As the 55th session of the Texas Legislature opened in 1957, this photo was on the cover of the February edition. The cutline boasted Austin's population had reached 190,000, making it the state's fifth largest city. In addition to a new courts building under construction northwest of the Capitol grounds, it was noted that "on nearly every vacant lot, a building of some sort was going up." (Bill Malone photo)

A second blow against community newspapers was announced this week by the U S Department of Commerce in the form of heavy tariffs on the North American paper supply.
A preliminary decision in an anti-dumping case brought last summer by northwestern US producer NORPAC came from the Department on March 13. Commerce said it was ordering duties up to 22.16 percent on Canadian newsprint production, to be added to the January assessments of 4.4 to 9 percent from a related case on countervailing subsidies.  

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce can legally use its discretion to mitigate the impact of proposed tariffs on newsprint so that job loss from a proposed set of duties on Canadian paper is minimized, a group of publishing organizations told the DOC in February.

Shining light on government to hold it accountable is hardly a new idea. In fact, Texas was a national leader in this realm for more than 40 years.
Sadly, the flow of public information in this huge state is slipping from the sunshine into the shadows.

This column by FOIFT Director Kelley Shannon is available to Texas newspapers to use as a guest column during Sunshine Week.

The Texas Demographic Center keeps tabs on just about everything anybody would want to know about Texas: Demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, migration and immigration and population growth. 
Reporters looking for data on individual counties can find some resources here.

Speech by Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism, University of Kentucky, at the 2018 TPA Midwinter Conference

A Houston court of appeals recently sided with media defendants regarding the relationship between Texas’ retraction statute (known as the Defamation Mitigation Act “DMA”) and the Anti-SLAPP statute (known as the Texas Citizens Participation Act “TCPA”). 

By Wesley D. Lewis, Associate, Haynes and Boone, LLP 

FLORESVILLE, TX—It was shaping up to be another quiet, ordinary Sunday in November for Wilson County News Editor Nannette Kilbey-Smith.
She was attempting to scrub the skunk smell off her dog when she noticed that her phone was clamoring for her attention. Several people had been trying to reach her, asking if she’d heard about what was going on at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Local residents had been posting on Facebook about an active shooter—and casualties were high.

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

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