HoustonChronicle.com News
Feb. 4, 2002
Volume 7.05
In this Issue:

Letter from the Editor

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Plus:

*Political Recommendations
*What's New at HoustonChronicle.com
*How to Send Us Community Notices
*How to Contact Us

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Letter from the Editor:

>From time to time, one of these newsletters elicits enough e-mail responses
that it appears a few folks actually read them.

That's really gratifying.

But humbling, too, since some of those responses tend to indicate that we
who work with this site every day may be assuming that our customers are
more familiar with where we put things than actually is the case.

We mentioned last week that we can create special Web sections for ongoing
stories and keep special sections from the newspaper around on the Web site
for a long time after the paper itself may have been misplaced.

Several folks asked where to find these items on the Web site; so we may
not have them as obviously available as we thought.

There is in the left-side navigation bar on all of the News sections of the
site (including the home page) a navigation segment that includes a variety
of special resources including breaking news from the Associated Press,
streaming audio news reports, strange and bizarre news stories -- and a
section labeled "News Specials."

It's that "News Specials" section where we keep all of the various special
sections we make available on the Web site. You can short cut directly to
it at http://www.HoustonChronicle.com/specialreports or you can just use
the navigation link to open it up.

The major ongoing special sections right now involve Enron developments,
the Andrea Pia Yates trial and the country's continuing responses to the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The page also includes stories still coming
from the June flooding brought on by Tropical Storm Allison.

Special sections from the various areas of the newspaper -- news, features,
sports -- are maintained online in this area as long as they remain of
interest. While some stories from this part of the site -- perhaps the war
in Kosovo -- begin to fade after a time and drop off the Special Reports
page, others -- like the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. -- likely will
remain for years to come.

We even include some special "Webumentary" pieces that we have created for
the Web site in cooperation with the staff of the newspaper. These are
articles where we get to work with the writers and photographers as the
story is being developed so that we can add interactive multimedia coverage
to extend the story beyond the limits available in print. A couple of
examples from the current Special Reports area would be pieces called
"Where Ghosts Dwell" and "So you wanna be a rock & roll star?" 

As new stories come along, they will be added. Next up likely will be the
2002 Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City, taking a spot on the page
alongside the coverage already there of the 2000 Summer Games in Australia.

Not all ongoing stories will end up in this section. Some will show up on
the Web site only while they are going on and then will fade away, but the
Special Reports page is a good place to check for stories that you think
might qualify for special extended coverage.

Thanks for visiting, and please let us be your first source for
information.

Mike Read
Editor HoustonChronicle.com News
mike@chron.com

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**Political Recommendations

It does seem that the election process never ends any more. 

Only a few weeks ago, we were going to the polls to cast votes in the
run-off contests to finish settling the 2001 campaigns.

But here we are again in the thick of political posturing as candidates
line up for the 2002 primary contests to decide candidates for this year's
November elections for officials all the way to the U.S. Senate. 

As always, the Chronicle's Editorial Board meets with all of the candidates
trying to get a handle on which are the best of the lot and then shares
this experience with you in the form of recommendations in the various
races. 

This is not a Voters Guide, which we also will provide closer to the
election and which will provide more complete information on all of the
candidates. More like the arts and movie critics of the paper offering
their opinions in the form of reviews, the newspaper's political
recommendations need to be coupled with your own views as you form your own
opinions.  

But whether you consider these recommendations as wise suggestions or an
indication of who you definitely don't want to vote for, we offer them for
your consideration from time to time on the Editorial page of the paper.
And assembled into a complete collection available from either the
Editorial or Politics pages on the Web site.

Check the candidates out at:
http://www.HoustonChronicle.com/recommendations

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*What's New at HoustonChronicle.com

**ThisWeek

In addition to covering major news events throughout the metropolitan
Houston area every day, the Chronicle produces 17 different neighborhood
community sections that are included in the paper each week.

Well, actually, each of the ThisWeek publications normally fills a couple
of broadsheet sections to be included in the paper each Thursday.

The community publications are produced by a division of the news
department and include lots of neighborhood news that might not be of
widespread interest to other neighborhoods but can be of great interest to
the local community. 

We here on the Web site don't want you to miss this more personal version
of the news either; so we post articles from all 17 ThisWeek publications
on the site each Thursday, and maintain the pages throughout the week until
the next pulication date rolls around. 

On the home page, you'll find a link for "ThisWeek" in that same left-side
navigation segment with the News Specials and the AP breaking news links.  

It's a little redundant, but we thought it might be helpful; so we included
links to the "ThisWeek" section of the site in the navigation bar for folks
opening the links to Community resources and the Metro & State news section
as well.

Follow all of the really local news at:
http://www.HousotnChronicle.com/thisweek

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**Archives Access for Non-Subscribers

For a couple of year now, the online archives of the Houston Chronicle and
the Houston Post have been open to Houston Chronicle subscribers. Those of
the Post are offline for some review right now. And HoustonChronicle.com
has partnered with Qpass to provide an easy and safe way for
non-subscribers to purchase access to archival material online.

Three kinds of passes allow non-subscribers to search the archives. One is
for 30 days, another for seven days, and a third lasts for 24 hours.  To
buy a pass and start a search, simply go to

http://www.HoustonChronicle.com/archives

That site also includes answers to any questions you might have about
this new service.

Please note that the Houston Chronicle archives includes only text of
news articles appearing in the Chronicle starting in 1985. It does not
include photographs, classified ads or paid death notices. As part of the
SubscribersADVANTAGE program, the archives remain free to Houston Chronicle
subscribers.

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*How to Send Community Notices to HoustonChronicle.com

If you or your organization has a public service announcement or news
about volunteer positions that you need filled, please send them via 
email to mailto:gwen.lewis@chron.com

HoustonChronicle.com reserves the right to edit any notices. 

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*How To Cancel Your Subscription to the Newsletter

HoustonChronicle.com News is never sent unsolicited, but if you desire
at any time to stop receiving the newsletter, please go to your mailing
list management page:

http://www.chron.com/mail/control.hts/97197771

or to be removed immediately go directly to:

http://www.chron.com/mail/unsub.hts/8/97197771

If you don't have access to a web browser, you can send any
email message to U-A8.10.97197771@chron-news.com and you will be
automatically removed from the newsletter list.

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How to contact us:
The HoustonChronicle.com World Wide Web site is located
                at http://www.HoustonChronicle.com/

The HoustonChronicle.com e-mailaddress is
mailto:hci@chron.com

The office phone number is (713) 220-2700.  We are located at 801
Texas Ave., Houston, Texas 77002. Comments to the HoustonChronicle.com
News editor may be directed to
mailto:mike.read@chron.com
or technical issues to the list manager at
mailto:mike.read@chron.com

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