Houston Chronicle puts FuelFix into paper's business section

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Just when you thought the only changes coming to the Houston Chronicle were on its newly launched website...think again.

Got word today from the Hearst owned paper that its award winning website FuelFix is going the paper route. That's right, a Chronicle representative tells me that FuelFix will now be printed in the physical newspaper each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the business section.

In addition to that, the paper is also bringing Harry Weber into the fold. Weber covered the Deepwater Horizon spill for the Associated Press.

“I’m pleased to welcome Harry to our energy staff,” Chronicle business editor Laura Goldberg said in a statement. “His tenacious reporting style and extensive experience covering the oil spill make him a valuable addition to our team of talented journalists who excel at providing comprehensive coverage of the energy industry from exploration and production to pipelines and refineries.”

The new FuelFix area of the business section will also feature reporting from award-winning columnist Loren Steffy, Washington-based Jennifer A. Dlouhy plus business reporters Jeannie Kever, Emily Pickrell, Simone Sebastian and Zain Shauk.

Old cartoon explains Astrodome's 'real' origins

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The Houston Asrodome is a sore subject right now. The aging and unused building has this city mixed - some want to restore it, others want to blow that sucker like Texas Stadium.

Truth is, after some really bizarre ideas of what to do with it that never get off the ground, the former Oilers and Astros home is supposedly falling apart. My guess, it's a bureaucratic waiting game...keep the ideas coming, deny them and let the place crumble all by itself. Problem solved and no hard feelings come election time.

Let's forget all of that for now.

It's time to watch an episode of the Super Chicken cartoon from the late 1960s, to learn how the so-called "Eighth Wonder of the World" really came into existence. Judge Hofheinz must be rolling in his grave right about now.

(Thanks to mega anchor Ray Peters)

TV's Tom Abrahams writes Sedition novel

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Before she left for KNSD 7 NBC San Diego, former KHOU 11 anchor Christine Haas wrote a book. Now another Houston TV anchor, a few clicks up the dial, has plunged into the book world.

Weekend anchor/reporter Tom Abrahams has written Sedition. Here is a synopsis:

"The President of The United States is dead. There is no Vice President to take his place. As the nation slips into a constitutional crisis, a small group of disenfranchised neo-patriots conspire to violently seize power. They have the will. They already have someone on the inside. And they have the explosives."

Abrahams wrote the modern day political thriller based on the 1820 British plot, The Cato Street Conspiracy.

I'm always interested when someone with a full-time career writes a novel. Here are some questions I had for Abrahams.

Mike McGuff: Why did you want to write a book?

Tom Abrahams: I love writing. I like telling stories and getting reaction from those who read them. I got into the news business, in part, because I could write every day. I always knew it was a matter of time before I committed to writing something long form and actually wrote a crime novel in the late 1990s. It wasn't very good. Then I started and stopped with various manuscripts over the years until I found the right story, the right genre. And this was it.

MM: How different is writing a television news script from a book?

TA: TV news writing is very succinct. At its best it gets to the point quickly, hits the highlights, and lets the video (or audio) carry the story. A book needs more color. There's no video or audio to fill in the blanks. I actually found myself having to work really hard to add little details that I normally would leave out. But both are better when edited and rewritten multiple times. In news we'll cut a 2 minute story to 1:30. In SEDITION, I cut it from 106,000 words to about 90,000.

MM: How much discipline did it take to write it with a full-time job?

TA: It takes more discipline than I regularly have. A lot of authors will write every day. I can't do that. I'll write in chunks, when I can squeeze it in. It took me 7 months to write SEDITION and another 9 months to rewrite and edit. The most time consuming part, however, wasn't the writing. The tremendous amount of research I did to ground the story in realism took the most amount of effort.

You can buy the book at seditionbook.com in various formats.

New DFW newscast, Houston sports changes and more

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Stephen Dean joins WRTV Indianapolis

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The last time we heard from former KPRC 2 investigative reporter Stephen Dean, he had just resigned from WSYX 6 in Columbus, Ohio citing journalistic ethics issues.

But you don't have to worry about this Peabody Award winning journalist's employment, because he just got a new investigative job.

Dean's new station is E. W. Scripps owned WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana (TV market #26). In those parts the station is known as RTV6.

WRTV is run by former KPRC 2 general manager Larry Blackerby. Blackerby left Houston in 2011 for Indianapolis.

"I admired his management style and his careful and methodical approach to decision making at Local 2, and I had always hoped I’d get to work with him again," Dean told mikemcguff.com. "Most of us at Local 2 felt like he was the best GM we could have ever worked for. Morale was at an all-time high when he was there."

Dean and his wife, Cindy, are happy they get to stay close to their hometown of Columbus. When he left Houston for Columbus, Dean told me it was his dream to return to his hometown.

"When my original effort to head home to Columbus exploded in flames, I was humbled to get a couple other offers presented to me within 24-hours of word hitting your page and other industry sites," Dean told me. "While staying in Houston was an appealing thought, it was never really in the cards."

Dean says when he was thinking about leaving KPRC to get closer to home, Blackerby was his first phone call. He says there wasn't an opportunity at that point, but Blackerby recently focused on building the station's investigative unit.

"The station also has some of the ratings challenges that faced Local 2, and I admire Larry’s plan of attack and I’m ready to be a part of it," Dean said. "Larry knows what I bring to the table from his years at Local 2, and he wants the kind of journalism that I’m best at for his station.

"I did the best work of my 28-year career at Local 2, and all I’ve wanted to do is continue what I had built when I was having the most fun in Houston. Now here’s the guy who was in charge of the station during that time, so I get to go back to serious digging and compelling journalism."

Dean starts at RTV6 later this month.

KHOU 11 'Ellen-izes' METRORail; offers free rides

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This fall, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and KHOU 11, Houston’s CBS affiliate, have teamed up to offer four days of free rides on the Houston area’s METRORail. The effort hopes to encourage riders to take advantage of public transit as a fast, convenient and environmentally friendly transportation option.

“We are proud to partner with KHOU 11 and ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ to encourage people to ride METRO,” said METRO President and CEO George Greanias. “One of METRO’s operating principles is to be a trusted community partner and we hope those who ride METRORail on the free weekend dates will see that public transit is a great option every day.”

To kick off the free rides, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and KHOU 11 targeted Museum District Day in Houston, Saturday, September 15. On Museum District Day, 18 participating museums wave general admission, and many offer activities, demonstrations, performances and more. An estimated 25,000 people attend the annual event each year.

“We’re thrilled ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ is supporting Museum District Day by providing free METRORail rides all day on September 15,” said Laurette Canizares, Executive Director of the Houston Museum District. “Because all 19 museums in the District are within walking distance of the light rail, this is a great way to promote the cultural resources in this area and the importance of alternative transportation.”

Free rides on Saturday, September 15 will run from 5:30 a.m. to 2:20 a.m. The free rides courtesy of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and KHOU 11 continue on the following Sundays – September 23, October 7 and October 28, from 5:30 a.m. to 11:40 p.m. each day.

To help support the effort, one METRORail train has been wrapped with Ellen-themed graphics and will run on the rail line through October 28. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” can be seen locally on KHOU 11 weekdays at 3 p.m.

(This post from a release sent to me by KHOU)

Houston Chronicle puts FuelFix into paper's business section

To contact us Click HERE
Just when you thought the only changes coming to the Houston Chronicle were on its newly launched website...think again.

Got word today from the Hearst owned paper that its award winning website FuelFix is going the paper route. That's right, a Chronicle representative tells me that FuelFix will now be printed in the physical newspaper each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the business section.

In addition to that, the paper is also bringing Harry Weber into the fold. Weber covered the Deepwater Horizon spill for the Associated Press.

“I’m pleased to welcome Harry to our energy staff,” Chronicle business editor Laura Goldberg said in a statement. “His tenacious reporting style and extensive experience covering the oil spill make him a valuable addition to our team of talented journalists who excel at providing comprehensive coverage of the energy industry from exploration and production to pipelines and refineries.”

The new FuelFix area of the business section will also feature reporting from award-winning columnist Loren Steffy, Washington-based Jennifer A. Dlouhy plus business reporters Jeannie Kever, Emily Pickrell, Simone Sebastian and Zain Shauk.