eChaser: August 2014 / p3

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Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas update: Secrets wrapped up in lawsuits over the 2013 explosion of the fertilizer plant in West could keep valuable health and safety information hidden from the public forever. Because a judge has approved confidentiality agreements requested by attorneys, even people who live in West may never find out much more about what happened. The agreements allow both sides to label as confidential virtually all information uncovered as the lawyers prepare for trial. “I’ve read hundreds of these. I read them all the time,” said Richard Zitrin, a law professor who has testified before the U.S. Senate about secrecy in the courts. “These are some of the most outrageous examples I have ever seen. It is completely unlimited.” Details. ... Ask Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Greg Abbott about his record on providing the public greater access to government records and he will tell you it is one worth bragging about. But open government advocates find the transparency record of the state’s longest-serving attorney general to be quite varied, especially in light of recent rulings that kept both the locations of facilities storing dangerous chemicals and details about compounding pharmacies that produce execution drugs out of view. Details. ... The Sunlight Foundation compiled data from all 50 states on the accessibility of governors’ executive orders and found that Texas ranked among the top. The rankings are based on whether executive orders are uploaded online in a timely fashion, whether the text of the orders can be easily searched, and how long the orders are available online. Along with Texas, leading states in accessibility were Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Minnesota. Among the worst states were Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii and Nevada. Details.

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GET A JOB

Community Impact Newspaper, which boasts one of the largest distributions in the country, is looking for an editor for its Katy, Texas, paper (part of the Houston metro area). ... The Victoria Advocate has an opening for a copy editor/page designer. ... The Associated Press seeks a newsperson/desk editor for its East Regional Desk in Philadelphia. ... The Victoria Advocate seeks a photo/video editor; responsible for two full-time photographers and two interns. E-mail cover letter and résumé to ccobler@vicad.com. ... The Idaho Falls Post Register, a regional daily with 24,000 circulation of 24,000, is looking for a page designer/copy editor. E- résumé, cover letter, references and your best page design and editing samples, including alternative story forms, infographics and illustrations, to managing editor Rob Thornberry at rthornberry@postregister.com.

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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS

PRSA ... Brian Brooks, American Heart Association - Tarrant County ... Whitney Vandiver, North Central Texas Council of Governments ... Kristen Laramore, Freese and Nichols

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Richie Escovedo, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Looking back. moving forward. 2014 is half done, and I wanted to share where I believe your PRSA chapter is headed.

We're on target with monthly programming, having completed six luncheons for members and guests with five to go. We took our customary month off in July, but things rev up again Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 11:30 a.m. at Colonial Country Club as Laura Elkind, a Fort Worth trial attorney with more than 20 years of experience, discusses the basics of defamation and invasion of privacy. Details and the registration link are here.

The 3rd annual Worthy Awards highlighted excellence in strategic communication and made us all proud. Entries were down, perhaps attributable to glitches in a new online entry system. We’ll fix them. Overall, it was a positive learning experience. Anyone interested in being on the awards team for next year, let me know.

PR After Dark has been an exquisite diversion from our lunchtime programming. It’s working, so you’ll get more of it.

Be sure to read through the accreditation chairs’ plans for the APR boot camp. Speaking of professional development, let me again thank our friends at AAF Fort Worth and Social Media Club Fort Worth for working with us on an event back in March. I can’t wait to share our chapter professional development program plans in October (but to get those details early, you'll have to attend the Aug. 13 luncheon!).

The hits just keep coming. We still have ethics and diversity to explore in upcoming luncheons, among other topics, and I hope you will consider helping with a chapter community service project once the details are set.

I continue to be impressed with the work of our committee chairs and board. Chapter members, I hope you appreciate how much effort these volunteers put in on your behalf. I'm proud to serve alongside such dedicated professionals who give of their time to keep Greater Fort Worth PRSA in motion.

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STAYING CONNECTED

Betsy Deck, IABC Fort Worth

Tired of driving from/to Fort Worth to/from Dallas or Irving or even Frisco? Highway construction seems to be everywhere you turn. In response, we are strategically scheduling meetings in different parts of town.

We’re also considering other options, including webcasting and teleconferencing. Let us know of any ideas you may have to serve our wide constituency area and to combat the unyielding traffic.

The Board of Directors is forever working on a strong slate of programs and has published our full calendar for the rest of the year. As always, we will continue to update our social media pages at Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as our website, with the latest news.

We encourage you to follow us online. I look forward to seeing you as we charge ahead!

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Condolences and gratitude to PRSA newsletter scribe Jeff Rodriguez, who late last month went to Iowa for his mother’s memorial service but before he left town met his eChaser commitment and filed a short This Month in PR History. Jeff is a true professional. And, I’m thinking, a really good son. ...

Members are encouraged to review candidates for national office, who will be elected by the SPJ membership. Click here for bios of people who have declared their candidacy. Interested? You can still run for an office. Contact nominations chair Sonny Albarado at spjsonny@gmail.com. The big annual board meeting will be held during Excellence in Journalism 2014 on Sept. 4, with the opening business session that afternoon. The electronic ballot will be e-mailed after the session’s over. Voting ends at 2 p.m. Sept. 6. ...

SPJ and 37 other journalism and open government groups have called on President Obama to stop practices in federal agencies that prevent important information from reaching the public. A letter to Obama urges changes to policies that constrict information flow to the public, including prohibiting journalists from communicating with staff without going through public information offices, requiring government PIOs to vet interview questions and monitoring interviews between journalists and sources.

Caught my eye. The cost of doing nothing: How climate change threatens economies worldwide. ... Climate change is so bad even oil companies are bracing for it. ... Global clean energy Q2 investment up 33% over first quarter, tops $63 billion. ... Layered paper 3D printers: Full color, durable objects at a fraction of the cost. ... Home Depot’s ‘bee-friendly plants’ are laced with toxic pesticides. ... Breakthrough water tech uses electrical pulses to clean, sanitize water. ... Average new car fuel economy rises to record 24.9 MPG. ... Beautiful video shows restoration of the Atleo river. ... Pilot plant that converts carbon dioxide into bricks is a world first. ... MIT fog harvesting material pulls 5x more water from thin air. ... James Dyson wants to use his vacuum technology to clean rivers. ... Huge underground water reserves discovered in drought-stricken Kenya. ... Lighting solution Glow created for the developing world. ... Cilantro purifies drinking water in developing countries cheaply, sustainably.

Closing words: "I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year."

— ambitious adventuress Becky Sharp in William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1848 classic “Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero” ... "The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin." — German poet Heinrich Heine