarThe Grove SunGuthrie News LeaderThe Healdton Herald

Heavener LedgerThe Hennessey ClipperHenryetta Free-LanceThe Hobart Democrat-ChiefHoldenville TribuneThe Hominy News-ProgressThe Hooker AdvanceHugo NewsThe (Hugo) Examiner(Idabel) Southeast TimesInola IndependentJohnston County

Capital-DemocratThe Kingfi sher Times

& Free PressKiowa County DemocratThe Konawa LeaderLatimer County

News-TribuneThe (Lawton) County TimesThe Lawton ConstitutionThe Lincoln County NewsThe Lindsay NewsLogan County CourierThe Lone Grove LedgerThe Madill RecordMarietta MonitorMcAlester News-CapitalMcIntosh County Democrat

(Meeker) Tri-County HeraldThe Miami News-RecordThe Mooreland LeaderMountain View NewsMuskogee PhoenixMustang NewsThe Newcastle PacerThe Newkirk Herald JournalThe Norman TranscriptNorthwest Oklahoman &

Ellis County NewsNowata StarThe Okarche ChieftainThe Okeene RecordOKC - The Black ChronicleOKC - The Journal RecordOKC - OKC FridayOKC - The OklahomanOkmulgee TimesOologah Lake LeaderOwasso ReporterPauls Valley DemocratPawhuska Journal-CapitalThe Perkins JournalPerry Daily JournalThe Piedmont-Surrey

GazetteThe Ponca City NewsPoteau Daily News

The Prague Times-HeraldThe (Pryor) PaperThe (Pryor) TimesThe Purcell RegisterThe Ringling Eagle(Roland) Eastern

Times-RegisterThe Rush Springs GazetteSand Springs LeaderSapulpa Daily HeraldThe Sayre Record &

Beckham Co. DemocratThe Seminole ProducerThe Sentinel LeaderSequoyah County TimesThe (Shawnee)

County DemocratSkiatook JournalSpiro GraphicStigler News-SentinelStillwater News Press

The Stilwell Democrat Journal

Stroud AmericanSulphur Times-DemocratTahlequah Daily PressTalihina AmericanTaloga Times-Advocate(Tecumseh) Countywide

& SunThe Tonkawa NewsTulsa BeaconTulsa Business &

Legal NewsThe (Tulsa)

Oklahoma EagleThe Tuttle TimesThe Valliant LeaderVian Tenkiller NewsThe Vici Vision

Vinita Daily JournalWagoner TribuneThe Walters HeraldWatonga RepublicanWaurika News JournalWeatherford Daily NewsThe Westville ReporterThe Wewoka TimesThe Wilson Post-DemocratWoods County EnterpriseWoodward NewsThe Wynnewood GazetteYale News

OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATIO3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73110055

(405) 499-0020 • www.OkPress.com

The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com was honored with the Best Mobile Platform award at the joint APME/ASNE confer-ence on Oct. 16 at Stanford University in California.

Dave Morris, NewsOK’s director of video, and Oklahoman Editor Kelly Dyer Fry attended the joint conference of the Associated Press Media Editors and the American Society of News Editors.

Morris and Fry competed for the Innovator of the Year Award. The Okla-homan was named as a finalist for the award in June. Other finalists were the Boston Herald and the Los Angeles News Group.

The Oklahoman is the only three-time finalist for the Innovator of the Year Award. Although the Boston Herald took home the award, it was a close vote.

The Best Mobile Platform award was announced in June, but Morris picked up the trophy in California. The award cited the newspaper’s efforts including placing a large video screen with tar-geted content at the corner of its build-ing overlooking a busy intersection; The Oklahoman Radio app, a hands-free daily newspaper; and NewsOK Now, an app and website that lets readers share loca-tion specific news content.

The Oklahoman/NewsOK fi nalist for Innovator of the Year Award The Alva Chamber of Commerce

presented the Alva Review-Courier with its Alva Business of the Year award at its 2015 Citizens of Distinc-tions Award Gala.

Lynn and Marione Martin accepted the award at the Nov. 5 event.

The award was planned as a sur-prise but as the date approached and the chamber had not received con-firmation, Lynn was told about the award.

However, Marione – who serves the newspaper as editor, bookkeeper, writer and many other positions – seemed surprised by the honor.

The Martins publish the Alva Review-Courier in addition to the

weekly Newsgram. Under their own-ership and guidance, the paper they bought many years ago became an award-winning publication.

The Martins’ daughter, Marisa Dye, and granddaughter Kathrine Kuhlmann, both worked at the news-paper at various times.

The Martins are strong supporters of the Alva community, performing many unseen good deeds. They real-ize that good schools and a hometown newspaper are vital to a community’s survival.

The award was a well-deserved honor to an often under-appreciated business.

14 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

OPA Computer Consultant Wilma Newby’s column is brought to you by the Oklahoma Advertising Network (OAN). For more informa-tion on the OAN program, contact Oklahoma Press Service at (405) 499-0020.

Keep your hands on the wheel using Bluetooth

A hot topic around the state is the new law that bans texting while driving. It became effective Nov. 1. The $100 fine costs more than the price of a hands-free device, which allows you to talk on your phone while driving.

With Black Friday approaching, it’s a good time to look at some of those car devices. Many of you may have older cars that aren’t equipped with Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a wireless technology stan-dard that is built into most phones.

There are several ways for your car to use Bluetooth. One would be the head-set devices that are worn over the ear. Or maybe you would prefer the wireless devices that clip to the car’s sun visor and serve as both microphone and Blue-tooth phone controller.

Other devices route the cell phone through the car stereo system. This type of system needs a microphone for hands-free talking. While it’s the cheap-est option, you’re going to have wires running all over.

Before looking at some of these devices, let’s discuss some of the lingo you see in the ads.

The new thing getting the most press is noise cancellation. A speaker in the device emits a sound wave with the same amplitude but with inverted phase (also known as antiphase) to the original sound. The waves combine to form a new wave in a process called interfer-ence, which effectively cancels each other out. It’s called destructive inter-ference. This is how they kill the back-ground noise in the car so people can hear your voice. Look for this in any new or used device being considered.

The whole point of Bluetooth wireless connecting to the phone is to eliminate distracting wires on the dashboard area. Look for devices that don’t need a lot of wires and have a long battery life.

Your device needs to be able to make a call without you looking at the phone. After all, it looks like texting when you’re looking up phone numbers. Many devic-es paired with your phone send texts without you touching it. This requires a higher end device but it’s well worth the extra money. It eliminates the tempta-tion for you to reach over and respond.

I also searched for a device that would allow more than one device paired to it at the same time. If you travel with oth-ers or if you have two people driving the same car, it’s useful.

The following devices are intended for comparison jump off points in your own search for ways to avoid distracted driving. They have good reviews. I’ve

tried many of these devices, but I’m still searching for the perfect one.

17Jabra has been making hands-free Bluetooth devices for many years. You may already have tried one. Their new-est model is the Freeway, a sun visor model. The device, which retails for $60, lets the user make and take calls com-pletely hands free. It has 14-hour talk time and 40 days worth of standby time. An FM transmitter sends music and calls from the phone to the car radio. It even announces the name of the incom-ing caller. Freeway has three noise reduction speakers for surround sound. It sends and receives text messages and emails, and even posts updates to Twit-ter and Facebook – all without touching the phone. I can’t see doing all those things while driving down the highway at 70 mph, but it’s there if you need it.

The big hitter in this class of devices is the Motorola Roadster Pro, which retails for $60.99 on the web. The Road-ster Pro will run two phones, has Blue-tooth 3.0 and can access the phonebook profile. It has motion activated control and advanced noise cancellation with four microphones. This device offers 13 hours of talk time, plus speech-to-text/text-to-speech. It’s higher rated in user reviews than any other set but takes a hit from reviewers on battery life.

I have one complaint about the sun-visor models. When you get a call and your sun visor is down, you have to decide whether you want a clear call or sun in your face. Personally, I find it frus-trating but for the do-it-all devices, these have the most control over a phone.

Now let’s look at the devices that attach to your ear. This type can stay

with the phone all the time, not just in the car.

The Legend or Edge model of the Plantronics Voyager wireless Bluetooth headset are both highly rated.

They sense when the headset is being worn so it can automatically answer calls as you place the headset on your ear or redirect audio to your phone when you set down the headset.

Voice recognition manages calls handsfree with voice recognition tech-nology – just say Answer or Ignore.

Noise cancelling technology with pre-cision-tuned triple microphones sepa-rate your speech from up to 80dBs of background noise and wind.

A magnetic connection to the head-set snaps directly into the pocket-sized mobile charging case instead of plug-ging into a USB port, saving wear on the device. The charging case on the Edge creates a total of 16 hours talk time, according to the manufacture. There are three styles of earpieces you might want to try in a store to see which is more comfortable. This is important if you wear glasses.

The Jabra Supreme, retailing for $79, is highly rated for both battery time and call clarity. It meets all our criteria, pairs to two devices at once and voice guidance provides spoken caller ID. The earpiece seems to get lots of bad press so I recommend trying this one before buying.

When looking at all the choices in this category it is my experience that the more they cost, the better they are. The inexpensive ones don’t last and have bad phone call quality.

However, there are ways to save money and still get good quality – if your car is new enough to have an aux-iliary input port. You can use a kit that hooks into the port, such as the iClever Himbox HB01, which retails for $33. It comes with a speaker that hooks to the dash of the car. Other wires run to the auxiliary jack and the car charger device that plugs into the lighter outlet. The microphone, which hooks to a magnetic base that fits on the dashboard, has the noise cancelling we want.

The Himbox HBO1 supports audio/video remote control profile technology for easy-to-use music controls – play, pause, previous song and next song. Talking controls include answer call, reject call and private call.

Read the reviews carefully and look for Black Friday deals on more than one website before placing your order. Research really pays off when determin-ing which device is best for you. Even if you’re pinching pennies, you want the most you can get.

INDESIGN DATA MERGE

Data Merge is something we often think of as a Microsoft Word feature, but InDesign will do it as well. It’s useful for projects such as Christmas cards or any other promo-tion that justi-fies a personalized mailing.

To start, design the card you want to mail. Next, go to Window > Utilities > Data Merge. Once there you’ll find some hints on how to do your merge, but let’s go over it.

Your database can be a spreadsheet file – such as Excel, Open Office or Access. Using that file, create a comma/tab delimited text file containing all the names and addresses. This will be the file you use to merge into InDesign.

Your spreadsheet or database doc-ument must have a header row that describes all the rows below – some-thing like First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, Zip.

If you don’t have a database, you could type up a text file with commas between the fields. It’s just that the spreadsheet programs make it easier to keep track of all those commas.

Also, the program you create the data from must be able to save/export as a .csv file.

Now from the Data Merge palette go to the flyout menu and choose > Select Data Source. Find the file that contains the information you want to merge. InDesign brings in each field as an item in the palette. Just drag the fields into your text block on the page to finish the layout. It will look like this: <<Full Name>> .

Then from the flyout menu choose Create Merged Document. There’s a pre-view mode to see how the document will look before you print.

CORRECTIONIn last month’s discussion of portable

scanners, I mentioned that they could be used to scan archive books. However, there are limitations and results aren’t perfect. You would have to piece pages together, which can takes hours of your time. There are companies that scan archive books. I recommend checking out some of those companies if you’re trying to archive books.

Computer Notesfrom the road

by Wilma (Melot) Newbywnewby@okpress.com

The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015 15

ADMINISTRATIONMARK THOMAS

Executive Vice Presidentmthomas@okpress.com • (405) 499-0033

JEANNIE FREEMAN

Accounting Managerjfreeman@okpress.com • (405) 499-0027

SCOTT WILKERSON

Front Office/Building Mgr.swilkerson@okpress.com • (405) 499-0020

MEMBER SERVICESLISA (POTTS) SUTLIFF

Member Services Directorlsutliff@okpress.com • (405) 499-0026

ADVERTISINGLANDON COBB

Sales Directorlcobb@okpress.com • (405) 499-0022

CINDY SHEA

Advertising Directorcshea@okpress.com • (405) 499-0023

BRENDA POER

Advertising Assistant bpoer@okpress.com • (405) 499-0035

CREATIVE SERVICESJENNIFER GILLILAND Creative Services Director

jgilliland@okpress.com • (405) 499-0028

ASHLEY NOVACHICH

Editorial/Creative Assistantanovachich@okpress.com • (405) 499-0029

COMPUTER ADVICEWILMA (MELOT) NEWBY

Computer Consultantwnewby@okpress.com • (405) 499-0031

DIGITAL CLIPPING KEITH BURGIN

Clipping Directorkburgin@okpress.com • (405) 499-0024

KYLE GRANT

Digital Clipping Dept.kgrant@okpress.com

JENNIFER BEATLEY-CATES

Digital Clipping Dept. jbeatley-cates@okpress.com • (405) 499-0045

GENERAL INQUIRIES(405) 499-0020

Fax: (405) 499-0048

Toll-free in OK: 1-888-815-2672

OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION

STAFF DIRECTORY Millennials remain up-to-date on newsMillennials are anything but “news-

less,” passive or uninterested in civic issues, according to a new comprehen-sive study of the information habits of people age 18-34. The research looks closely at how members of the Millen-nial generation learn about the world on different devices and platforms.

The study finds that Millennials con-sume news and information in strikingly different ways than did previous genera-tions. Contrary to popular perception, they keep up with news that is com-monly referred to as “traditional” or “hard,” as well as stories that connect them to hobbies, culture, jobs and enter-tainment.

The study was conducted by the American Press Institute and the Asso-ciated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“This is the second study we have conducted that challenges some com-mon perceptions about news in the digi-tal age,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute. “This one finds that across a range of metrics, the first digital generation is highly engaged. If anything, the enor-mous role of social media appears to have a widening impact, not a narrowing one, on the awareness of this genera-tion.”

Among the study’s findings:• Fully 69 percent of Millennials report

getting news at least once a day – 40 percent several times a day.

• Millennials say they acquire news for a variety of reasons, which include a fairly even mix of civic motivations (74 percent), problem-solving needs (63 percent) or social factors (67 percent) such as talking about it with friends.

• Contrary to the idea that social media creates a polarizing “filter bubble,” exposing people to only a narrow range of opinions, 70 percent of Mil-lennials say that their social media feeds are comprised of a diverse mix of viewpoints eventually mixed between those similar to and differ-ent form their own. An additional 16 percent say their feeds contain mostly viewpoints different from their own. And nearly three-quarters of those exposed to different views (73 per-cent) report they investigate others’ opinions at least some of the time – with a quarter saying they do it always or often.

• Facebook has become a nearly ubiq-uitous part of digital Millennial life. On 24 separate news and information topics studied, Facebook was the No. 1 or No. 2 gateway to learn about 20 of them.

• While Millennials are highly equipped, it is not true they are con-stantly connected. More than 90 per-

cent of adults age 18-34 surveyed own smartphones, and half own tablets. But only half (51 percent) say they are online most or all of the day.

“For many Millennials, news is part of their social flow, with most seeing it as an enjoyable or entertaining experi-ence,” said Trevor Tompson, director of the AP-NORC Center. “It is possible that consuming news at specific times of the day for defined periods will soon be a thing of the past given that news is now woven into many Millennials’ connected lives.”

About the Survey This study was conducted by the

Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It included two compo-nents – a quantitative survey of Millenni-als nationwide and qualitative interviews and follow-up exercises with small friend groups of Millennials in Chicago, Ill.; San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; and at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. The survey was conducted January 5-February 2, 2015, and reached 1,045 adults nationwide between the ages of 18 and 34. Study recruitment was completed through a national probability telephone sample, while the main portion of the ques-tionnaire was administered online. The margin of error was +/- 3.8 percentage points.

The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) joins the Library of Congress (LOC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in celebrat-ing a major milestone for Chronicling America, a free, searchable database of historic U.S. newspapers.

The Library recently announced that more than 10 million pages have been posted to the site, which includes 300,000 historic Oklahoma newspaper pages selected to reflect the state’s polit-ical, cultural and economic history.

Launched by the LOC and the NEH in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers pub-lished in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a joint effort between the two agencies and partners in 40 states and territories.

The NDNP awards grants to entities in each state and territory to identify and digitize historic newspaper content. Awardees receive NEH funding to select and digitize 100,000 pages of historic newspapers published in their states between 1836 and 1922. Uniform techni-

cal specifications are provided to ensure consistency of all content, and digital files are transferred to the Library of Congress for long-term management and access. The first awards were made in 2005. Since then, NEH has awarded more than $30 million in support of the project.

The Oklahoma Historical Society received the initial NDNP grant in July 2009 and subsequent grants in 2011 and 2013. Through these grants 300,000 historic Oklahoma newspaper pages are available on the Chronicling America website.

The OHS was organized in 1893 to collect newspapers. Because of that early start, the statewide organization has more than 95 percent of all newspa-pers ever printed in Oklahoma, totaling more than 33 million pages in the micro-film collection. Even today, the OHS pre-serves nearly 200 newspapers every day. The earliest issues in the collection date to 1844 when the Cherokees published a newspaper with one column in Eng-lish and one column using Sequoyah’s alphabet.

“Chronicling America’s success in

bringing historic Oklahoma newspapers to life was a turning point for the Okla-homa Historical Society’s mission to col-lect, preserve and share the history of the state of Oklahoma,” said OHS Direc-tor of Research Chad Williams. “Draw-ing on our experiences with Chronicling America, the OHS partnered with Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Founda-tion, created by Edith Kinney Gaylord, and the University of North Texas to cre-ate the Gateway to Oklahoma History,” added Williams.

Launched in 2012, the Gateway is a free internet platform similar to Chroni-cling America. The goal of the Gateway is to make word-searchable all newspa-pers published in the Twin Territories and the State of Oklahoma from 1844 to 1922. On Oklahoma Statehood Day, Nov. 16, 2015, the one million page mark will be surpassed on the Gateway to Okla-homa History.

To visit the Gateway to Oklahoma History go to http://gateway.okhistory.org. The Chronicling America website is available at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

Oklahoma Historical Society celebrates milestone

16 The Oklahoma Publisher // November 2015

Thank you for continued support of “Share The Warmth”Read the Winning Columns & Editorials on the OPA website:

www.OkPress.com (Under Contests)

Enter and Win a $100 Check

from Oklahoma Natural Gas!

The September Oklahoma Natural Gas Column and Editorial Contest

was judged by a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

1. Each month, send a tear sheet or photocopy of your best column and/or editorial to Oklahoma Natural Gas Contest, c/o OPA, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499.

2. Include the author’s name, name of publication, date of publication and category entered (column or editorial).

3. Only ONE editorial and/or ONE column per writer per month will be accepted.

4. All entries for the previous month must be at the OPA office by the 15th of the current month.

5. Winning entries will be reproduced on the OPA website at www.OkPress.com.

Entries must have been previously published in print. Contest open to

all OPA member newspapers.

Although Oklahoma Natural Gas Company selects representative contest winners’ work for use in this monthly ad, the views expressed in winning columns and editorials are those of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect the Company’s opinions.

I remember sitting on the porch steps waiting on my husband, James, to come home.

I had news to tell him.

News that would change our lives forever.

I had just taken a pregnancy test, and the results were positive.

My children, Kaleb and Kinsey, were 17 and 13. Old enough that they could take care of them-selves, and didn’t need me every minute of the day.

I was unsure how to feel about being pregnant, and tied down taking care of a new baby. It would be a total life style change.

I was used to hanging out with my friends almost every night and with no little ones at home, we could go do anything at a moment’s notice.

Things didn’t change much at first.

My friends were excited for me, and we kept hanging out. I couldn’t drink what they were drinking, which was fine with me. It was giving up smoking that was hard.

But as time went on, I noticed little things, like how my friends weren’t quite as funny when they were drinking and I wasn’t. In fact, some were quite annoying.

Then the baby came.

He was so sweet to look at. A little miracle, a little boy we named Cash.

Several of the friends I have now came to the hospital to see the baby. Some came a few days later after we came home. And some, well, they never came and never called.

It broke my heart.

I guess I’d been a friend of convenience.

Then when Cash was about two years old, my daughter said to me, “It sure is nice having you home.”

It was at that moment that I felt like a failure as a parent.

She was right. I was never home before I’d got-ten pregnant with Cash. I was always out with my friends, but where I should have been was at home with my kids.

That’s when I realized that Cash was a miracle sent from God to get my life in order.

Friends can come and go but family, that’s for-ever.

I realized that those friends didn’t go anywhere. It was me who had changed. It was me who had left them.

Sitting on the porch step that day, waiting on James to come home, I knew my life would change.

It changed for the better.

SEPTEMBER 2015 COLUMN WINNER

TRACIE MACY, The Hennessey Clipper

Sometimes changes are for the best

OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CONTEST WINNERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEPTEMBER 2015 WINNERSSeptember Column: TRACIE MACY, The Hennessey ClipperSeptember Editorial: ED J. LEBEAU III, Drumright Gusher