Newspaper sales

          Good evening, 919 Gang. If newspapers are failing, why are so many people buying them? A New York Times story explains some of the reasons.

          BOB LAURENCE writes:

          Major story in NYT today on sale of UT and other papers , Manchester etc.
             UT sold for $110m, Chicago Sun-Times for $20m

          GINA LUBRANO forwards:

          Behind Newspaper Deals, Web Ads and Real Estate - NYTimes.com
http://tinyurl.com/6n6k3oq

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          JOE BROWN writes:

          Michele Davis's description of congestive heart failure this morning was one of the most important postings ever in this newsletter. I have been diagnosed twice with CHF, and it's very serious, the third most common cause of death in the U.S. after cancer and heart attack. In my case only a fast ambulance and the fact that our hospital is only about a mile from my house saved my life. The doctor involved told me in a very unprofessional way, "I'm surprised you didn't die." Michele's's comments about keeping the lungs clear were right on the money. As in many cases, preventing further CHF involves a prescription for a diuretic, which causes frequent urination but considering the alternative, is an inconvenience well worth the trouble. Thank you again Michele and Jack for illuminating this critical subject.

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          PHIL McMAHAN writes:

          Jack, as I read the updates on the interior decoration going on at UTSanDiego, I'm reminded of a long ago incident that happened in the 4th floor photo department. It was the late Bob Ivins who daily would arrive, go to the cafeteria and return with Hostess Twinkies. After constant chiding by several of us about all of the preservatives in that gooey bit of, whatever. Bob decided to conduct an experiment to determine how well the preservative worked. Bob placed an unwrapped Twinkie on top of a large framed photograph that hung on the photo department wall. The Twinkie was forgotten and stayed there for two years until the maintenance crew came in to repaint the walls. About to remove the large photograph, the painter asked what the deal was with the Twinkie whereupon he was told that it was an experiment and not to toss it away. We blew the dust off and when the painting was complete, returned the Twinkie to atop the framed photograph where it remained for about three years. The photograph and Twinkie were removed again, this time because we were doing some remodeling. We blew the dust off and decided it was time to test the Twinkie's staying power. What we found was, after nearly five years, the Twinkie appeared to be as soft and pliable as when it was taken out of the wrapper. However, no one was willing to do a taste test. Now we read that Twinkie baker, Hostess, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Does anybody want to bet that they'll be back? Remember, the preservatives.

          REBER: Mary and I spotted a stack of Twinkies in the grocery store last week. Aware of the bankruptcy and recalling that we hadn't had a Twinkie in decades, we bought a pack (10, I think). One taste, and we couldn't recall why or if we had ever liked them. We gave the rest to the grandkids. They'll eat anything -- almost.

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          MICHAEL GRANT writes:

          Thursday marks the 20^th anniversary of The Merger. Surely other 919ers have the “Commemorative Edition,” protected by plastic and inserted into a blue velveteen bag, of the first edition of The San Diego Union-Tribune, published Sunday, Feb. 2, 1992, and the final edition of The Evening Tribune, published the day before. The Sunday U-T was 362 pages and weighs, on my bathroom scale, between three and four pounds. Both papers are 100-proof nostalgia. There are many terrific, nostalgic stories that deserve to be published in installments in the Rebergram over the coming weeks. My favorite page of all, to refresh Leslie Wolf Branscomb’s memory of IDs somewhere, was the A-section back page of The Trib, showing thumbnails with names of every Trib employee at work with the last edition. Twenty years. Good God.
 

          REBER: I was in various groups preparing stories for those commemorative editions. I chaired agroup preparing one story for the first edition of the merged paper. At a Tribune planning section, someone suggested an idea for the final edition of the Tribune. I nixed the idea, telling them we already were working on that story for the first merged paper. "You're a traitor!" boomed George Dissinger. It was a trying time for everyone.

Jack Justus Reber
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

A warning about your heart

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We reported last night that 919er Frank Saldana is hospitalized with congestive heart failure.

          NANCY SALDANA writes:

          Thank you Jack, for letting the 919 Gang know about Frank. He has improved so much and will probably be coming home Monday or Tuesday. He'd like to be home at this moment.

          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          Sorry to hear about Frank Saldana suffering from congestive heart failure. This certainly can be life-threatening. CHF can occur from aging or by a virus.
          I would encourage all of you to watch for these signs: Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing when in an incumbent position, swollen belly, swollen ankles (or even just one ankle), wheezing, coughing up sputum, and difficulty walking. CHF can mimic asthma as it causes the lungs to fill with fluid. Do not drink fluids in an effort to flush out your system; this just will put undue pressure on your heart. Your heart has a designation of what is known as an ejection fraction, which is the pressure of force your heart exerts to push the blood through your system. When you have CHF the ejection fraction is lower, thus causing fatigue as you are not getting enough oxygen throughout your body. Additionally, eating and speaking are also difficult when in active failure as this uses oxygen.
          Kaiser treated me for about 20 years as asthmatic when I really had CHF. I contracted it at age 24 from a virus, just like catching a cold. Please do not hesitate to contact your physician or go to the ER if you have difficulty breathing. I almost died when I waited so long to call an ambulance because I could not walk 10 feet to unlock my front door.  It took me three hours before I could get to the door. I now have a lock box from Grah Lock at 10th and University in Hillcrest. It is similar to what a realtor uses with a combination lock. It was $40. I leave it at the bottom of my stairs; it has enough room for four keys. Now if Icannot get to the door the paramedics can still reach me. You can give the 919 folks the combination ahead of time to put into their system. This is great if you live alone.
          Physicians would much rather hear from you sooner rather than later. You are not being silly for contacting a physician with any concern. Do not hesitate to go to an ER if you are having problems breathing and do not just think it will get better. It might, but better to be safe than sorry. CHF can do a lot of damage. I am now in need of a heart transplant because of it. You can live with CHF as long as you are compliant with your medications, just beware of the warning signs and act quickly. Please be safe!

          REBER: A powerful message, Michele. Thank you.

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          REBER: Last night John McLaren shared a photo of the Tribune staff taken in 1992, just before the merger.

          LESLIE WOLF BRANSCOMB writes:

          Ah, the final Trib photo. Of course, I have the last-ever Evening Tribune framed, with that photo on the front. Wasn't there a page inside of that issue that identified everyone in the picture? Anyway, here are the ones I can identify, before the faces become too indistinct toward the back. Of course, I knew all these people, but not all their names spring to mind right now:
          Far left front row is Karen Kucher, one of the few former Trib folks still at the paper. I'm blanking on the names of the others in the front row until I get to the redhead in the middle, who is Pascale LeDroulec (pardon me if the name spellings are not correct; as I am no longer in journalism I don't feel the need to look it up) -- she left the paper along with Teri Sforza (now Mrs. Jeff Light) to travel the world and write a series of amusing travel stories as a result. L-R after Pascale are Dee Anne Traitel, Sharon Spivak (a lawyer), Jeff Ristine (Mr. Rev. Karen Clark), can't remember the next person's name, then there's Leslie Wolf (me), and Agnes Roletti.
                In the second row, L-R, starting behind Sharon are Lola Sherman, ?, then Lillian Leopold (PIO for the Sweetwater schools), Leonel Sanchez (who's now a hospital PIO), and Frank Saldana. Behind Frank, on the right edge of the group, front to back, are David Harpster, Bill Polk, Fernando Romero and Mark Arner... and I think that might be the late, great Ruth McKinnie behind Mark. To Fernando's right are John Gilmore (now a PIO with the Port District), with (I think) Sharon Jones to his right and David Hasemyer behind him. In the third row, with glasses, I'm pretty sure that's Carl Larsen. And it's easy to spot our fearless leader, Neil Morgan, in the third row from the back, by his bald pate.

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          STEVE CASEY writes:

          One of the most useful travel sites I've found is a blog run by 919 member Greg Gross called "I'm Black and I Travel."  Reasonably enough, it's at: www.imblacknitravel.com.  Greg's working premise is that black people don't travel the world enough and he's out to change that.  Sure, it has particular relevance for African-Americans, and Greg likes to write about travel to and developments in "the Mother Continent," but his stuff is packed with great travel information for everyone. Even this pale Irishman.  It's lively, informative, engaging.  He also offers a weekly synopsis of what travel sections around the country have carried on Sunday, with links to interesting stories.  He's also got a Facebook page and he's on Twitter -- although being something of a curmudgeon, I haven't figured out exactly what Twitter is or why anyone should care. 

          REBER: As evidence that someone cares: Mary and I watched most of the Pro Bowl today, and we heard there were Twitter stations placed on the sidelines for use by the football players during the game.

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          REBER: There has been discussion of a San Carlos automobile accident that sent eight people to the hospital.

          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          I'm glad the La Mesa Patch got the story right. As for the "drunk driver" he was below the legal limit, but a beer can was found in the car. I don't know if the other passengers had been drinking, but I'd venture to guess yes. Because the accident wasn't his fault (as it wasn't in my case) he may not be charged.
          The problem with that intersection is people wanting to cross the two lanes of north-bound traffic to make a left turn watch for the traffic to clean in the lanes they wish to enter but don't give a second look to their left for traffic heading up Jackson. That's where I hit "Mr. Mote" 25 years ago. One minute he was at the stop sign and the next he was in front of me. Because I hit him his grown son was surprised when the police officer told him his dad was at fault. Two short  blocks to the north at Cowles Mountain Blvd is an intersection with a light.

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

Get well, Frank

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Many thanks to Steve Casey for this news about Frank Saldana, a good friend to many, many members.

Frank Saldana

          STEVE CASEY writes:
          I got this this morning from Bob Lampert, retired Channel 10 photog and former SDPD reserve officer, who does a Lampert version for cops of the Reber Report for newsies.
          I called the hospital but Sal was on the phone. A woman at the nursing station said I was welcome to call back, and she passed a message on to him that I'd called, so apparently he's doing okay.
          He's definitely one of the good guys, and I know we all wish him a fast recovery.

forwarded from Det. Sgt. Gordie Clausen...

          Frank was admitted to Grossmont Hospital Emergency Friday morning. He is in stable condition and sleeping like a baby. He has been diagnosed with congested heart failure. He has a lot of liquid in both lungs and an enlarged heart. After about an hour of forced oxygen, he regained his ability to converse in a normal manner and the color came back into his face. He was admitted to Grossmont and will probably be there in room 4-48 for a few days. The nurse's station is (619) 740-3130.
          He had been having difficulty breathing; walking very short distances have been winding him. He had lost most of his appetite and you know, that's just not Frank. He also had a few hallucinations while we were returning from Marshaling at the Farmers Open at Torrey Pines on Thursday. That, and his thrashing in bed, unable to breath correctly awoke us to the fact, he needed medical attention, immediately!
          Frank's daughter Lori spent the afternoon with him and is keeping his other three daughters informed and up to the minute. They live out of state, as you know, and need to know what's happened to their Daddy.
          Seems that this has been creeping up on us slowly and we didn't realize it. We knew something wasn't right so Frank saw his primary doctor Monday. Frank was at Grossmont Emergency this morning before we got the results of the tests. His cardiologist has been to see him a couple of times and will be right with him until this situation has been totally cleared up. A big change in his medication is in the works, thank God!
          Thank you for all your prayers and kind thoughts. Frank is just the best and doesn't deserve to feel anything other than PERFECT!!!
    
          STEVE CASEY forwards:
          From my friend Photographer Tom Keck...
          Thanks for the info on Frank Saldana.......I called the hospital right away and talked to him for about 10 minutes. He seems in great spirits and sounds really good, except for a cough that goes along with congested heart failure. He wants to go home, but Nancy said maybe Monday. He is tired so I got off of the phone.

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          TIFFANY PORTER writes:

          Even though I no longer live in San Diego, I'm still hearing from people I applied for jobs with a couple of years ago. I just got email from Smooth Jazz News, asking if I was still interested in doing some freelance copy editing for them.
          I'm not, because I'm working full time, but if any 919ers are interested, they can contact:
Melanie Maxwell,
Publisher - Smooth Jazz News
5858 Mt. Alifan Dr., Suite 136
San Diego, CA 92111
www.smoothjazznews.com
(858) 541-1919

          REBER: Good one, Tiffany. Thank you.

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          JOHN McLAREN writes:

          For those who may have forgotten, or never knew, the 20th anniversary if the Union-Tribune merger is coming up this Thursday, Feb. 2. That event marked the beginning of the end of newspaper competition in San Diego, because the LA Times terminated its San Diego edition later that same year (1992). The attached photo of the Trib staff was taken a few days before the merger. It's hard to identify individuals, but Frank Saldana stands out at the right end of the second row.

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          BARBARA MOSS writes:

          Many thanks to Gordon Murray for the photos of the newsroom renovation. I like the changes. Everything is looking clean and fresh. Can't wait to see it looks all finished. Gordon, how do the folks in the newsroom feel about the new paint, etc.?

          BONNIE ROGERS writes:

          Gordon Murray's photos of the newsroom renovation reminded me of a minor renovation to the newsroom at 919 2nd in 1954. At that time I was a full time student at San Diego State majoring in psychology and working full time at the Union doing the radio/TV logs. This meant I could only take morning classes. By the spring of 1954 I had taken all the psych classes they would allow without taking a three-hour afternoon lab.
          I couldn't afford to quit my job as it was my sole income. With the mature mentality of a typical 19-year-old, I figured that if I could irritate the brass enough to fire me "without cause", I could draw my unemployment, take the lab and get them to hire me back after I completed the course. Seemed like a brilliant plan.
          I made an appointment with the then managing editor, Howard B. Taylor. I literally assaulted him with my "demands." I needed a new glue pot and my own pair of scissors. The table on which I corrected the logs had too dark a background and the light was too dim. I now had to wear glasses. And furthermore, they weren't paying me enough money for my efforts. I wanted a raise.
          I expected him to boot me out of his glass office. To my astonishment, he gave in on all my points. Scissors and glue pot magically appeared. I was dispatched to a vendor to select a proper covering of light green for my charcoal-colored work table. My raise was more than a 10 percent increase. And light? Old timers may recall that Union Editorial in those days was lit by two long banks of 8-foot fluorescent light fixtures. Taylor ordered the rewiring of the entire room to accommodate one 4-foot fixture (totally unaligned with anything else) installed directly over my table in the middle of the room. (I still have no idea what possessed the man!)
          My plan for drawing unemployment bit the dust. How could I quit after all this? I decided to continue my journalism "career" and changed my major to political science.

          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          Uh oh! I spotted a problem with the photos of the newly painted newsroom. The painter may lose his job as he is not in "sharp business attire!" Don't let DougieMan see him or else he will be a goner!

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          REBER: Chuck Boyd asked last night about blogs run by 919ers.

          KEN STONE writes:

          Chuck asketh. I answereth: My 8-year-old blog on geezer track and field at masterstrack.com has 3,847 posts and 19,424 comments. I use WordPress, which does a great job filtering out spam. "Akismet has protected your site from 115,089 spam comments already," says my site dashboard. In 2009, I was the first winner of the Adam Jacobs Memorial Award for Excellence in Blogging from TAFWA — Track and Field Writers of America.
          My site has Google ads, and I get a regular check for $130 every month. (Yes, it's reported to the IRS.) During peak spring and summer months, I get about 18,000 unique visitors a month from a worldwide audience, but mostly USA. I frequently get 20 comments on a single entry.
          Why so popular? Nobody else gives a crap about masters track.

          JOE GANDELMAN writes:

          I started http://themoderatevoice.com in December 2003. Due to my travel (I'm writing this from New Orleans and have a show in Tulsa on Monday) years ago I started to invite guest blogs, people whose writing I really liked, to Guest Voice post and in most cases just give them the codes as Guest Voice columnists or TMV cobloggers. The blog's main focus remains politics (running a variety of viewpoints if you add some of the columns or guests). Also, to keep the content up, I subscribe to Cagle cartoons with their cartoons and columns offered to me so I can legally run them, and also am licensed to run EJ Dionne and Eugene Robinson. But I started it with just me doing short posts and now do things such as "live blogging" debates, reviews, etc. I approach putting good content on the blog the same as I'd do a regular job. I spend at least three hours a day on it (getting up at 5), more on some days.

          TOM GABLE writes:

          Tom Gable’s PR blog: www.authenticprcounsel.com

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          JOE HOLLY writes:

          With Super Bowl weekend a week away, I thought I would send a few shots I made in New Orleans's French Quarter a couple weeks back. This is the night before we set out on our Caribbean cruise.
          It was a major party on Bourbon Street. The weekend had the New Orleans Saints in a playoff game in the Superdome (they won) and, two days later, the College BCS championship game between LSU -- the good guys -- and Alabama -- also the good guys (depending upon whether you were wearing purple or red). This was a world-class collection of serious football fans, and these guys party.
          I guess that it was the first weekend of Mardi Gras, too. We took a stroll down Bourbon Street after dark, and the place was rocking. A photographer's delight. And a real challenge for me, since I never use a flash. So I found myself standing very still or leaning against things shooting at 1/4 second and slower. Lotta fun when I don't care whether things come out.
          Anyway here are a few that did turn out ok.

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          JACK REBER forwards:

          Color photos from the Depression/World War II era.
http://tinyurl.com/85qg4sl

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

Papa-ganda

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Here's a new word that may be useful.

          GINA LUBRANO writes:

          Thanks to 919er Mark Sauer for coming up with a wonderful term to define Manchester's front-page editorial on his vision for downtown: Papa-ganda. Mark said it on today's (Friday's) Editors Roundtable on KPBS. If the credit doesn't belong to Mark (I think it does), kudos to whoever coined the term.

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          CHUCK BOYD writes:

          Please send me the Seniors Discount list/card. I coordinate the quarterly meeting of about 78 retired folks from my local paper, and I am sure they would appreciate having such information.
          In fact, I'm planning a Las Vegas/Grand Canyon trip in April so It probably would help me there. Thanks.
          Oh, my blog turns 6 years old in March with 65,000+ "hits" from all 50 states, three US territories and 143 other countries. Mozambique was the latest.
          Is there any way to find out if other Gang members have a blog going? Did you include that info on your Membership List?
          My next blog posting will be my 499th of writing and displaying my photographs. I hope others are doing so because it's nice to have a self-imposed copy deadline.

          REBER: If members tell me about their blogs, I include them in the directory. I suspect there are many not listed. So, tell us about your blog. Might as well build your circulation.

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          GORDON MURRAY writes:

          Update on the newsroom renovation, in photos taken Thursday evening.

Joe Taylor

Steve Breen in his office

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          KEN STONE writes:

          Suzanne Mack last night noted errors in a U-T story about a two-car crash in San Carlos that sent eight people to the hospital:
http://tinyurl.com/7ptjpmd
          My version had the right car hitting the right SUV, but I advanced the story by noting the supposedly drunken driver was not arrested or charged:
http://patch.com/A-qyvv
          I rarely cover accidents outside La Mesa, but this was close to our border, and I was curious whether the teen driver blamed in the crash was a La Mesan. So I contacted the PIO at SDPD and learned that—contrary to other reports—no charges were being pursued against the driver. Interesting.
          Anyone have a guess why a kid suspected of DUI isn't arrested or charged? Did the other driver not yield the right of way? Kid have powerful parents?

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          REBER: Jerry Rife reacts to comments posted about a photo package I sent out the other night. Jerry, if you want to see the photo packages I send, please let me know. I don't send to everyone because they are large files, and some don't want big messages.

          JERRY RIFE writes:

          Jan and I visited La Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona this winter. Here are some pictures.

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

The pension question

          Good evening, 919 Gang. We continue to wonder about moving money out of the U-T pension fund before the age of 55.

          KATHY VALENTINE writes:

          Several 919 readers were inquiring about the regulations for removing their pension money from the U-T before the age of 55. That has always been the magic age as far as moving your money elsewhere in a rollover if you quit or retired early -- unless you are "retired" involuntarily before 55. I was pleasantly surprised when an HR person mentioned that I could take it out and roll it over into my own IRA if I wished. There is a stipulation in the pension language about restricting withdrawals of fund money if there is any danger of becoming underfunded -- which hasn't happened yet to my knowledge.

          REBER: If you are under 55 and wish to move your pension money from the U-T fund, I suggest you contact the agency to which you wish to move the money (your IRA administrator or similar). I feel certain those folks will know the law. And if it is possible, I'm pretty sure they will handle the communications with the U-T pension people. I don't know the rules, but I think an investment professional would be your best source of advice.

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          DAVID FARMER writes:

          I forwarded to my friends the great pictures of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia you sent to the 919 group. In the process I learned something about the lexicon of churches. One naturally assumes that Gaudi's masterpiece is a cathedral. In my opinion it deserves to take its place alongside some of the Gothic structures that raise their angular arms to the skies.
          However, Sagrada Familia is not a cathedral, but a basilica. In fact, it's a minor basilica despite being consecrated by the Pope last year. St. Peter's in Rome is a major basilica. A cathedral is the seat of a bishop or archbishop (the Latin cathedra means seat), and apparently Barcelona does not rate one of those. I'm talking here only about Catholic usage. Other denominations grant the title more freely, applying it to any large, grand church.

          REBER: If you didn't get the message which contained those photos, it's because you have not informed me you wish to receive large photo packages which I can not include in the nightly report. Let me know if you want to be added.

                                                                                        
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          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          On Tuesday night there was a car crash two miles from my house involving an SUV and a Dodge Charger. Two of the three children were not wearing seat belts. The Dodge, driven by an 18 year old Patrick Henry senior, carried four teen passengers. The 18 year old young man had been drinking.
          I taped Channel 10's coverage of the incident. The UT carried the story on B 2 under Local Reports...and reporter Debbi Baker got it wrong. The paper has the SUV hitting the Dodge. The SUV was coming from the direction of the San Carlos rec center on Lake Badin turning left onto Jackson Drive. As the Dodge headed north on Jackson it broadsided the SUV, sent it across the intersection and up on a front lawn where it flipped on its side.
          25 years ago I hit a car that, like the SUV driver, failed to yield to traffic on Jackson and left a stop sign without looking to his left. My accident  happened one block south of Lake Badin.
          In the Night and Day section there is a nice item about O'Brien's American Pub in Kearney Mesa being voted official US Soccer bar.

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          CHUCK BOYD writes:
          Jack, not sure if this link is what you need to share a snippet of a particular song from the 1968 musical "Hair."
          I remember going to see it in San Diego and being properly shocked by the (brief) frontal nudity scene at the end of Act 1.
          I also remember after the cast curtain calls, the audience was invited to come on stage - and dance in the aisles - to a rollicking Age of Aquarius.
          Many of us did.
          At that point, I was fast approaching the "Don't trust anyone over 30" milestone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCXOo9OcPKY

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          JACK REBER writes:

          Tonight a friend passed me a very lengthy list of establishments which offer senior discounts on meals, clothes, groceries, travel, etc. It reminded me that there is a $10 pass, good for a lifetime that will admit a senior and everyone in his/her car to all national parks, monuments, BLM lands, etc. It is a great bargain.
          The discount list is too long to include here, but I will forward to anyone who requests it.

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.