Courier Times settling into new production plant
The Bucks County Courier Times has been using its new press for more than a month and Tom Spurgeon, general manager, says there has been a "quantum leap and substantial improvement in the paper."

The press went live on May 31 to print the following day's paper, which Spurgeon said was the original date set for production to begin.

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Tribune triumphs as top NNPA newspaper
The Philadelphia Tribune won the John B. Russwurm Trophy for Best Newspaper for the second year in a row at National Newspaper Publishers Association's annual convention.

The Tribune won 12 awards at the conference, including first place honors for best entertainment section, general excellence, best special edition, best youth section and best column writing.

The NNPA, or "Black Press of America," represents more than 200 Black community newspapers in the United States. 

Bluhm named editor of Bedford Gazette
Roger Bluhm, former editor of the Neighbors section of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, was named editor of the Bedford Gazette July 8.

Bluhm replaces Chris Frear, who left the newspaper in April. Bluhm previously worked at newspapers in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and South Dakota. 

Intelligencer-Journal reporter Flannery dies
Thomas Flannery, for the past 16 years a reporter with the Intelligencer-Journal in Lancaster, died June 24, 2004.

Flannery, 56, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his coverage of arms smuggling by a local defense supplier. He won numerous writing awards during his years in Lancaster.

Flannery was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and held master's and doctoral degrees in journalism and human physiology. He worked briefly for the Pocono Record prior to joining the Lancaster paper full-time.

PNA offers Adobe Acrobat training from leading expert Kevin Slimp Oct. 14
Beginning in 1993, Kevin Slimp developed the process that is now referred to as the PDF remote printing process. Using a new technology being developed by Adobe Systems, Slimp created a process that has become the industry standard for file creation, transmission and printing. 

Since that time, Slimp has spoken at hundreds of press association and newspaper conferences concerning the creation, preflighting, printing and correction of PDF files. 

Slimp is the director of the Institute of Newspaper Technology, a training program attended by newspaper designers, editors and publishers from throughout North America. The Institute is located on the main campus of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. 

Slimp brings his presentation on PDF creation, preflighting and printing to Harrisburg Oct. 14 at the PNA Headquarters. Cost is $115.

Register soon as this is expected to be one of the most popular seminars of the year!

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FROM THE PNA FOUNDATION] 

Denise Ott returns to PNA
Denise Ott returned to work at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association this week, following the completion of her maternity leave. She enjoyed the time at home with her son Evan and looks forward to working with PNA members again.

Denise, the director of marketing and membership, is available at (717) 703-3067 or deniseo@pa-news.org.  

From the Hotline: Our School Board takes action on matters without explaining exactly what they’re voting on. In some cases, they refer to a “board packet” and vote on items “3 and 4” without telling the public what those matters are. In other cases, the Board votes on raises for employees without specifying the amounts. Are these violations of the Sunshine Act?
Teri Henning explains what school boards and other agencies must do to meet the Sunshine Act requirements for including the public. 

[FROM THE HOTLINE ANSWER]

Use this link to visit the Headlines & Deadlines page which groups and archives Teri Henning's weekly 'From the Hotline' columns. 

[HOTLINE ARCHIVE]

Township policy shuts down e-mail discussions, promoting Sunshine
A Bucks County township has passed a policy aimed at promoting open government by prohibiting e-mail discussions of township business among board members.

The supervisors' action ensures that business will be conducted in the open, as required by the Sunshine Act.

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Journal Register pays $415 million for Michigan papers, to become largest cluster outside Philadelphia
Journal Register, publisher of six dailies in the Philadelphia area and more than 70 other PNA-member papers, has acquired 21st Century Newspapers in Michigan for a cost of $415 million.

The four daily newspapers in the Michigan group have a combined daily circulation of 137,000, jumping to 176,000 on Sundays. The four dailies are The Daily Oakland Press, The Macomb Daily, The (Royal Oak) Daily Tribune, and The (Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun. 

The deal also includes 87 nondailies with a combined circulation of more than 1.5 million, according to Journal Register company officials. 

Shoppers favor newspapers, study shows
Adult shoppers favor newspapers over TV, radio, direct mail and the Internet combined, in a study released this week.

American Opinion Research of Princeton, N.J., completed the study, based on 1,000 phone interviews with Indiana residents at least 18 years old.

Nearly three in four respondents (73 percent) listed newspapers as their main source of information. The study was commissioned by the Hoosier State Press Association.