Volume 76, Number 2

February 2005 - Published by Kentucky Press Association/Kentucky Press Service

FebruaryNews & NotesJudges Needed forGPA, NPA contests

Looking for a contest to helpjudge? We have two of them linedup for you.

Thursday, February 17, KPAwill be judging the Georgia PressAssociation news and advertisingcontests at the Embassy Suites inLexington.

And on Friday, February 18,KPA will be judging the news andadvertising contests for theNebraska Press Association inLouisville at the Holiday InnSouth - Fern Valley Road.

Both judgings begin at 8:30a.m. (Eastern) with a continentalbreakfast and both require news-room and advertising staff mem-bers. If you want to participate inone or both of the contest judg-ings, please call Sue Cammack atKPA, 800-264-5721, or e-mail herat scammack@kypress.com.

Former political writerAl Cross to be roasted

Kentucky politicians will final-ly get their chance to see on thegriddle the newspaper politicalwriter they’ve learned to love andto hate over the decades.

Al Cross, The Courier-Journal’s longtime political writerand columnist, will be roasted onMonday, Feb. 28 in Frankfort.Cross left the newspaper inAugust to become interim direc-tor of the Institute for RuralJournalism & Community Issuesat the University of Kentucky.

See NEWS on Page 11

Three honored during 2005 conventionThree people received recognition for their work

throughout the past year at the 2005 KPA Conventionheld Jan. 20-21 in downtown Louisville.

John Nelson, 2004 KPA president, was awarded theBarry Bingham Freedom of Information Award; LizHansen, KPA journalism board of directors representa-tive, was presented the Russell Metz Most ValuableMember Award and Carl West, editor of the FrankfortState Journal, was given the Lewis Owens CommunityService Award.

The Barry Bingham Freedom of Information Award– This award is presented periodically to an individualrecognized for outstanding service to Kentucky journal-ism who exemplifies the traits, characteristics and tenac-ity exhibited by Barry Bingham, Sr., while associatedwith the Courier-Journal and Louisville Times. This is thefirst time the award has been presented since 1999.

David Hawpe made the presentation during the KPAChanging of the Guard luncheon on Jan. 21. Nelson waspresented this award for his work during his year aspresident on an audit of public agencies throughout thestate. After 10 months of organization, audits of localagencies in nearly every county in the state were con-ducted in October. Also during his presidency, KPABoard of Directors voted unanimously to file a lawsuitchallenging the practice of closing juvenile courts andjuvenile records.

“2004 KPA President John Nelson has spearheaded

See HONORED Page 11

Right Top: David Hawpe, of the Courier-Journal, presentsKPA 2004 President John Nelson with the Barry BinghamFreedom of Information Award for his work on FOI projectsduring his presidency. Right, bottom: John Nelson, 2004 KPAPresident, presents Liz Hansen, KPA Board JournalismRepresentative, with the Russell Metz Most Valuable MemberAward for her assistance with the public records audit con-ducted in October. Left: Tim Kelly, of the Lexington Herald-Leader, presents Carl West, editor of The State Journal, withthe Lewis Owens Community Service Award for his involve-ment with the Kentucky Book Fair held annually in Frankfort.West is the founder and president of the event that brings inauthors and patrons from across the U.S.

Christine Ordway has beennamed sales recruitment manger forLandmark Community News-papers, Inc. effective in late January.The new corporate staff position willbe responsible for the recruitmentand selection of advertising sales

reps and managers. She will alsowork with LCNI Ad Director, PatRichardson, in improving sales forceeffectiveness through implementingtraining programs and skill develop-ment of sales reps and managers.Ordway has been an employee of

LCNI since 1991, most recentlyworking as major account managerfor regional sales in Shelbyville. Shehas served Landmark as generalmanager for Florida SpecialPublications in Beverly Hills, Fla.,advertising sales manager forSumter County Times, a weekly innewspaper in Bushnell, Fla., adver-tising team leader for Citrus CountyChronicle, a daily newspaper inCrystal River, Fla. and advertisingaccount representative also for theChronicle. She attended CentralFlorida Community College inLecanto Fla. in 1989.

A University of Kentucky gradu-ate was named the editor of TheTennessean newspaper in Nashvillein December. The new editor,Everett J. Mitchell II, has been man-aging editor of The Detroit News.He replaces Frank Sutherland, 59,who retired as editor Sept. 30 butremains with the newspaper as aconsultant and wine columnist. Hestarted his career at The DetroitNews as a police reporter. He alsoworked as a manager at The

Cincinnati Enquirer and The NewsJournal in Wilmington, Del., beforebeing named executive editor at theStatesman Journal in Salem, Ore.He returned to Detroit in 2000.

After 30 years on the street as areporter, Jim Abernathy was namededitor of The Mayfield Messengerin December. He will manage newscontent and compose pages. He is anative of Hickman and a graduate ofFulton County High School. Hereceived a bachelor’s degree in jour-nalism from Murray StateUniversity in 1971 and worked forthe Hickman County Gazette beforejoining the Messenger staff.

Brian Lovvorn has been promot-ed to fill the position of sports editorat The Messenger in Madisonville.He replaces Adam Pruiett whoresigned form the position inNovember. Lovvorn is aMadisonville native and a graduateof Madisonville-North HopkinsHigh School. He began working atThe Messenger in 1999, filing a role

Page 2 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

Kentucky people, papers in the news

The Kentucky PressThe Kentucky Press (Permit # 939) is pub-lished monthly by the Kentucky PressAssociation/Kentucky Press Service, Inc.Third Class postage is paid at Glasgow,KY. 42141. Subscription price is $8 peryear. Postmaster: Send change of addressto The Kentucky Press, 101 ConsumerLane, Frankfort, KY. 40601, (502) 223-8821.

OfficersKentucky Press Association

President - Charlie Portmann, FranklinFavorite

President-Elect - Glenn Gray, ManchesterEnterprise

Vice President – Alice Rouse, MurrayLedger and Times

Treasurer - Taylor Hayes, Kentucky New Era

Past President - John Nelson, TheAdvocate Messenger, Danville

Board of DirectorsDistrict 1 - Alice Rouse, Murray Ledgerand Times

District 2 - Jed Dillingham, DawsonSprings Progress

District 3 - David Dixon, The HendersonGleaner

District 4 - Jeff Jobe, Bulter County Banner

District 5 - Ron Filkins, KentuckyStandard

District 6 - John Mura, Louisville Courier-Journal

District 7 - Kelley Warnick, GallatinCounty News

District 8 - Ken Metz, Bath County NewsOutlook

District 9 - Loretta Tackett, PaintsvilleHerald

District 10 - Edmund Shelby, BeattyvilleEnterprise

District 11 - Glenn Gray, ManchesterEnterprise

District 12 - Donna Carman, CaseyCounty News

District 13 - Don White, Anderson News

District 14 - Teresa Scenters, Berea Citizen

State At-LargeTaylor Hayes, Kentucky New EraTom Caudill, Lexington Herald-LeaderWillie Sawyers, London Sentinel EchoMark Van Patten, Bowling Green DailyNews

Division ChairmanNews Editorial Division - Mike Alexieff,Bowling Green Daily News

Advertising Division - Steve Wheatley,Elizabethtown News Enterprise

Circulation Division - Kriss Johnson,Lexington Herald-Leader

Associates Division - Cliff Feltham,Kentucky Utilities

Journalism Education RepresentativeLiz Hansen, Eastern Kentucky University

General Counsels - Jon Fleischaker,Ashley Pack, Dinsmore & Shohl

Kentucky Press Association StaffDavid T. Thompson, Executive DirectorBonnie Howard, ControllerTeresa Revlett, Director of SalesDavid Greer, Member Services DirectorDana Lear, News Bureau DirectorDavid Spencer, New Media DirectorBuffy Sams, Bookkeeping AssistantStephanie Conrad, Research/MarketingCoordinatorSue Cammack, Administrative AssistantRachel McCarty, Advertising AssistantHolly Willard, INAN Business ClerkTami Hensley, Tearsheet Clerk

Staff members, Officers and Directorsmay be reached by e-mail using the indi-vidual's first initial, full lastname@kypress.com.

See PEOPLE on Page 12

Ledger Independentchief photographer dies

Bob Warner, chief photographerat The Ledger Independent inMaysville, died Wednesday, Feb. 2 atUniversity Hospital in Cincinnatifrom complications stemming froman August 2004 automobile accident.He was 49.

Warren also worked as a photog-rapher for the Associated Press,National Press and Morehead News.He was a former firefighter andEMT.

Warner was paralyzed in the acci-dent that occurred in Eau Claire,Wisc. on Aug. 13. He was travelingwith his wife and youngest son toSeattle where another son served inthe Navy.

Lexington Herald-Leaderstaff artist dies

Frank Leonard Yates, staff artistat The Lexington Herald-Leader and

artist for the current Kentucky PressAssociation Literacy Project Chapterstory, Brain Freeze, died at his homeSaturday, Jan. 22. He was 37.

Yates was a native of Frankfort, aveteran of the United States Navyand a member of the Methodistfaith.

Former newspaper publisher dies

Norvin Atterbury “Jack” Perry, aformer newspaper publisher andowner, died Saturday, Dec. 18 inFrankfort. He was 89.

Perry moved to Frankfort in 1950to serve as the publisher of the StateJournal. He also was owner-publish-er of the News Democrat inCarrollton and later was foundingpartner of Shelbyville-basedLandmark Community News-papers, Inc.

Perry, a native of Columbus,Miss., graduated from DukeUniversity in 1938 and HarvardBusiness School in 1940.

After being discharged from the

Deaths

See DEATHS on Page 10

The Kentucky Press, February 2005 - Page 3

2005 KPA boot camp will take a new formThe three-week

KPA JournalismBoot Camp heldannually since 2001will go on hiatus thissummer. In its place,KPA plans a coupleof two-day mini-boot camp continu-ing education workshops forreporters.

The plan now is to return to thethree-week format in the summer2006. The attendance for the 2004boot camp at Georgetown Collegefell to less than 50 percent of theclass’s capacity. By waiting a yearbefore returning to the three-weekformat, we hope demand will againincrease for our 2006 session.

In the meantime, the plan calls for

two workshopsthis summer orfall. One will takeplace in Centralor EasternKentucky whilethe other will beheld in the west-ern part of the

state. That should cut down on com-muting and lodging costs for papers.

The three-week boot camp isgeared toward recent hires and oth-ers who might want to switch careersor even begin a new career afterretirement. The course covers thebasics of journalism and is gearedtoward those wanting to be newspa-per reporters or entry-level currentreporters who have no formal train-ing in the field.

This year’s mini-boot camp willbe geared more toward reporterswho have been in the field for a fewyears and seek additional trainingand/or refresher courses.

Watch subsequent issues of theKentucky Press for details.

KHSJA. Membership in theKentucky High School JournalismAssociation stands at 103 for the2004-05 school year. If not a record,it’s certainly the highest membershipenrollment in several years.

Many newspapers across the statehave sponsored one or more localschools this year. Those papers aretrue heroes, in my view.

The KHSJA state convention is setfor May 4 at the Executive West inLouisville. Like the KPA convention,the KHSJA affair features a huge

awards banquet. Take the KPAawards banquet and multiply theattendance by nearly two and youwill see how many high school stu-dents and teachers attend the highschool event. It’s big. Very big.

As such, we will need judges, lotsof judges for the KHSJA contest.When contacted, please help us inthis massive effort by sending all thejudges you can spare.

Since the high school contest fea-tures broadcast and yearbook entriesas well, we also have to recruit judgesfrom those fields. Newsroomemployees at WLEX in Lexingtonand several college yearbook advis-ers were of tremendous help lastyear.

The contest judging date, time andsite will be announced soon.

Oh, ByThe Way

By David GreerKPA Member Services

Director

Campaign underway to aid Fulton Leader editorBy DANA LEARNews Bureau Director

When friends of Fulton LeaderEditor John O. Jones found out thatmedical insurance would not coverhis three months at a regional neuro-logical center for rehabilitation fol-lowing a brain aneurysm Jones suf-fered in September 2003, they estab-lished a campaign to help raise the$60,000 needed for his care.

In just a little over a month thatamount and more was reachedthanks to donations from areachurches, individuals and otherorganizations. And according toBenita Gammon, advertising man-ager at the Fulton Leader, donationsare still coming.

“We believed we could reach thatamount, but just not in such a shorttime,” Gammon said. “People havebeen very, very generous.”

Gammon said the goal wasreached with very little effort andmostly by word of mouth.

“The $60,000 came in in just fourweeks by just trying to pass theword around before we had anyorganized events,” she said.

Two organized events heldrecently were a gospel singing and abenefit dinner. A local church held aspecial gospel singing where theycollected $2,000 in a love offering. A$25 a plate benefit dinner was held

Jan. 24 where friends read samplesof Jones’ articles and columnsthrough the years.

“The churches have been a hugecontributing factor,” Gammon said.

The Fulton Leader and othernewspapers in the area held a sub-scription drive for Jones where itcontributed a portion of every sub-scription sold to the fund.

After the organized events, theJohnny Jones Fund had over $64,000in it as of Jan. 27.

“It really is heart warming to seehow people come together,”Gammon said.

As for Jones, he is currentlyundergoing rehabilitation for theaneurysm at the Center forComprehensive Services Kentucky,a residential therapy facility in

Paducah. He is improving Gammonsaid, but still had a long road aheadof him.

“He’s made a lot of progress. Hisinteraction is better, he can carry onconversation and can stay on task,”she said. “His wife said she’s seenmore progress here at this facilitythan she has all along.”

Jones was in a coma for threeweeks at Jackson-Madison CountyHospital in Jackson, Tenn. followinghis brain injury. He was later takento Cane Creek Rehabilitation Centerin Martin, Tenn. where he spent sixweeks.

At CCS, Jones receivesspeech/cognitive, occupational andphysical therapies, as well as coun-seling and social therapy. He hasbeen returning home on the week-

ends which helps cut the costs of theweekly therapy and will allow himto stay additional time, Gammonsaid.

A Web site, www.helpjohn-nyjones.com was developed byRodney Taylor, one of Jones’ child-hood friends. The site has a securePayPal system that will allow dona-tions by credit card to be directed tothe Jones family. Accounts also havebeen established at banks in Fulton.The Web site also provides a link tocontact the family.

For more information on how tohelp contact Gammon or WilliamMitchell at The Fulton leader at 270-472-1121.

***Information for this article wasalso obtained from Rita Mitchell’sarticle in the Fulton Leader.

This is the banner that has been running in the Fulton Leader and on its web site encouraging readers to donate to the fund.to help raise money for John O. Jones, editor of the Fulton Leader, in his recovery from an aneurysm at a rehabilitation cen-ter in Paducah.

Page 4 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

By ASHLEY PACKKPA GeneralCounselDinsmore & Shol

Believe it or not—it’s that time of yearagain. The legislatorsare back in Frankfortwhich means we need your help. It’sa short session this year — time is ofthe essence.

Every year, we ask for your helpand many of you step up to the plate.We truly appreciate your efforts. Justa few reminders:

(1) When e-mails go out asking foryour help, it is important that you putthe request on the top of your list ofthings to do. Bills move fast in com-mittee, especially in a short session,and sometimes a delay of a few hoursor days will mean that you havemissed your opportunity to commenton the bill.

(2) Your voice really does count.Legislators are highly influenced bytheir constituents, and a telephonecall or an e-mail can go a long way toletting them know what individualsback home are thinking about the bill.Moreover, you have the special powerof writing editorials explaining andcommenting on the bills which havean enormous influence.

This year we have several bills wesaw last year, and a few new ones:

• HB 5 and HB 74. Last year, weneeded your help fighting a bill con-cerning criminal expungement whichwent farther than any before when itsaid that people convicted of class Dfelonies could ask the court toexpunge the records, in essencerewriting judicial history as if thecrime never occurred, as if the arrestand charge never occurred, and, ofcourse, as if the conviction neveroccurred. This bill had a great deal ofsupport in the House Judiciary com-mittee, and passed the House withoutany problem. It died in a Senate com-mittee. It’s back this year in two sep-arate bills-HB 5 sponsored by Rep.Rob Wilkey and HB 74 sponsored byRep. Gray. Both have been assignedto the Judiciary Committee whichmeets on Wednesdays at noon. Thisbill is the toughest fight we are facingthis year, and we will need your help.

•HB 11. We believe this bill isunconstitutional as written andchanges judicial decisions which holdthat prohibiting a witness from talk-ing about the content of his or her tes-timony is an unconstitutional priorrestraint on speech. We are workingwith the sponsor to clarify the lan-guage.

•HB 59. Another bill that hasresurfaced from last year is a billwhich creates a new exemption to theOpen Meetings and Open RecordsLaws for records concerning home-land security. Last year, the sponsorof the bill, Rep. Mike Weaver, waswilling to take the concerns of thenews media and other constituenciesinto account in the fine-tuning of hisbill. We were satisfied that the finalversion of the bill only exemptedwhat was necessary. This same ver-sion has been introduced this year.We will be closely monitoring this billfor any language changes.

•HB 69. This bill creates severalnew sections of the Kentucky CrimeVictim Bill of Rights. We are con-cerned with one specific provisionwhich requires law enforcementagencies, attorneys for theCommonwealth, and courts to “makeevery reasonable effort to protect theprivacy of the victim.” At this point, itis unclear what this provision means.We have contacted Rep. Stan Lee forfurther clarification, but may call onyou to help.

•HB 77. At last, one bill thatchanges the law in the positive direc-tion. Again, this bill was introducedlast year, but fell by the wayside in aHouse committee. Rep. DerrickGraham’s bill requires the AttorneyGeneral’s office to provide detailedexplanations of the Open MeetingsLaw and Open Records Law to localgovernment officials. We fully sup-port this bill and are hopeful it can bepassed into law this session.

To access the full text of any of theabove-mentioned bills, go tohttp://www.lrc.state.ky.us/ and click“Legislation and Legislative Record,”then go to “2005 Regular Session,”“House bills,” and click on the specif-ic bill number. Or you can call yourhotline attorneys and we can fax or e-mail you a copy of the bill.

KPA needs your help tofight legislative bills

Vienna, Va. – The NewspaperAssociation of America has peti-tioned the U.S. Supreme Court toreview a Third Circuit Court ofAppeals decision last year remand-ing the FCC’s new cross-mediarules back to the agency.

“The FCC rule changes on news-paper-broadcast cross-ownershipwere based on solid evidence thatrepealing the outdated rules willgreatly serve the public interest in away that is consistent with the com-mission’s competition, localism anddiversity goals,” said NAAPresident and CEO John F. Sturm.“Whether it did 30 years ago or not,a total ban on cross-ownership doesnot make sense in the highlydiverse mass media world of 2005.”

Last summer the U.S. Court ofAppeals for the 3rd Circuit inPhiladelphia decided to remand theFCC’s new cross-media rules.However, the court found that the

FCC’s repeal of the 1975 across-the-board ban on newspaper owner-ship of broadcast stations was justi-fied. The court said the commis-sion’s repeal of the 1975 ban wassupported by record evidence. Italso found that newspaper-broad-cast combinations can providelocalism and that a blanket prohibi-tion is not necessary to protectdiversity.

“The media world is totally dif-ferent now as compared to whenthis ban went into effect in 1975,”Sturm said. “The experiences in the40-or-so grandfathered marketsover 30 years have demonstratedthat newspaper-owned stationsproduce more local news and pub-lic affairs programming than otherbroadcast stations. The only thingthe ban has succeeded in doing is todeny most local communities clear-ly established public-interest bene-fits.”

NAA seeks a reviewmedia ownership ruling

Georgia publishernamed president of NNA

Mike Buffington, editor of theJackson Herald in Jefferson, Ga, waselected president of the NationalNewspaper Association during theassociation’s 118th annual conventionand trade show in Denver.

Buffington succeeds RobertSweeney, publisher and editor ofVillager Newspapers in Denver, whobecomes immediate past president.Buffington had been vice president.

Also elected as an NNA officer wasJerry Reppert, publisher of theGazette-Democrat in Anna, Ill., asvice president. Elected as treasurerwas Jerry Tidwell, publisher of theHood County News in Granbury,Texas.

Tidwell had been Region 8 directorfor the association. John Montgomerywas appointed to fill the remainder ofTidwell’s term as Region 8 director.

In addition to serving as editor ofThe Herald, Buffington is also vicepresident of MainStreet Newspapers

Inc., which publishes three othernewspapers: The Commerce News,Commerce, Ga.; The Banks CountyNews, Homer, Ga.; and The MadisonCounty Journal, Danielsville, Ga.

Buffington is a past president ofthe Georgia Press Association, heserved as NNA state chairman from1993 until elected an NNA regionaldirector in 1997.

New to NNA’s board are: MarkW.C. Stodder, vice president of news-papers, Dolan Media Co. inMilwaukee, Wis. Stodder succeedsSam Spencer, executive vice presidentfor Dolan Media Co., as the represen-tative for American Court andCommercial Newspapers; HarrisonCochran, publisher for the AuroraPublishing Company in Aurora,Colo., as the Suburban Newspapersof America Rep; and Daniel M.Phillips, publisher of the Oxford(Miss.) Eagle, as an at-large director,representing the past presidents.

The Kentucky Press, February 2005 - Page 5

AG OpinionsThe Winchester Sun/ WinchesterPolice Department

The Attorney General’s office wasasked to decide whether theWinchester Police Department violat-ed the Open Records Act in denyingWinchester Sun reporter TimWeldon’s request to inspect “all crim-inal complaints filed with (the)Winchester police on Nov. 16.”Including “all information containedon the second page that does notspecifically harm the (department’s)investigation.”

In a response dated Nov. 18,Winchester City Manager Ed Burtneradvised Weldon that his request wasunder review pending receipt of anopinion from City Attorney WilliamA. Dykeman on the question of accessto page two of the requested records.On Nov. 24, Burtner notified Weldonthat his request was denied becausethe request for “all criminal com-plaints” is a misidentified demand fora complete uniform offense reportand that page two of the report is notsubject to public disclosure until theoffense is closed following a finaljudicial disposition, at which time theform may still require some redaction.Dykeman said disclosure of page twoinformation would “constitute anunwarranted invasion of privacy.”

In support of the Department’sposition, Dykeman provided theAG’s office with a copy of a UniformOffense Report from which informa-tion, including the complainant’sname and address had been redacted.The AG’s ruling stated theDepartment’s response was “proce-durally deficient and substantivelyincorrect.”

The AG’s office found that theWinchester Police Department violat-ed KRS 61.870(1) by failing to identifythe specific exceptions to publicinspection upon which it relied bypartially denying the newspaper’srequest and by failing to explain theapplication of those exceptions to therecords withheld. KRS 61.880(1) pro-vides that a public agency determine

within three business days whether tocomply with the request and notify inwriting the person making therequest, within three days, of its deci-sion. An agency response denying inwhole or in part, inspection of anyrecord should include a statement ofspecific exception authorizing thewithholding of the record and a briefexplanation of how the exceptionapplies to the record withheld.

Although the Department indicat-ed that page two of the UniformOffense Report is not subject to publicdisclosure pursuant to KRS 61.870 theAG’s office stated that theDepartment did not directly referenceone or more of the exceptions codifiedat KRS 61.878(1)(a) through (1) oroffer an explanation of how thoseexceptions apply to reports generatedon Nov. 16.

For those reasons, the AttorneyGeneral’s office found that theDepartment did not meet its statutoryburden of proof in denying Weldon’srequest.The Hazard Herald/Perry CountyBoard of Education

The Attorney General’s office wasasked to decided whether the PerryCounty Board of Education violatedthe Open Records Act in denyingHazard Herald reporter RandyWalters’ undated request for any andall documents, pictures, recordings orstatements made in the closed sessionof the Perry County Board ofEducation meeting held on Oct. 21,2004 to discuss “alleged improprietiesof a sexual nature concerning thesuperintendent of the Perry CountySchools, John Paul Amis.”

By letter dated Oct. 28, 2004, PerryCounty Board of Education ChairmanDonnie R. Spencer denied Walters’request, advising him that documentsare precluded from inspection formany reasons, including when therewould be an invasion of personal pri-vacy or a possible discipline of per-sonnel. The records reviewed duringthe closed session relate to a person-nel matter and the disclosure of the

materials could be and would in allprobability be considered an invasionof personal privacy by the partyinvolved, Spencer said.

Spencer elaborated on the Board’sposition saying that at a regularlyscheduled meeting of the PerryCounty Board of Education, informa-tion and materials were presented toBoard members in closed session. Theclosed session was called becausethere was a discussion of a personnelmatter that might involve disciplineof personnel.

According to Spencer, some timeago, the Perry County Board ofEducation retained the services ofKen Henry of the firm of Pedley,Zielke, Gordinier & Pence, PLLC torepresent it in a lawsuit filed againstAmis, on a contract issue. As a resultof discovery and research performedby Henry as part of that lawsuit, hebecame aware of the contents ofAmis’ laptop computer. Furthermore,he interviewed certain witnesses whohad information concerning Amis.The information gathered by Henryas part of that ongoing lawsuit wouldin all probability be very embarrass-ing to Amis and could lead to disci-pline. This is the reason for not shar-ing the materials provided at themeeting by Henry.

Spencer concluded that the boardkept no minutes of the closed session,but that the minutes of the open ses-sion indicate that, “The Board wentinto closed session, came out of closedsession and that a motion was thenmade to refer the matter for furtherinvestigation with the appropriatestate agency.”

Unable to resolve the appeal on theinformation it had received, the AG’soffice asked a series of questions toAmis and the Perry County PublicSchools to facilitate the review. Itasked that the Board substantiate itspartial denial of Walters’ request byadvising them, in writing, whetherfinal action has been taken in the dis-ciplinary matter or a decision hasbeen made to take no action. If final

action had not been taken, the AG’soffice asked that the Board advisethem what the status of the investiga-tion was and what action remainedto be taken. It also asked that theBoard describe what the nature of thelitigation was in Perry County Boardof Education v. John Paul Amis andfinally it wanted the Board to provideit with copies of all records that wereresponsive to Walter’s request.

Amis advised the office that theonly documents in his possessionthat were responsive to Walters’request were the minutes of the Oct.21 meeting.

Spencer notified the AG’s officethat the disputed records are not inhis possession or the possession ofthe Perry County School Board, butare instead in the possession of theattorney hired by the board to repre-sent it in the case, Ken Henry.Spencer provided the AG’s officewith a copy of a letter he sent toHenry asking that Henry provide thedisputed records to the AG’s office.

Henry provided the AG’s officewith copies of the records in his pos-session that the Board reviewed inexecutive session on Oct. 21.

After reviewing the information,the AG’s office ruled that althoughthe record on appeal does not sup-port the Board’s apparent reliance onKRS 61.878(1)(a), the record doessupport the Board’s decision to with-hold the disputed records pursuantto KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j), based onthe fact that an investigation is ongo-ing and no final action has beentaken in the matter of the superinten-dent’s removal. It also found that dis-closure of some of those recordswould violate provision of federallaw, the Child PornographyPrevention law, and that the Board’sdecision to withhold those recordswas also justified on the basis of KRS61.878(1)(k), requiring public agen-cies to withhold all public records orinformation the disclosure of whichis prohibited by federal law or regula-tion.

Looking or an employee?Check out www.kypress.com for the latest resumes or

to post available jobs at your newspaper.

Page 6 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

Scenes from the 2005KPA Convention

Right: 2004 KPA President John Nelson, managing editor at the AdvocateMessenger in Danville, passes the gavel to incoming President CharliePortmann, editor at the Franklin Favorite, during the Changing of the Guardluncheon on Jan. 21. Below: Tim Harrower presented a session on page design toa standing room only crowd at the convention on Thursday, Jan. 20

Above: Harry Bryan, of The Courier-Journal, Larry Vaught, of the AdvocateMessenger, Bobby Brockman, of the Central Kentucky News Journal and SusanRiddell, of The State Journal, served as panelists in the “Covering Sports: mak-ing the best of available resources” session on Friday. Left: Board memberDonna Carman, of the Casey County News, visits the registration desk at theconvention held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Louisville.

The Kentucky Press, February 2005 - Page 7

Left: Members of the Freedom Singsgroup, who perform songs celebrat-ing the First Amendment, providedthe entertainment during theChanging of the Guard Luncheon.Their appearance was sponsored byCNHI and KPA. Below, right:Appalachian News Express PublisherMarty Backus talks with StephenDorris, of American Profile, at one ofthe Trade Show booths set up duringthe convention. Below, left: BobAdams, of Western KentuckyUniversity, speaks with a representa-tive at the Heritage House booth atthis year’s trade show.

Above: Armando Arrastia tries his hand at figuring out how all the water in the world isdistributed among all the water sources at the Education Cabinet’s booth at the tradeshow.Left: Susan Pryce spoke on the creative ways to increase classified ad revenue during oneof the session at the KPA convention. Pryce has done scores of training seminars for theAmerican Press Institute, National Newspaper Association, Inland Press and many statepress associations.

Page 8 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

Former editors share tales of time spent in politicsBy DAVID GREERMember Services Director

After years of covering local poli-tics, journalists sometimes start think-ing, “I could do that job.” That’s whatformer Kentucky newspaper editorsRuss Powell and Stan McKinneybegan thinking. After Powell left hisnewspaper job in Ashland andMcKinney left his in Campbellsville,both decided it was time to act ontheir aspirations. Both were elected totheir respective city councils.

Of course, Powell and McKinneyweren’t the first Kentucky newspaperpeople to enter politics.Elizabethtown News PublisherLeonard Bean served as his city’smayor nearly 50 years ago. InBardstown, Al Wathen Jr. was pub-lisher and part-owner of TheKentucky Standard while serving onthe city council. He even wrote all thecouncil stories for the paper duringhis term. Former Paducah Sun editorHenry Ward was appointed statehighway commissioner in the 1960safter leaving the paper. Later, he ranfor governor unsuccessfully.

And there have been otherKentucky newspaper people whohad similar dual roles. Powell andMcKinney are just two of the latest totravel that road.

Now, some time after they tradedfrequent newspaper deadlines for fre-quent phone calls from constituents,they reflected on some of the surpris-es and non-surprises they encoun-tered when going from being thepress to those who get covered by thepress.

McKinney was re-elected recentlyto his second two-year term on theCampbellsville City Council. Heserved as news editor of the Central

Kentucky News Journal in that cityfor more than 20 years. He alsoworked at the Shelbyville SentinelNews and the Sturgis News. For thepast five years, McKinney has taughtjournalism full time at CampbellsvilleUniversity.

“I’ve attended so many publicmeetings in my career that I thought Iwas a member already,” McKinneyjoked. He prefers the term “publicservice” to “politics,” he said. Politicsalways seemed like a “dirty” word.

McKinney ran for office, he said,because he saw many things thatneeded to be done.

But after being out of the publiclimelight, McKinney’s wife, Joan,asked him if he really wanted to puthimself into another public positionwhere he might be subjected to thesame criticism editors get.

“It really hasn’t been as bad as Ithought it would be,” he said.

Being on the other side, so tospeak, has been interesting. Forexample, when first elected to thecouncil, the paper’s editor was BethFoster, one of McKinney’s former stu-dents. Now, various members of thepaper’s editorial staff are his formerco-workers and even his own daugh-ter works part-time at the NewsJournal.

“For the most part, I haven’t hadany problems with the coverage,” hesaid.

When he joined the council,McKinney found some fellow coun-cilmen were paranoid about the pressand feared reporters were out to getthem. McKinney said he took on therole of “journalism evangelist” toexplain to the others the governmentwatchdog role of the press and thatno one was out to “get them.” As a

result, he would like to see morepapers make a greater effort toexplain their roles to readers and thepeople covered by newspapers.

Being a long-time journalist hasbeen an advantage, McKinney fig-ures. “We’ve been there. We’veobserved things. I think we shouldlook at things objectively,” he said.

Since joining the council, there hasonly been one executive session – todiscuss property acquisition, a legalexemption under the open meetingslaw.

There is little need for many exec-utive sessions, he said. “We do all ourstupid stuff out in public.” It was astrange feeling to actually be part ofthe executive session, he said, insteadof standing in the hallway.

McKinney has no further politicalaspirations, he said, despite beingencouraged by at least one person torun for Campbellsville mayor.

By the way, McKinney spent just$50 to get elected in both elections –and that was the filing fee. He spentno money on campaign ads, fliers orsigns, he said. Last month, the coun-cil’s monthly pay increased from $50to $150 but he had voted against it.

“The city is experiencing fiscalproblems,” he said.

In northeast Kentucky, RussPowell worked at the AshlandIndependent in various capacitiessince the 1960s. He retired from thepaper as editor.

Why run for public office? “Aftercovering public meetings as areporter for so long, I had certain the-ories about things and how I thoughtthey should be done,” Powell said.

He served one two-year term onthe Ashland City Commission beforebeing defeated for re-election. He

didn’t take the defeat too seriouslybut jokingly said he blamed it on “Nogood deed goes unpunished.”

“I thought I did a really good job,”Powell said. “I was pretty outspokenand a lot of people didn’t like that.”

While in office, Powell, who nowworks as executive director of theMeade County Chamber ofCommerce in Brandenburg, foundhimself frustrated at the slow pace atwhich local government works. Hewas also frustrated by the public’sapathy and his perception that some-times the public takes a keen interestin small issues while ignoring the big-ger ones.

Unlike McKinney’s experience,Powell said he didn’t encounter anyparanoia among fellow commissionmembers but thought that some hadbeen petty and demanded credit forevery project the commission com-pleted – even ones in which theywere not involved.

Powell is not overly critical of thepress coverage he received from hisformer paper. Sometimes, he said, itseemed that reporters gave emphasisin their stories to points he thoughtwere minor while what he perceivedto be bigger points were playeddown.

In general, he thinks smallerpapers often cover local governmentbetter than bigger ones. “It’s oftenbest in county weeklies because it’s sodetailed,” he said.

The Ashland city commission jobpaid $6,000 a year. And unlikeMcKinney in Campbellsville, Powellsaid he spent “a lot of money” to getelected. But he has no further politicalgoals although he has always har-bored a desire to be in the state legis-lature, he said.

Have an item you’d l ike included in the People and Papers section?

Send it to Dana Lear, KPA News Bureau Director,at dlear@kypress.com.

Deadline is the 20th of each month.

The Kentucky Press, February 2005- Page 9

Conference on how to cover health care offeredA conference for journalists in how

to cover health care and health inMid-Appalachia is being offered freeof charge by the Institute for RuralJournalism and Community Issues at,and with the assistance of, theUniversity of Kentucky Center forRural Health. Advance registration isrequired.

The middle part of Appalachia –Eastern Kentucky, southern West

Virginia, and the mountain coun-ties of Virginia and Tennessee – is oneof the least healthy areas of thenation. Rates of heart disease, dia-betes, obesity and smoking areamong the nation’s highest.Meanwhile, the nation’s health-caresystem is becoming more complexand harder to navigate, and that taskis doubtless more difficult in a regionthat ranks low in income, educationand certain health-care providers. Atthe same time, the need for healthcare in the region, and its relative lackof other economic opportunities, hasmade health care one of the area’smajor employers.

The news media in Appalachiacould play a key role in improvingthe region’s health, but all too oftenmost of the health-care informationsome outlets carry is advertising fromproviders looking for patients. Tohelp their readers, listeners and view-ers live healthier lives, and makemore informed choices about theirhealth care, journalists from CentralAppalachia and all parts of Kentuckyare invited to this one-day conferenceat the new, $13 million, state-of-theart headquarters of the University ofKentucky’s Center for Rural Health inHazard.

This conference is offered at nocost to participants. It will explore thecondition of the region’s health, thereasons for it, the many institutionsand agencies that try to improve it,their economic impact, and ways thatjournalists in the region can cover allthese subjects – including askingtough questions like, “Why is healthcare so expensive, and why is it soineffective in Central Appalachia?”

Presenters at the conference willinclude national leaders in ruralhealth: Wayne Myers, former head ofthe federal Office of Rural HealthPolicy and former president of theNational Rural Health Association;Bruce Behringer, assistant vice presi-

dent for rural health at East TennesseeState University and former NRHApresident; Rice Leach, formerKentucky state health commissioner;Judy Jones, director of the Center forRural Health and a former reporterfor The (Louisville) Courier-Journaland the Lexington Herald-Leader;Daniel Mongiardo, Hazard physician,state senator and 2004 nominee forthe U.S. Senate.

Others include Eric Scorsone,University of Kentucky economist; AlCross, interim director of the Institutefor Rural Journalism and CommunityIssues and former political writer forThe Courier-Journal; and BonnieTanner of UK’s Health Educationthrough Extension Leadership pro-gram, which works county by countyto improve individuals’ health.

The conference will offer sourcesof information on health care andhealth in the region, including coun-ty-by-county data that can bring sto-ries home. Presenters will discusshow journalists can spur the sort ofcommunity action that it takes tomake real change in the health field.The conference will conclude with aroundtable in which journalists andpresenters will share ideas on how totake the knowledge back to theirnewsrooms and communities.

The conference luncheon will fea-ture presentation of the first Tom andPat Gish Award to the Gishes them-selves, in recognition of the tenacityand courage they have shown as pub-lishers of The Mountain Eagle inWhitesburg, for the last 47 years. TheInstitute, which announced theaward in October, will continue tomake it in honor of the Gishes.

This is the first of a series of con-ferences on health care and otherissues by the Institute for RuralJournalism and Community Issues,which was created to help non-metro-politan media define the public agen-da in their communities, throughstrong reporting and commentary,and grasp regional issues that havelocal impact. We focus on four issues:Health care, economic development,education and the environment. Wehave

academic partners at EasternKentucky University, East TennesseeState

University, Appalachian StateUniversity, Marshall University, West

Virginia University, Washingtonand Lee University, the University ofTennessee at Knoxville, and theUniversity of North Carolina atChapel Hill.

The UK Center for Rural Health islocated at 750 Morton Boulevard inHazard, between the Daniel BooneParkway and KY 15, just south of theDaniel Boone Parkway.

This conference is offered free ofcharge, but YOU MUST REGISTERIN ADVANCE, by e-mailing Al Crossat al.cross@uky.edu or his part-timeassistant, Krista Kimmel, atKrista.kimmel@uky.edu, or by callingeither of them at 859-257-3744. If youwish to stay overnight in Hazard, theHampton Inn has designated a blockof rooms for the conference. Makeyour reservation by calling 606-439-0902.

The Institute for Rural Journalismand Community Issues is funded by agrant from the John S. and James L.Knight Foundation, with additionalsupport from the Ford Foundation.Initial support came from theAppalachian Regional Commissionand the Sigma Delta Chi Foundationof the Society of ProfessionalJournalists.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM8:00 Continental breakfast

8:30 Welcome:Al Cross, director, Institute for RuralJournalism and Community IssuesJudy Jones, director, Center for RuralHealthThe organizers of this conference areboth former reporters for The(Louisville) Courier-Journal. Crosswas the newspaper’s politicalreporter and Jones was the EasternKentucky Bureau reporter. Theybelieve that community involvement,including community journalism, isessential to improving the health ofCentral Appalachia.

8:40 Waking up to issues in healthcare and public healthDr. Rice Leach, former Kentucky statecommissioner of healthIf you’re drowsy, Rice Leach willwake you up, with his animated styleand vast knowledge. In more than 12years, under three governors, he wasa tireless crusader for public healthand public policies to improve health,particularly in rural areas. He took on

the issue of smoking on a tobaccostate and is now medical director forthe Lexington-Fayette County HealthDepartment, which enforcesKentucky’s first ordinance againstindoor smoking. He spent 25 years inthe U.S. Public Health Service, mostlyin rural areas.

9:00 Appalachian health issues andjournalism’s role in addressing themBruce Behringer, assistant vice presi-dent for rural health and assistant dean, College of Medicine, EastTennessee State University, JohnsonCity

A former president of the NationalRural Health Association, Behringer has studied rural health problemsover much of the world and helps runa relatively new medical school thatprovides many doctors and healthservices in the heart of Appalachia.He will discuss regional themes andrural health issues that could makenewsworthy, interesting stories, andtips on communicating with those inthe health-care industry.

9:30 How health issues relate to otherissues in Central ApplachiaDr. Wayne Myers, former head of thefederal Office of Rural Health Policy Another former NRHA president,Myers has a long list of strong cre-dentials but has spent his career insome of the nation’s most remoteplaces and insists that the medicalsystem respond to problems of ordi-nary people and the most needy. Amuch sought-after speaker, he devel-oped and ran the UK Center for RuralHeath. He is now a consultant andlives in Maine. He will speak on howhealth problems in Appalachia areconnected to the region’s other issues.

10:00 Environmental issues and pub-lic healthClyde Thornsberry, microbiologistand consultantA native of Eastern Kentucky, whonow lives in suburban Nashville,Thornsberry will discuss the healthissues created by poor sanitation andother problems in rural areas, includ-ing the “straight pipe” dischargesprevalent in Central Appalachia andsome other rural areas.

See CONFERENCE on Page 10

Page 10 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

10:20 Break

10:30 Digging into problems, commu-nity by community, and involving the community

Carol Ireson, associate professor, UKCollege of Public HealthIreson is conducting intensiveresearch about health care and healthin West Liberty and Morgan County,Ky. This includes not only the statusof the community’s health, but how peo-ple in the county can become involvedin civic efforts to improve local health.She will also discuss how citizens define the root causes of pub-lic health issues and the implicationsfor implementing changes.

11:00 Where the rubber meets theroad: Health-care providers speak outDavid Bolt, Lewis County PrimaryCare CenterBolt was instrumental in developingArea Health Education Centers inKentucky, UK’s satellite physician-assistant and nurse-practitioner pro-grams at Morehead State and was apioneer in the state’s telemedicineprogram.

Louise Howell, Kentucky RiverCommunity CareHowell’s mental-health agency oper-ates nationally recognized programs,especially in the areas of substanceabuse and children’s health. Her top-ics will include meth and prescrip-tion-drug abuse.

Chip Sandford, rural hospital admin-istratorSandford will discuss the challengesof small, rural hospitals and the new/critical-care licensure program thathas kept some from closing.

12:00 LUNCHDr. Daniel Mongiardo, Hazard physi-cian, surgeon and state senatorThis ear, nose and throat specialistwas the 2004 Democratic nominee forthe U.S. Senate in Kentucky and hasbeen an outspoken advocate of infor-mation technology to improve healthcare and create jobs in rural areas, andto reduce medical errors and malprac-tice – an idea recently endorsed byPresident Bush.

Presentation of first Tom and Pat GishAwardTom and Pat Gish, publishers of TheMountain Eagle in Whitesburg, willreceive the first award named forthem. The Institute for RuralJournalism and Community Issues

will present the award to journalistswho demonstrate the courage andtenacity often needed to render neces-sary public service through rural jour-nalism.

1:30 Health care as an economicengine in rural areasEric Scorsone, assistant extension pro-fessor, University of KentuckyThe silver lining of Appalachia’shealth problems is that health care isan important part of the region’s econ-omy. That makes it an essential com-ponent of economic-developmentefforts – not just creating jobs, but cre-ating or maintaining a diversity ofbusinesses in a community. Healthcare can not only promote job growth,but produce a healthier and more pro-ductive population that earns higherwages and attracts more competitiveemployers. Scorsone is part of a feder-al pilot project in five states to expandpublic awareness of the economicimportance of the health-care sector inrural communities, and has detailed,county-county data.

2:15 Getting rural people to movetoward better healthBonnie Tanner, director, HealthEducation through ExtensionLeadershipThe Extension Service, College ofMedicine and School of Public Healthat the University of Kentucky have

mounted a massive campaignthrough local extension offices,Homemakers clubs and communitypartners to improve the state’s health.Rural communities are undergoingmany cultural, economic, and socialchanges while being bombarded withinformation often dominated bysound bites from talking heads. Thisprogram is designed to offer research-based education that consumers canrely on. Its components include pro-motion of physical activity, better eat-ing habits, diabetes education, cancerscreening.

3:00 Taking it home to your news-room: A roundtable discussion

The community challenge: GilFriedell, director emeritus, MarkeyCancer CenterMeeting the media challenge: JimWarren, reporter, Lexington Herald-LeaderPossible topics include: How to makelocal health-care institutions account-able; asking health-related questionsof other institutions such as schools;how to make your coverage jumpfrom print to word of mouth; showingpeople where they can gather moreinformation on their own; makinghealth-care coverage a priority, andmaking it good business for yournews outlet.

U.S. Navy in World War II, heworked in the family media busi-ness and managed radio stationWWHO in Bradenton, Fla.

Former sports writer, editor dies

John Russell McGill, award-win-ning Kentucky sports writer andeditor, died Friday, Dec. 17 at PineMeadows Health Care in Lexington.He was 91.

McGill was the first writer to beinducted into the Kentucky HighSchool Athletics Association Hall ofFame.

He retired from the LexingtonHerald in the mid-1970s but contin-ued to write a weekly column inwhich he answered readers’ sportsquestions.

McGill was sports editor for 22

years at the Ashland DailyIndependent before joining theLexington Herald staff as a sportswriter in 1962.

After three years, McGill becamesports editor and was namedKentucky’s Sportswriter-of-the-Yearin 1966 by the National Sportscastersand Sportswriters Association. Hewon the honor again in 1967 and1969.

McGill authored books: Forwhich the first was Made, andKentucky Sports, and he co-wrote AYear at the Top, a behind the sceneslook at the 1978 UK team.

Former Kentucky Postreporter dies

Gary Webb, a former KentuckyPost reporter who went on to win aPulitzer Prize was found dead Dec.10 in his home in Sacramento, Calif.He was 49.

Webb was an investigativereporter at The Kentucky Post in thelate 1970s and early 1980s.

His most significant work at ThePost was a series of stories aboutorganized crime in the coal industry.

Webb was part of the San JoseMercury News reporting team thatwon a 1990 Pulitzer Prize for its cov-erage of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

In 1996, Webb wrote a controver-sial series in which he allegedlylinked the CIA to crack cocaine traf-ficking in Los Angles.

The articles did not accuse theCIA of directly aiding drug dealersto raise money for the Contras, butimplied that the agency was awareof the activity. Other newspaperinvestigations tried to discreditWebb’s stories.

After quitting the newspaper in1997, Webb continued to defend hisreporting with his 1999 book, “DarkAlliance: The CIA, the Contras andthe Crack Cocaine Explosion.”

After leaving The Post, Webbwent to work for the ClevelandPlain Dealer before landing at theMercury News.

DEATHSContinued from page 2

Have alegal

question??Contact the KPA

Legal hotline attorneys:

Jon L. Fleischaker(502) 540-2319

R. Kenyon Meyer(502) 540-2325

Ashley Pack(502) 540-2385

CONFERENCEContinued from page 9

The Kentucky Press, February 2005 - Page 11

The event -- featuring roastersSen. Mitch McConnell, Al Smithof Comment on Kentucky andCourier-Journal editorial directorDavid Hawpe, among others -- issponsored by the Louisville andBluegrass chapters of the Societyof Professional Journalists. Crossis a member of both chapters andformerly served as national presi-dent of the society.

The event is being held at theGrand Ballroom of the HolidayInn Capital Plaza in downtownFrankfort. A cocktail receptionstarts at 6:30 p.m., followed bydinner at 7:30. Tickets for theevent are $60 for SPJ membersand $75 for non-members.

Sponsorship tables are cur-rently being sold for $750 for atable of eight. All proceeds bene-fit journalism scholarship for col-lege students.

Invitations will be mailed. Ifyou want an invitation, or if youor your organization wish tosponsor a table, please contactChris Poynter, of The Courier-Journal, or Jack Brammer, of theLexington Herald-Leader.

Poynter can be reached atcpoynter@courier-journal.com, or502-582-4475. Brammer can bereached at jbrammer@herald-leader.com or 859-231-1302.

Legislative stories arefiled on access.kpa

Stories from this year’sGeneral Assembly are being filedon access.kpa.com. In order toaccess the site you must registerand create a user name and pass-word.

A legislative wrap-up story isfiled every Friday by 4 p.m. Otherstories are filed throughout thesession as important measuresmove through each chamber.

You can also make request tohave a specific story written,obtain a quote from your legisla-tor or get a photo of your legisla-tor in action.

Requests can be made by con-tacting Dana Lear at (502)223-8821 or by e-mailing her atdlear@kypress.com.

NEWSContinued from page 1

three major FOI initiatives this yearand it’s my privilege to award himthe Barry Bingham Freedom ofInformation award,” Hawpe said inhis presentation of the award.

Russ Metz Most ValuableMember Award – Presented annual-ly by the KPA President to an indi-vidual who has performed the mostoutstanding service to the KentuckyPress Association/Kentucky PressService.

Nelson presented Liz Hansen,KPA journalism board of directorsrepresentative with the award for herwork and assistance in the publicrecords audit.

“I relied on no one more for direc-tion and advice to get the projectgoing, and no one was any more pas-sionate and excited about the experi-ence and the outcome than was she,”Nelson said.

Hansen assisted in the planningand training stage as well as volun-teered her students to participate inthe audit.

“It was the kind of energy and

passion embodied in all of the stu-dents and professors of journalismwho assisted in this effort. And so, itwas appropriate that the educationrepresentative on the KPA Boardreceives this award,” Nelson said.

Lewis E. Owens CommunityService Award – This award is pre-sented annually by the LexingtonHerald-Leader to a Kentucky news-paper person performing the mostoutstanding community service. Theaward was originally established inmemory of Edwards M. Templin,promotion director of the LexingtonHerald-Leader and president-elect ofKPA when he died in 1967. It wasrenamed the Lewis OwensCommunity Service Award in 1996 tohonor the publisher emeritus of theLexington Herald-Leader for hismany years of service to communityand service organizations and to theKentucky newspapers industry.

Tim Kelly presented the awardjust before the awards banquet Jan.21. Carl West was presented theaward for his work with theKentucky Book Fair, which he found-ed. Celebrating its 24th year this year,the book fair is a one-day event thatis considered the state’s premier liter-ary event. It brings writers and

patrons together in celebration oftheir mutual interest and to promoteawareness of the importance of writ-ing and reading to the general public.Its proceeds benefit causes that pro-mote writing and reading. Each yearmore than 150 authors and 6,000patrons attend the fair.

“It is clearly a tremendous serviceto Carl’s community of Frankfort andto the larger community of authorsand their readers … and to the causeof literacy,” Kelly said. “For that rea-son, the KPA and the Herald-Leaderare pleased and proud to present thisyear’s Lewis E. Owens Award forCommunity Service to Carl West,editor of The State Journal ofFrankfort.”

The 2004 Excellence in KentuckyJournalism Awards were also givenaway at the convention. The McLeanCounty News, the London-LaurelNews Journal, The Anderson news,the Appalachian News-Express, TheState Journal, The Gleaner, theLexington Herald-Leader, TheSunday Challenger and the KentuckyKernel were all first place GeneralExcellence winners. For a completelist of winners, see the contest tabinserted into this edition of theKentucky Press.

HONOREDContinued from page 1

Kentucky First Lady Glenna Fletcher (second from right) poses with (from left) Bob Rouse, author of The KPA LiteracyProject Chapter Story Brain Freeze, Cliff Feltham, KPA associate member chair, Kriss Johnson, Newspaper in Educationchair, and John Nelson, 2004 KPA president, after she read Brain Freeze to a group of children at Burgin IndependentElementary in Mercer County on Jan. 11.

Page 12 - The Kentucky Press, February 2005

as the news clerk where he wroteobituaries, Town Crier news andtypeset Pennyrile Plus Columnsbefore moving into the sports writerposition under then Sports EditorJeff Anderson. He left the newspa-per in December 2002 and took a jobas sports editor at The Leader-Newsin Greenville before returning inSeptember as a sports writer at TheMessenger.

Elaine Marie Finocchiaro is TheJessamine Journal’s new accountexecutive. She is a Jessamine Countynative and a graduate of JessamineCounty High School and a 2002 gra-date of the University of Kentucky,with a bachelor of arts degree incommunications. She was previous-ly employed at the Radisson Hotelas a group room coordinator.

Jason Travis, a LivingstonCounty Native, is the new editor atthe Livingston Ledger.

Jobe Publishing, Inc. hasannounced that Sandra T. Wilsonhas been employed as the editor ofthe Sunday edition of the HartCounty News-Herald. Wilson isemployed by the City of Horse Caveas Main Street Manager and willcontinue in this position. Prior to heremployment with the city, Wilsonserved as senior customer servicerepresentative with KentuckyUtilities Company. She also servedas Horse Cave mayor for a year fol-lowing the resignation of the electedmayor. She earned a Bachelor ofScience general studies degree fromWestern Kentucky University and aMasters of Public AdministrationDegree from Western.

Former publisher and owner ofthe Record Newspapers was hon-ored for his journalistic work by theUniversity of Kentucky. GeneClabes, who was owner and pub-lisher of the Records in the late 1980sand early 1990s, was awarded theUniversity of Kentucky College ofCommunications and InformationStudies Outstanding AlumnusAward along with his wife, Judith,who also has a long career in jour-nalism. The Clabes, both of whomgrew up in Henderson and now livein Bracken County, received theOutstanding Alumnus Awards fortheir shared commitments to jour-

nalism. Prior to owning theRecorders, Gene was a reporter forThe Gleaner in Henderson and theEvansville Press. Judith became edi-tor of the Scripp’s newspaper theKentucky Post in 1982.

Jeff Jobe, of Jobe Publishing,Inc., received the Business of theYear Award from the Hart CountyChamber of Commerce in Decemberat the annual awards banquet at theMammoth Cave Hotel.

The Paintsville Herald wel-comed Rita Brock to its advertisingdepartment in December. Brock hasworked at the Floyd County Timesand the Mountain Sports Leader asan advertising agent.

Lorie Love has been named newseditor of The Richmond Register, adaily CNHI publication. Love’s firstday at The Register was Monday,Dec. 6. Her duties include designingfront pages and other A-sectionpages, implementing news deci-sions, updating the paper’s web site,writing news stories and editingcopy. She will also sit on the news-paper’s editorial board and assist inthe direction and writing of editori-als. Love joins The Register staffafter a 16-month stint as reporter at-large for Landmark CommunityNewspapers Inc. in Shelbyville. Asreporter at-large, Love worked at 20Landmark papers in five states, fill-ing in during emergencies, staffingshortages and other problems.Before coming to Landmark, Loveworked at the The Sentinel-Echo inLondon as a reporter. She has filledvarious roles at southeast Kentuckynewspapers, including the London-Laurel News Journal, Corbin NewsJournal and the Laurel NewsLeader. For two years, she was man-aging editor at the BarbourvilleMountain Advocate. Love grew upin London but now lives inLexington.

Western Kentucky Universitystudents finished first and third inthe first photojournalism competi-tion of the 45th Hearst JournalismAwards Program. Dana MarieRieber, a Shepherdsville senior, wonthe feature and portrait/personalitycategory and received a $2,000scholarship. Erik Jacobs, a BowlingGreen senior, was third and receiveda $1,000 scholarship. Western’sSchool of Journalism andBroadcasting received matchingawards. Rieber and Jacobs will sub-

mit additional photos for the semifi-nal round of judging in May. Sixfinalists will be chosen to competefor the national championship inSan Francisco. After one of threephotojournalism contests, Western isin first followed by Florida, BallState, Kent State and NorthCarolina. Western has won theHearst photo competition 13 timesin the past 15 years. The HearstJournalism Awards Program, oftencalled the Pulitzer Prize of collegejournalism, includes writing, photo-journalism and broadcasting compe-titions. In the past six years, Westernhas placed in the nation’s top fouroverall including two first-place fin-ishes. This year’s final winners willbe announced in April.

Debra Darnell has joined thestaff of The Oldham Era as anOutside Sales Representative.Darnell has over 20 years sales expe-rience and will work the areas ofCrestwood, Prospect, Goshen,Anchorage and Pewee Valley. Shelives in LaGrange.

Kendal Bushnel has joined thestaff of The Oldham Era as anadvertising consultant/graphicdesigner. Bushnel will be in sellingand designing the classified section,as well as other special directoriesand promotions. She is an artist andphotographer with a background inbusiness and customer service.

Holly Cecil transferred to TheNews Enterprise in Elizabethtownwhere she is a features writer fromThe Kentucky Standard inBardstown. She has a Bachelor’sdegree in PR and English/AlliedLanguage Arts from WesternKentucky University.

Jason Vertrees has been hired asa pre-press technician at The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown. He iscurrently attending WesternKentucky University majoring inaccounting.

Adam Pruiett is a new sportswriter for The News-Enterprise inElizabethtown. He’s originally fromEvansville, Ind. He attended Purdueand the University of SouthernIndiana. He is a former employee ofLCNI’s Spencer County (Ind.)Journal-Democrat.

Cheri Nation has filled the posi-tion of bookkeeper at The OldhamEra in LaGrange. She moved intothis position from classified adver-tising consultant. She has been

employed with Landmark for twoyears.

The Lexington Herald-Leaderdonated a collection of photographsand negatives covering half a centu-ry of life in Central Kentucky to theUniversity of Kentucky, where theyare being preserved and made avail-able to the public. The collectionincludes 1.8 million items valued atmore than $4 million. The collectionis named the John C.Wyatt/Lexington Herald-LeaderCollection in honor of Wyatt, aHerald-Leader photographer for 44years who was instrumental in pre-serving and cataloging the photosand negatives.

Guy Hatfield, publisher of theCitizen Voice and Times and ownerof Hatfield Newspapers, Inc., isrecovering at his home from a heartattack he suffered at his home earlySaturday, Jan. 8. He was taken toPattie A. Clay Regional Center inRichmond and then transferred toCentral Baptist Hospital inLexington. He was also diagnosedwith pneumonia, congestive heartfailure and an infection in his blood.

Julie Hale, editor at the BooneCounty Recorder, left the newspa-per Jan. 14 to begin a new positionas public/media relations specialistwith the American Cancer Society.She was with the Recorder for eightyears.

Eileen Parrigin Young, columnistfor the Paintsville Herald for 32years, had a book titled“Briarwood” published this year.The book tells the story of a girlraised by a family chosen by hergrandmother who longs to find herblood relatives. When a man showsup at her home, claiming to be fromBriarwood, her father’s home inEastern Kentucky, she goes lookingfor her family.

Jobe Publishing, Inc. now ownsboth Metcalfe County papers. Thecompany purchased the HeraldNews from Patsy Judd. It will pub-lish the newspaper on Tuesday forWednesday distribution and TheMetcalfe County Light on Sunday.This gives them two Tuesday, twoWednesday, one Thursday and threeSunday papers with a total com-bined paid circulation of approxi-mately 30,000 paid subscriptionsand 29,000 TMC/shopper with acombined delivery of 59,000 house-holds.

PEOPLEContinued from page 2