Best news photographs force difficult decisions
Strong photographs invariably make us think. Or cry. Or both. Advocate photojournalist T.C. Baker came back to the newsroom late Wednesday afternoon with a powerful image of a body being pulled from the Guadalupe River. To see the photo and ...

Where can you get more for $1.25? (even less if you're a subscriber)
Please permit me to gush about some of the talented people in the Advocate newsroom. If you're a Web-only reader, you need to buy a print edition today to fully appreciate their work. Your $1.25 will be well-spent. For starters, ...

Why didn't more turn out for Broadway Buddies at Theatre Victoria?
John Treacy Egan and Christine Pedi put on a polished and professional show Friday night at the Leo Welder Center. Unfortunately, the theater wasn't even half full. Why do you think that is? Is the audience not here for such ...

What front page will best suit the historic nature of the inauguration?
In a region where the new president received only about 35 percent of the vote, what front page best suits his inauguration? I've found the fawning nature of the national coverage to be a bit much, but you also can't ...

How can Victoria take greater advantage of its water and weather?
 What another spectacular winter day here in South Texas. How did I ever survive so many winters up north? We took a weekend trip to Austin to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. One of the highlights was a brief ...

Will any Oscar-nominated movies will play Victoria?
My friends elsewhere give high marks to "Slumdog Millionaire," the best-picture Golden Globe winner. My complaint: Only mainstream movies play Victoria. Cinemark, which runs the 12-plex in Victoria, supposedly shows art movies through CinéArts. That's a grand idea, but the ...

What do you want from Advocate sports coverage?
A big advantage to having almost three decades of experience in the newspaper business is the connections you make across your career. More than two decades ago, I started on the copy desk at the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader ...

Would you be willing to try Twitter?
I'm listening to a recording of a Columbia University journalism school Webcast about Twitter. I've posted before about Twitter and used it for several months now, but I figured I should hear what the experts say about this microblogging fad. ...

How do world-class authors end up in Victoria?
We've written a lot about the American Book Review reading series, but I want to also share this excellent article from InsiderHigherEd.com. I'm biased, but I particularly enjoyed this comment from the chair of the English department at Florida State ...

What would you like to share with our ethics board?
Here are topics for Tuesday's monthly meeting of our ethics board: I. The wall between church and state, i.e., news and advertising. - We had one subscriber cancel because of the end-of-the-year wrap by an auto dealer. Not exactly an ...

What makes a good article comment?
As we work on a redesign of our site, we remain firmly committed to featuring your contributions. When I scan our site, I always find myself looking to see what you've contributed to our journalism. Today, I found these gems ...