Police raid Alaska newsroom

Anchorage police executed a search warrant Wednesday, July 12 at the Anchorage Daily News and took more than 100 unpublished photos of the scene of a shooting at the Anchorage Football Stadium, then returned them a few hours later after learning that the seizure violated a federal law that prohibits almost all searches of newsrooms. Police also returned a video seized with a similar warrant from a local television station. Police officials said they may seek court-ordered subpoenas for the photographs and video, which would allow them to obtain the records legally. The newspaper has offered police more than three dozen photos that have been published, Daily News editor Patrick Dougherty said, but will resist a subpoena for those that have not been published. News organizations served with a subpoena have the right to contest the order in court before turning over the material sought and argue before a judge why the information should be kept confidential. Detectives believe the photos and video may help them investigate the shooting that left a 21-year-old man hospitalized. The images may help investigators identify people who were at the pick-up football game where the shooting broke out.

King County Journal Newspapers for sale

Washington-based King County Journal Newspapers was put up for sale in June by President and CEO Peter Horvitz. The family-owned Horvitz Newspapers owns the 41,000-circulation daily King County Journal and nine other papers. Horvitz also owns the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles, which he is not selling, and a printing plant in Kent that prints Seattle Weekly under contract, which would also be part of the sale. Horvitz said he and his family-owned corporation do not have the financial means to continue with the group of papers, which has not made a profit in eight years.

Former Idaho Falls Post-Register reporter receives national journalism award

Former Post-Register reporter Peter Zuckerman was honored with a Livingston Award in June for a story he wrote for the Idaho Falls, Idaho, Post-Register investigating pedophile camp staffers of eastern Idaho’s Grand Teton Boy Scouts Council. Three Livingston Awards are given annually to the best American reporters for international, national and local reporting. Tom Brokaw of NBC News, Los Angeles Times Editor Dean Baquet and other prominent journalists judge the awards. The Scouts’ Honor investigation also won the Scripps Howard Foundation’s national award for distinguished service to the First Amendment. Zuckerman, 26, is tied for the youngest person to win a Livingston Award. He currently lives in Los Angeles where he works for the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Flint sells Yakima Valley publishing firm

Jim Flint, who has been in the newspaper business in Toppenish, Wash., since 1965, sold his newspapers on June 30 to Michael and Pat Lindsey of Cheyenne, Wyo. "After more than 42 years in the newspaper business, I decided it was time to do something else," Flint said. The publications sold include the Review Independent, the Yakima Valley Business Journal, Viva and the company's Yakima Valley Visitor Guide. Michael Lindsey was raised in Spokane and has relatives in the Tri-Cities. "We look forward to continuing the fine traditions of the Flint family," he said. "We decided to go back to owning a paper because we are impressed with the area and the quality of the publications. We look forward to meeting the people and drinking some fine Washington wine." Lindsey was raised in a newspaper family and attended South Dakota State University where he earned a degree in journalism-printing. Lindsey and his wife Pat owned their first newspaper in Gillette, Wyo., in 1968.

NIE Conference pays off for Argus Observer

For two years, Millie Miller and Amber Basket, NIE co-coordinators at The Argus Observer in Ontario, Ore., worked to develop their NIE program, struggling with raising sponsorship dollars and finding good youth content. When they both attended the May 2006 CNIE/PNNA NIE conference in Tacoma, Wash. Miller and Basket attended every session, asked questions and spoke with everyone who crossed their path. Their determination and enthusiasm paid off. Miller raised $8,000 in the first three weeks she came back from the conference. Miller also wanted more in-paper space to increase the newspaper’s youth and family content so she called their newsprint supplier and asked them to donate newsprint to the Argus Observer’s NIE program for one school year. She, in turn, would give the supplier recognition as an Education sponsor and print their logo on the page each time it ran. The newsprint supplier agreed and Miller is now putting together plans for their youth and family page. If you have questions, contact Millie Miller at The Argus Observer, in Ontario. Her e-mail address is milliem@argusobserver.com.

SmallTownPapers.com provides free service

Seattle-based SmallTown Papers Inc. is a news service that allows small newspapers in the United States to share information and stories. Small papers don’t pay to be members of the news service. “Newspapers from small towns have long been overlooked by media and information gathering industries such as news services because it was too expensive to gather small-market news,” said Paul Jeffko, president and founder of SmallTownPapers. SmallTownPapers compiles and scans the content of more than 250 small U.S. newspapers. For information visit www.smalltownpapers.com.

People:

Mi-Ai Parrish is new publisher of The Idaho Statesman

On July, 10, Mi-Ai Parrish was named publisher of The Idaho Statesman in Boise, Idaho. Previous publisher Mike Petrak resigned to pursue other interests. Parrish comes from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The McClatchy Co.’s largest newspaper, where she was the deputy managing editor for features and visuals. Her accomplishments at the Star Tribune since her start in 2001 include rebuilding the Sunday newspaper and reshaping the features sections. Prior to joining the Star Tribune, Parish was the deputy managing editor for arts and features at the San Francisco Chronicle and held various positions with The Arizona Republic and the Chicago Sun-Times. Parrish, 35, was born in New York City and grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1992 from the University of Maryland and began her career at The Virginian-Pilot as a copy editor and reporter before being promoted to assistant business editor.

Jeannie Peugh retires from Coeur d'Alene Press

After 30 years in the Post Falls, Idaho, newspaper office of the Coeur d’Alene Press, Jeannie Peugh is retiring. Peugh’s love of the newspaper business began in high school at the Cherryvale Daily Republican. She later moved to Idaho from Kansas in 1971, starting at the Post Falls Tribune as a clerk. During her time there, Peugh has worked with 13 publishers/general managers and has overseen and outlasted nearly 70 reporters and salespeople.

Guest named VP and CLO of Lee Enterprises Inc.

Karen Guest, former general counsel of PAJ Inc. in Dallas, has been named vice president and chief legal officer of the Davenport, Iowa-based newspaper company Lee Enterprises Inc. Guest will oversee all corporate legal affairs for Lee, which owns the Twin Falls, Idaho, paper The Times-News. Previously, Guest was vice president, general counsel and secretary of United Advertising Publications Inc. in Dallas, a magazine and publishing company that operates in 38 states.

In Memoriam:

Tom Read, 75

Retired Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor Tom Read died of a stroke Friday, June 30, eight days before his 76th birthday. Read was a Depression-era kid who grew up in Camden, N.J., and began his newspaper career in Newport News, Va. He was first hired to sell ads and occasionally wrote stories, learning by paraphrasing old clippings, according to wife Jan Read. In addition to the Post-Intelligencer, Read previously worked at the Corry (Pa.) Journal and the Renton Journal. At the Post-Intelligencer, Read did part-time copy reader work and in 1965 earned a permanent spot on the copy desk. He later moved on to be a desk editor, assistant city editor and day city editor. In 1973, he began writing the medical/science beat and in 1978 was made assistant managing editor in charge of finding a computer system for the newspapers. He then had to teach a staff that used typewriters and newsprint how to write stories with electrons on green TV screens. Read became managing editor in 1986, associate editor in 1990 and retired in 1995. However, he continued working in papers reading copy for the Peninsula Daily News, and he worked a brief stint in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. for Today’s News-Herald. In addition to his wife, Read is survived by a son, T.A. Read of Phoenix, Ariz.; a daughter, Cecelia Read of Madisonville, Tenn.; a stepdaughter, Julie Lenox-Sharifi; a stepson, Steve Lenox and his wife Kaye; and a grandson, Bodhi.

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