APSE | Associated Press Sports Editors

Lots of things happening in Dallas. Belo, the company that owns the Dallas Morning News, has offered voluntary severance packages to most of its employees with the goal of reducing total full-time employees across the corporation by 500. As for the DMN, the company seeks to operate the newsroom with 350 employees, down from the current number of about 395 employees. Employees can accept the buyout from Aug. 11-20. If their request is accepted, the last day of work for many of those employees would be Sept. 12. The bad news: if the company doesn't reach its goals through voluntary workforce reduction, involuntary workforce reduction would begin.

El Paso is beginning to see one of the effects of writing stories that also get posted online. For the sake of people reading online, the El Paso Times is datelining all stories and briefs produced by the staff, even if the dateline is El Paso. Also, you won't find any more "today" in Times copy. This change was made for the sake of online readers.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal is trying something new with its annual football preview: That is, it will do two of them. One will be strictly about Texas Tech, and the other will cover preps. The editions will be released five days apart. The A-J also has some online surprises up its sleeve – online shows for Tech football and high school football. The newspaper also will run it's all-time Texas Tech football team, compiled from reader suggestions both through online balloting and snail mail ballots and finalized by a panel from people inside and outside the paper.

The Odessa American has hired Willie Bans, a recent San Diego State graduate who worked this summer for MLB.com.

In San Angelo, sports editor Charles Bryce confirmed that the Standard-Times presently had no plans to replace the loss of a reporting position from its sports staff.

In Albuquerque, N.M., the local newspaper scene has a completely different look these days. That is, the Albuquerque Journal now is the only paper in town after the Albuquerque Tribune, long a staple in the state's capital, ceased operations earlier this year. A declining circulation was one of the main culprits in the demise of the Trib, which was known for slanting more toward feature-oriented content.

John Erfort is the chair of the Southwest Region. You can reach him at (915) 546-6170 or via e-mail at jerfort@elpasotimes.com.

AUGUST 2008 NEWSLETTER STORIES

• Northwest Region report (8/29)

• Leitch: Don't be afraid of Web hits, they pay the bills (8/28)

• Carrig: A small paper with big ideas (8/27)

• Football stats made easy (8/26)

• Great Plains Region report (8/25)

• LLWS: Every Sports Editor's nightmare doesn't have to be if you follow these tips (8/23)

• Writing short – and good – high school game stories is still possible (8/22)

• Early plan: Balance fun and learning (8/21)

• The ever-shrinking sports staff (8/20)

• On The Move (8/19)

• Southwest Region report (8/15)

• Northeast Region report (8/14)

• Howard: Facts and opinions kept apart (8/13)

• Mid-Atlantic Region report (8/12)

• Great Lakes Region report (8/11)

• National conventions – trouble ahead? (8/8)

• Atlantic Coast Region report (8/7)

• On The Move (8/6)

• Southeast Region report (8/5)

• West Region report (8/4)

• Hoppes: Don't let job losses dim your passion and compassion (8/1)

• Complete index