There’s a lot going on at the Idaho Press Club right now, from our upcoming fall conference (see page 1) to First Amendment victories to website upgrades, to all the planning for upcoming scholarship awards, the annual awards contest, and our gala spring awards banquet, which this year will be held May 3, 2014 at the Boise Centre.

Meantime, many of your Press Club board members have been busy judging journalism contests from other states, in preparation for swaps in which those state press clubs will help with the judging of our contest. All the wheels are turning!

Our First Amendment Committee Chairman Todd Dvorak reports several recent victories we can celebrate, both involving court cases regarding Corrections Corp. of America and the Idaho Correctional Center, the troubled privately run Idaho state prison that CCA operates south of Boise. A federal judge ruled in our favor against an extensive sealing of records in one of the cases. In the other, we were just about ready to jump into the fight when the judge ruled in favor of openness, as we’d hoped he would. The Associated Press and news organizations around the state joined the Press Club in these court filings. Todd says these victories may not be as high-profile as our big win in the execution access case last year, but we’re keeping the courts open, and that’s good for all of us.

After the unfortunate hacking incident that caused a frustrating shutdown of our Press Club website for some time, it’s back up and running with major security upgrades. Also in the works are improvements to the site. As part of that, we’d like to invite everyone to consider sending in some photos of members of the press at work in Idaho. They’ll rotate on our site as part of a new graphic element that we think will be well-suited to our site and add a sense of who we are and what we do. You can email photos to email@idahopressclub.org; please make sure they’re cleared for use on our site. Thanks to Joan Cartan-Hansen and Martha Borchers for their work on the website committee, and to our webmaster, Wyatt Werner.

Board member John Hecht has joined the scholarship committee to fill the slot left open by the passing of our longtime and much-valued board member Allen Derr; remember that the scholarship application deadline each year is Feb. 15, both for the Don Watkins Memorial Scholarship for college journalism students, and for the Don Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship for press club members who are seeking training through attending a conference or working on a project that will enhance the working press in Idaho. There’s full info on the website at www.idahopressclub.org. Thanks also to Todd and to Melissa McGrath for their work on our scholarship committee.

Banquet committee chair Deanna Darr has fun things in the works for this year’s awards banquet; we’re all looking forward to it. And of course, before awards can be handed out, we’ll have our second year of running our annual awards contest completely online; thanks to contest chair Joan Cartan-Hansen for getting us over the technical bumps of the first year and helping smooth them out as we approach the second.

Speaking of online, you all should have received an email survey by now about how you’d feel about this newsletter, the Communicator, moving to online-only. It’s a step we’re reluctant to take, because people like the paper newsletter that shows up at their homes or offices three times a year, but it’s very costly, and it’s likely a change we’ll need to make for bottom-line reasons. If you haven’t already, please answer the survey; or you can send thoughts, comments or suggestions to us at email@idahopressclub.org. Thanks to board member Sadie Babits for developing the survey.

In October, IDOG – Idahoans for Openness in Government – will be holding four seminars on Idaho’s open meeting and public records laws in the Magic Valley and eastern Idaho, all led by Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and in partnership with the Idaho Press Club. This follows three such sessions held in the Treasure Valley last winter. The evening workshops will be Oct. 14 in Sun Valley; Oct. 15 in Twin Falls, Oct 16 in Blackfoot and Oct. 17 in Rexburg. They are co-sponsored by the Idaho Mountain Express, the Times-News, the Blackfoot Morning News, the Idaho State Journal, the Post Register, and the Rexburg Standard Journal; all the sessions are free and refreshments will be served. The sessions are for journalists, local and state government officials and staff, and interested citizens. There’s more info at the IDOG website, www.openidaho.org. If you’re in any of these areas, please consider attending; or if you are in the Treasure Valley and missed the chance to catch one last winter, consider making the trip. After all, who wouldn’t want to pay a visit to Sun Valley?

The Idaho Press Club appreciates all your support. We’ve got lots in the works, thanks to our dedicated volunteer board members and our amazing executive director, Martha Borchers.

Please keep your membership current, think about your contest entries between now and January, and see you at the fall conference!

Betsy Russell is a Boise-based reporter for The Spokesman-Review newspaper, and is the president of the Idaho Press Club.

Zella Strickland has never turned on a computer. The only one ever in her home was for her husband to use, and after some frustration was quickly discarded on the curb with a sign that said “FREE”.

In that spirit, it’s fitting that even with almost every reporter toting a laptop and smartphone, Strickland is one of the necessities of Idaho courtroom reporting that hasn’t changed: A sketch artist.

In cases where cameras aren’t allowed, such as in federal court, Strickland can sometimes be seen in the front row of the gallery, set up with her art supplies in her lap, meticulously drawing attorneys and defendants for the media who hire her.

From Claude Dallas to Joseph Duncan

In recent times, Strickland has sketched the federal court proceedings of accused terror suspect Fazliddin Kurbanov and the St. Alphonsus vs. St. Luke’s antitrust trial for KTVB.

Her courtroom sketch artist career began in 1981, and she has sketched infamous trials in Idaho ranging from those of Joseph Duncan to Randy Weaver to Claude Dallas.

On a September afternoon, she allowed me to come to her home and had an array of courtroom sketches out for me to see. They were on a small table, surrounded by her other professional art, ranging from cartoons with silly puns to richly-colored depictions of Basque dancers.

From newspapers to TV

Strickland got into “news art” when she was hired by the Idaho Observer to illustrate advertisements and cartoons. The owner, she says, was looking for artists “who were cheap!” which, as a single mom, she says she was.

After doing political cartoons and sketching legislators for Idaho Observer stories, KBOI television wanted a court artist.

“No one in Idaho had ever done that before, so we didn’t know what to do about it,” Strickland said. “It was a little trial and error in those first (sketches).”

She experimented for a while, and eventually decided her sketches would be with watercolors and markers on stiff art boards. She’d pack up her supplies in a bait box and haul them into court, setting her boards on her lap to draw. That method, though, has not been without flaw in her years in court.

Drawing attention: From the embarrassing…

Strickland’s most embarrassing moment was during Claude Dallas’s sentencing when the judge allowed courtroom artists to sit in the jury box. Court had already started when she decided to move to a different row and pinched her knee in the swiveling captain’s chair.

“I went head over tea kettle, I truly did. And all of those pencils went shooting up in the air, just enormously, you know they’re aerodynamic. Then they started falling in slow motion, hitting those oak chairs, clattering the whole time, and then they … fell on the tile floor, continuing to clatter, while I stayed down there on the floor. Anyway I crept up and looked, and Judge Lodge was just losing it. He had his hand over his mouth,” Strickland said.

Strickland quickly grew to love being in the courtroom, saying she’s always been interested in anything different.

“I thought it was delicious. If I hadn’t needed any money, I would have done it for nothing just to be there and do it,” Strickland said.

… To the profitable

Often after she finishes sketches in the courtroom (and as I’ve witnessed personally), attorneys and judges will ask to buy Strickland’s work, which she happily sells. As one may imagine though, they often make a few requests too.

“There’s always, could you put a little more hair? Or I forgot I had that bald spot in the back! Or could you put a little color in the temples or take off a few pounds?” Strickland said.

What Strickland is looking for when she sketches is getting her work done quickly and accurately. She says she always does the defendant’s picture first, then moves to their defense attorney, and then goes around the room trying to get every person and detail, down to the furniture.

“I always told my husband, ‘If you see an American flag, I had plenty of time!’” Strickland said.

Strickland’s sketches have appeared on KBOI, KTVB, NBC national news, A&E, and many more.

Jamie Grey is a reporter for KTVB-TV, and is a member of the Idaho Press Club board.

BOISE – It’s no secret so much more is expected of reporters. Attending a press conference anymore isn’t just about asking the right questions, gathering the facts and pithy quotes and filing a story for the website, broadcast or print edition.

These days, our jobs and expectations are also about making sharp and clear photos or shooting web-ready video with those brand new iPhones, Samsung Galaxy’s or the latest Android devices.

It all sounds great when your editor hands you this amazing new technology – along with an updated job description. But what we’re finding out here at the Idaho Press Club is all too often there isn’t the level of technical training that goes beyond the owner’s manual.

Sure we’re skilled enough to point and shoot the camera. But what can we do to make better images, adjust for bad lighting or honor the rule of thirds?

Of course we can figure out the fundamentals of shooting video, then hope the final product reveals our steady hand or avoids the grainy texture that prompts viewers to move the cursor to the pause button.

We here at IPC feel your pain. We understand your desire to do your jobs better, to deliver the kind of multi-media products that will trade an editor’s grimace for a grin.

So here is what we have in store for the IPC’s 2013 Fall Conference. On Oct. 19 in Boise, we’re dedicating the conference to teaching the best tools, tips and tricks for using your smartphones to do your jobs better.

Our expert presenters include Ted Warren, veteran photographer for the Associated Press in the Seattle bureau. Warren has been at the forefront in the AP for using his iPhone to make photos and videos that meet the AP’s demands and expectations for quality. He has also shared his smartphone skills in many other states, most recently the Alaska Press Club’s 2012 conference, and continues to find new ways and tools for incorporating the smartphone’s amazing capabilities to do his job.

Warren will be joined by Joe Jaszewski, the photo editor at the Idaho Statesman, a newspaper that has recently made smartphones a must for staff, along with the expectation to produce photos and video with those new toys.

The goal for our two teachers will be to take you beyond the basics of our handhelds, provide essential skills for making photos and video and take our talents to the next level. For those interested, after the morning session, Warren and Jaszewski have agreed to work with those who want to step outside, put their new skills to the test then get one-on-one criticism.

We understand the push to bring back quality photos and useable video to your newsrooms, corporate projects or clients. So let us help you at the Idaho Press Club Fall Conference next month.

Fall Conference Presenters

Ted S. Warren is a staff photographer and videographer with the Associated Press in Seattle. He was born and raised in Moscow, Idaho, and began his professional career in 1993 with a photo internship at the Los Angeles Times while he was student at the University of Texas at Austin.

His interest in journalism was born from his interest as a youth in news coverage of the Teton Dam collapse in 1976 and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Prior to focusing on journalism full-time in college, Ted studied mechanical engineering and worked two summers on off-shore oil rigs.

Ted joined the AP as a staff photographer and photo editor in Chicago in 1999, after working as a staff photographer at the Austin American-Statesman, and as a freelancer in central Massachusetts.

He thrives on the variety of assignments that come with working for the AP, but he particularly enjoys large-scale environmental stories, and covering major sporting events both nationally and internationally. His work has taken him to both high-arctic Canada and to McMurdo Station in Antarctica, but his favorite destination is Mount St. Helens or wherever the next story is taking place.

In 2008, Ted was selected to be a member of the AP’s video essay team, and began shooting and producing video stories in addition to his still-photo assignments. He has been active in AP’s training programs for many years, teaching video to still photographers, photography to reporters and writers, and multimedia slideshows to journalists from all formats.

Ted lives in Tacoma, Wash., with his wife Kirsten, who is a professor of German at Pacific Lutheran University, and their two sons, Grayson, 15, and Hal, 12.. He enjoys coaching youth soccer, hiking, camping, and reading.

Joe Jaszewski is the photo editor and tablet editor at the Idaho Statesman. He started his career at the Statesman at age 20 in 2000 as a photo intern, then rejoined the staff in 2003 as a temporary photojournalist, becoming a permanent staff member in the fall of that year. Joe has covered a wide variety of stories for the statesman including the Larry Craig saga, wildfires throughout the state, and both of Boise State’s Fiesta Bowl victories. He’s received awards from the Idaho Press club both as a photographer and writer.

A Sacramento native, Joe was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at Jesuit High School and worked as photojournalist, photo editor, reporter, and columnist at the California Aggie while earning a degree in American Studies from UC Davis.

His freelance credits include The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. When he isn’t working you can probably find him participating in one of Boise’s numersou recreational sports leagues.

Todd Dvorak is the AP correspondent for Boise, and is the vice president of the Idaho Press Club board.

The statistics paint a bleak picture for female newshounds. According to the Women’s Media Center, women make up only 36.9 percent of newspaper staff in all positions, and male bylines outnumbered female bylines three to one in front-page presidential coverage in 2012.

But the Idaho Press Club — which boasts women in both its executive director and president positions — spoke to female reporters and editors to get their take. The consensus: Women play high-profile and active roles in Idaho journalism.

The 2012 Idaho Press Club Journalists of the Year — KTVB’s Jamie Grey for broadcast and Idaho Statesman’s Audrey Dutton for print — are both young women. The managing editors of three of the state’s largest daily newspapers are women — Vicki Gowler of the Idaho Statesman, Vickie Holbrook of the Idaho Press-Tribune, and Autumn Agar of the Times-News. Shawn O’Neal said since he became the student media advisor at University of Idaho, eight of the last 10 Argonaut editors-in-chief were women.

Kelcie Moseley, reporter for the Idaho Press-Tribune and 2011 graduate of University of Idaho, said many of the journalists she admires are women, especially young women.

Newsrooms in both Twin Falls and Nampa have several women younger than 30, including Rebecca De Leon, Alison Smith and Kimberlee Kruesi.

Billie Stanton, city editor at the Times-News in Twin Falls, has worked with multiple female editors since a woman hired her at the Denver Post in 1988.

“I’ve had long, rich experiences with newspaper women and newspaper top dogs,” Stanton said. “It’s not new to me.”

And young women have a lot to contribute, Stanton said. Reporters at the Times-News have taught Stanton about social media and its role in news sharing, she said.

“I’ve got to say I’m learning a lot from Autumn, who is 20 years younger than I am,” Stanton said of the Times-News editor.

There is still inequality in some parts of the newsroom, Moseley said, but it’s not necessarily the product of institutionalized sexism or gender roles.

“At the previous two places I worked, the reigning management was composed of males, but for the most part they were older men who have been in journalism for years,” Moseley said. “So from my view, inequality still exists, but I don’t know if it’s purposeful anymore so much as a product of the longevity of some of these careers. And younger people aren’t staying in journalism long enough anymore to really ascend to those positions, I don’t think.”

Freelance reporter Frankie Barnhill, formerly of Boise State Public Radio, said public radio has led the charge in gender equality with women in prominent news positions, but young women still face challenges.

“I think until the number of female news directors and editors equals that of their male counterparts, there is still work to be done,” Barnhill said. “It’s not purely a numbers game, but without women in equal positions of power, it’s harder for young women to envision themselves in those same positions.”

Emilie Ritter Saunders of Boise State Public Radio said two of the three news directors she worked for in the last eight years were women, making inequality in the newsroom a non-issue in her experience. But, she pointed out, women lead only 20.6 percent of radio station newsrooms, according to the Radio Television Digital News Association, and she has never met a female general manager.

“I do think the equality meter changes when I’m reporting in the field, ” Ritter Saunders said. “There are some settings where I feel being a young, female journalist has meant I don’t get the interview I want, and that I may not be taken as seriously as some of my male colleagues. Luckily, I’d say those experiences have been few and far between.”

And with more young women rising in the ranks, perhaps those attitudes will change.

“It has been a great experience to work for that many strong, hard-working women, and the field could always use more of them,” Moseley said.

Melissa Davlin is the new co-anchor of Idaho Public Televsion’s Idaho Reports and a Idaho Press Club board member

Interviewer’s Intro: Granted I’m speaking for the entire Southwest Chapter Board here, but I think it’s safe to say we were just minutes into our most recent planning meeting when we all wondered the same thing: Why did we wait so long to bring Seth Ashley into the fold?

Seth is the newest member of the Southwest Chapter Board and we’re pleased to have him. I’m confident he’ll bring a fresh perspective, one that’s essential to journalism in Idaho and abroad but one that too often gets lost among those of us buried in the trenches of deadlines, breaking news and blogging. As an academic at the forefront of educating the next generation of print, radio and broadcast reporters, Seth thinks about and sees our craft in a different light, from the theoretical side.

It’s this perspective that makes Seth’s presence on the board valuable as we explore new ways and programming for IPC members across the state and region. Now, here’s your chance to learn a little more about Seth:

Press Club position: Board Member for the Southwest Chapter. Newly appointed.

Why did you agree to take on the board position? Because journalists are more fun than academics? I like to practice what I preach and participate in the community. I think research and theory in journalism and communication can inform journalistic practice and vice versa. I would like to see greater collaboration between scholars and practitioners in general.

Education/Career Path: I grew up near St. Louis and went to the University of Southern California to study production design for film and theater. I also dabbled in news writing and communication law, which led me to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. I worked as a staff writer for the Columbia Daily Tribune and as a freelance writer, editor, photographer and video producer, as a camera operator and graphics designer for NBC affiliate KOMU-TV and as a projectionist for the True-False Film Festival; and taught print and digital journalism at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. I spent six years writing, teaching and exploring before going back to Mizzou for my PhD in journalism. I graduated in 2011 and came to Boise State.

Family: My wife and I got married this past summer at Bogus Basin. It was a destination wedding for our far-flung friends and family. Getting married here was the best way to get them to visit us.

Pets: Brodie, a three-legged lab mix, who acts like a puppy even though he’s pushing 12. Also some fish that came with the house we bought this summer. Anyone know how to take care of a koi pond?

Something people may not know about you? I traveled in a fancy tour bus to 12 countries and 50 cities as a production manager (i.e., glorified roadie) for the rock band Grandaddy.

Surprising skill? I play piano, guitar, bass, drums and a little accordion. I’ve played and toured with bands since high school, but still haven’t found the right one in Boise. Turns out being an assistant professor is a lot of work.

Favorite place: I have a hard time getting enough of Boise’s fantastic foothills. I often have to remind myself that I’m not on vacation here and I have to go to work. Also, the fjords of Norway were pretty spectacular this summer.

Hobbies: Running, biking, skiing, playing music, home maintenance.

How did you get into journalism and from there into the academic side of things? I took my first news writing class from a staff writer from the L.A. Times and that was enough to send me to grad school at Mizzou. I intended to become a newspaper man, but my excellent professors (Stephanie Craft, Charles Davis, Don Ranly) drew me toward the academic side. I was intrigued by the frequent disconnect between the theoretical role of journalism in sustaining the democratic life and the practice. I began to study the institutional and structural constraints that sometimes get in the way.

What was it about Boise State and its journalism/communications program that appealed to you? I saw a lot of great opportunity here. Our independent Student Media organization is a fantastic resource and training lab for students, and our degree programs are flexible enough to give students a lot of freedom to pursue their own interests. At the same time, we have a chance to shape our curriculum to adapt to an ever-changing media environment and help students prepare for the uncertain future by offering a blend of theory and practice. We obviously have to teach students to use the technology, but the tools will continue to change, so it’s even more important to teach critical thinking and problem solving.

What do you like best about working with college students? I think it’s wonderful to be able to show them what’s possible, then watch them go. I help them see what they are capable of, and they take it from there. This is especially true at Student Media, where they get to produce a real, live media product every day. We also get the luxury of sitting back and reflecting on the process to see where we can improve.

What do you see as the one or two main issues, challenges, questions facing journalists today? How to get actionable information in the hands of people who need it in order to sustain democratic life and promote social justice. Concentrations of power are making that more difficult than ever. The internet was supposed to set us free, but is not living up to its potential. We are at a critical juncture as we grapple with potential policy solutions for problems in journalism and digital technology. The decisions we make in the next few years are likely to set us on a path for the next century.

Winmill agreed to permit live blogging from court, as long as there was no audio or video recording or photography; cameras aren’t allowed in federal court. In most cases, computer use in federal courtrooms to date has been allowed only for note-taking, not transmitting; this is a significant step toward increased openness and ease of reporting.

IDAHO FALLS/POCATELLO

KIFI

Bre Clark, reporter, joins the station from Houston, TX. She is a graduate of the University of Houston. Caleb James, former reporter, accepted a job at KOB, Albuquerque, NM. Stephanie Hale-Lopez, another reporter, moved to the Northeast with her husband.

KPVI

Dani Beckstrom is a new weekend reporter/anchor/weather caster. She comes from BYU. Deanne Coffin is a new part-time reporter. She comes from ISU. Bill Kotowski has been promoted from a part-time to a full-time reporter.

Summer Joy, a weekend reporter/anchor/weather caster, moved to Texas with her husband. Phil Campbell, reporter, moved to KSNV in Las Vegas as a photographer.

LEWISTON

KLEW

Scott Stovall is the new News Director. He came from KNDU where he was an anchor. Nate Kuester departed as the station’s News Director. He is now a morning anchor at CBS58 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

BOISE/NAMPA

KBOI

Chris Henchmen is the new 4 p.m. producer. He came from KIVI. Irina Victoria is the new morning producer; she also came from KIVI. Michael Locklear is a new reporter. He came from Ohio.

Eric Gonzales is a new reporter, arriving from Texas. Kelsey Anderson is a new reporter, arriving from New York. Leaving KBOI, Chris Bodovinitz was a morning anchor and Tami Tremblay was an anchor.

KIVI

Grendel Levy is the interim News Director. She is also the executive producer. Jake Melder is a new video journalist. He came from Minnesota. Karen Lehr is a new video journalist, arriving from Florida. Jay Bates, formerly with KBOI, is a new anchor. Seth Randal is a new producer. He has been freelancing.

Tauna Lange retired as News Director. Video journalist Jennifer Auh left the station.

KTVB

Bonnie Shelton joins KTVB as a reporter, arriving from WAOW in Wisconsin.

Idaho Public Television

Melissa Davlin is a new Idaho Reports co-anchor. Melissa was a reporter with the Times-News in Twin Falls. Ron Pisaneschi is the new General Manager. He was Director of Content. Jeff Tucker is the new Director of Content Services. He was Production Manager.

Sherri Walton is the new Program Manager. She was the Assistant Program Manger. Aaron Kunz is the other new Idaho Reports co-anchor and the new Production Manager. He continues as a correspondent for Earthfix.

Peter Morrill retired as General Manager.

RADIO

Boise State Public Radio

Emilie Ritter Saunders has been hired as Boise State Public Radio’s digital content coordinator. She helps guide the station’s news site [http://www.boisestatepublicradio.org ] from the data visuals you see to original reporting for the site along with outreach on social media. Emilie was StateImpact Idaho’s multimedia journalist for two years. This collaboration between Boise State Public Radio and NPR focused on in-depth reporting on Idaho’s economy and state policy.

Molly Messick has left Boise State Public Radio and the StateImpact Idaho project. She did a couple of months of intensive Spanish study in Central America and is now working at NPR’s Planet Money.

PRINT

BOISE WEEKLY

After working at Boise Weekly as calendar editor for nearly a year, Harrison Berry was promoted to the position of staff writer. Taking over as Calendar Guru is Sam Hill in his first newspaper position.

COEUR D’ALENE PRESS

City reporter Tom Hasslinger departed after five years to become city editor of The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai. New reporter Keith Cousins arrives from Hagadone Corp.’s weekly newspaper in Superior, Mont., the Mineral Independent.

MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Brandon Macz, Moscow/Latah County reporter for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, has taken a job with the weekly Bellevue (Wash.) Reporter after five years at the Daily News and Lewiston Tribune. Holly Bowen, business editor and editorial writer at the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, is leaving to move the Seattle area after five years in Moscow on the Idaho education beat and the Pullman/Whitman County beat. Both reporters will be replaced; at press time, the hiring process was in progress.

Shanon Quinn, a recent University of Idaho journalism graduate and longtime Moscow resident, has been named news assistant at the paper, replacing Patrick Groves, who has returned to school for his final year at Washington State University’s Murrow School.

TWIN FALLS TIMES-NEWS

Jon Alexander has been named Editorial Writer / Community Engagement Editor for the Twin Falls Times-News. This is a new position at the newspaper, created to promote reader interaction in print and online through the Opinion pages. Alexander transferred to the Times-News from the Post-Star, a Lee Enterprises sister paper in Glens Falls, N.Y., where he was a reporter.

BOISE – For the second consecutive year, a broad coalition of Idaho news organizations has joined together in a fight for openness. This time, the focus of the battle is a lawsuit in federal court pitting a group of inmates against the state’s only private prison contractor, the Corrections Corporation of America.

The case was filed last year and the inmates allege, among other things, that a pattern of understaffing and mismanagement at the prison has created a reality where gangs to run the lockup. Ultimately, that culture led to a brutal attack by the gang members on the plaintiffs in the case. The inmates are suing for damages and reforms at the prison.

But earlier this year, CCA lawyers filed a motion asking the judge to seal whatever it wants in the run-up to trial. The CCA motion is broad and could cover a range of motions, evidence and affidavits that in most other lawsuits would be ripe for public consumption. The plaintiffs in the case oppose the protective order and a judge is still weighing the merits.

Now the judge also has something else to consider in that decision making process: A motion to intervene by the Idaho media coalition and a separate motion arguing against sealing the court file. In June, the Associated Press led the charge to challenge CCA’s bid to close the court file by enlisting the help and financial resources of 16 other news organizations.

The list of partners includes: Idaho Statesman, The Spokesman-Review, The Times-News, KBOI-TV, Idaho Press-Tribune, Post Register, Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Coeur d’Alene Press, Bonner County Daily Bee, Challis Messenger, Shelley Pioneer, Jefferson Star, Pioneer News Group, Idaho Press Club and the Newspaper Association of Idaho.

The coalition, and through its Lewiston-based attorney Chuck Brown, contend sealing the court file would make it nearly impossible for reporters to cover an important lawsuit. Moreover, Brown argues the protective order would violate the public’s right to know what is happening in the federal courts and the specifics of allegations against a company that is paid $29 million annually by the state of Idaho.

“This civil case raises issues of profound concern to the general public,” Brown wrote on behalf of the news organizations. “… Drawing a curtain of secrecy behind which the defendants can operate simply does not comport with the requirements of the First Amendment, nor Ninth Circuit case law as to the openness required of our judicial system, but also the openness required of our government.”

Brown’s name should be familiar to Idaho media and Press Club members. He was the attorney who represented more than a dozen Idaho media organizations that sued the Idaho Department of Correction last year in an effort to change the agency’s execution policy. The news organizations won that case when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held the state’s policy violated the right for the public to see the full process of an execution.

Brown says he is confident the news groups have another strong case, one also supported in appellate court precedent. As of press time, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge had yet to make a decision on the media’s motion to intervene to challenge CCA’s request for a protective order.

It should also be noted the same media coalition may be filing a similar action in a separate lawsuit involving CCA. This one involves the ACLU Idaho on behalf of inmates and a series of motions filed in a case that had been settled, but recently reopened and subject to mediation. Earlier this year, AP legal affairs reporter Rebecca Boone noticed that two motions and a judicial order had been filed under seal and separate from the mediation, which is routinely off limits to the public.

But because the new motions essentially create a court record, the media coalition has asked Brown to consider filing a motion to intervene in this case as well, arguing again that the motions and order should be unsealed and made part of the public record. Brown is still researching and deciding whether to file as of press time.

Todd Dvorak is the Boise correspondent for the Associated Press, and is the vice president of the Idaho Press Club board and chairman of the club’s First Amendment Committee.

BOISE (AP) – Allen Derr, an Idaho lawyer who won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster anti-discrimination protections for women, died June 10 in Boise. He was 85.

Derr, a longtime and highly valued board member of the Idaho Press Club, grew up in North Idaho, graduated from Clark Fork High School in 1947, and then earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Idaho.

On Nov. 22, 1971, the Supreme Court justices issued their Reed vs. Reed decision, holding states cannot discriminate against people because of their gender. It marked a departure from the era when courts often excluded women from full participation in important civil affairs.

Derr’s client, Sally Reed, a woman challenging her estranged husband over which of them should be appointed to oversee their son’s estate following his suicide, was fighting to overturn an Idaho court’s decision based on an 1864 Idaho law: If more than one person claimed to be equally entitled to be trustee, “males must be preferred to females.”

Characteristically humble, Derr in 2011 described his role in the case as nothing extraordinary.

“I was just doing my job,” he said, on the 40th anniversary of the decision when he was honored at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., alongside the lawyer who wrote Reed’s legal brief: current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The decision in Reed v. Reed has been celebrated in the 2001 book by historians Alan Brinkley and James McPherson, “Days of Destiny,” as among a handful of uncelebrated events that nonetheless changed the course of history.

Derr practiced law until recently, though his body was slowed by age and a diagnosis of leukemia.

He was a founding member of the Idaho Press Club and long served on its board of directors.

Though he ran unsuccessfully in the 1960s for the Idaho Legislature, Derr credited his long-standing personal ties to the Idaho Capitol with inspiring his legal career.

His father, Alfred M. Derr, served in the state Senate and ran for governor. His mother, Hattie Derr, was appointed Idaho’s first female senator in1937, to fill in for his father during a bout of appendicitis. Allen Derr served as a legislative page in 1941.

As a youngster, he also wasn’t above a little good-natured mischief. With his two brothers and sister, he once raced on metal-wheeled skates through the marble halls of the Capitol, a boisterous display of childhood joy not overlooked by building security.

“Oh, my God, was that fun,” Derr recalled in 2011. “The noise we created. We got chased out.”

John Miller is a Boise-based reporter for the Associated Press, and a former board member of the Idaho Press Club. This article was  first published by the AP.

Obituary: Allen Derr, 1928—2013

Few can say they changed the world. Even fewer can say they changed the world for the better, but Allen Derr can and did.

Allen passed away on June 10, 2013 with his wife, Judy Peavey-Derr, sister Jane Betts, and close friends Jesse and Harriet Walters, by his bedside. He was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, on April 5, 1928 as the first son and second child of Alfred Morley Derr and Hattie Catherine Allen Derr of Clark Fork, Idaho.

A small man in stature, but big in thought, deed, and spirit, Allen fought for justice and peoples’ rights from an early age. The first was leveling the playing field for his younger brother, Jack, who often told the story about getting into fights with classmates and having Allen finish the fight for him. His older sister, Beverly (Bev) recalls the day when he had had enough of her antics and turned the tables on her; she never got the upper hand again. Jane, the last sibling, and complete surprise to Allen who was 17 and out of the country at her birth, was always protected by her big brother.

Allen’s father, a five-term senator from Bonner County and Democratic nominee for Governor of Idaho in 1958, brought the family to Boise for the session each year. Too often the Derr farm kids received unwanted attention from authorities and others for various acts such as roller skating in the capitol or staging fights at Hotel Boise where crowds would gather and throw money which was later used for ice cream.

As Allen’s interest in the legislative process grew so did his desire to become a page. Eventually he served with his soon to be life-long good friend, Lou Cosho. Lou, prior to his own passing, sent Allen a clipping of an article and picture he had saved for years regarding Allen’s killing of a bear at the age of 12 on their ranch in Clark Fork. No small feat for a young boy, but Allen told the story of that day’s events as if it was nothing at all.

At age 16 Allen wanted to join the WWII effort. His parents resisted and promised him if he felt the same way at 17 they would grant their permission. He did and they did. He joined the Marine Corps (semper fi) and was sent to China in 1945. He returned to Idaho and graduated from high school in his dress uniform. He reminisced about his time in the Marines saying he had “been scheduled to be fodder on the beaches, but major events outside of his control changed his fate.” To the end, always faithful, he approached fellow marines to pay respect to them for their commitment to duty. A few years later after his high school graduation he would sign up with the Air Force to serve in the Korean War.

He was accepted at several colleges, including Stanford and Harvard, but chose the University of Idaho. He majored in Journalism, pledged the TKE fraternity, served as the editor of The Argonaut and was involved in many of the campus traditional hi-jinx including but not limited to the WSU cougar, and TKE bell. Allen and his friends on several occasions traveled to Clark Fork from Moscow for the weekend, unannounced, expecting food and a place to sleep. Hattie, his mother and Idaho’s first female state senator, was always prepared with a warm home-cooked meal and plenty of laughter. With all of his extra activities he still managed to graduate with honors in 1951 and received many awards for his writing.

Upon graduation Allen worked as the editor for the TKE National Magazine in New Augusta, Indiana. After four years he decided to become a lawyer. He said when asked about this career change, “I went astray.”

During these years Allen met and married Miriam E. Ross Larson, started law school, was a correspondent for the Lewiston Tribune, Spokane Chronicle, and Spokesman Review. For one year he was a reporter and assistant sports editor for the Lewiston Tribune and no doubt it was during this time he developed his life-long love for the Yankees. In addition to going to law school Allen and Miriam were Proctor and Hostess at Upham Hall surviving many pranks by Tom Kerr, a resident of Upham Hall at the time and former Valley County Commissioner, now retired.

His first job upon graduating from law school in 1959 was as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Idaho with the bar number of “911″. One year later he opened his private practice, eventually practicing with brothers Jim and Jesse Walters.

Divorced, he met and married Helen Evans. They were married for 28 years when she passed in 1992. It was during these years that Allen argued the Reed vs. Reed case, the first successful sex discrimination case in the history of our country in the U.S. Supreme Court, authored articles on law, journalism, and courtroom photography, was a speaker and lecturer, Master of Ceremonies, and radio and television panelist and past interviewee. In 1967 he became one of the Founders of the Idaho Trial Lawyers’ Association, was a long time Director of the Idaho Press Club, and was selected by the Idaho Statesman for their “Portrait of a Distinguished Citizen” award.

In 1993 Allen, a long-time Democrat and Past State President of the Young Democratic Club of Idaho whose grandfather had also served in the Idaho Legislature as a Democrat, married Judy Peavey, a long-time Republican, precinct committee person, and with strong family ties to the Republican party. It was the equivalent marriage in Idaho to that of James Carville and Mary Matalin. It seemed odd to some people but it was perfect for them. A discussion between them of current events took on a different perspective every morning and night during the news broadcasts. They did a routine one Friday several years ago for their Boise Exchange Club describing how they each read the morning paper and discussed the events of the day with one another.

They were fortunate to travel and fulfill many of their bucket list dreams, visiting many foreign countries, even retracing Allen’s journey throughout China and Asia when he was a Marine. Many of their travels were usually in the company of good friends Ann and Joe Vollmer. Allen managed to find the will to travel one last time to Alaska at Christmas to see the grandsons and ingrain upon them as he did to all of the grandchildren the importance of saying “Cheers” when taking a drink, and the annual trip to Hawaii in February with Ann and Joe.

His real determination and perseverance was recognized when fishing the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska in 2009. At age 81, he hiked into the fishing hole, sat in the river in a lawn chair so he didn’t get swept away by the current, and although cold and shivering, landed a sockeye salmon (This was his first salmon caught on a fishing pole, although he had lassoed one as a child).

A year ago during a birthday celebration of a close friend at the Adrian Social Club, Allen was encouraged to sit in as the drummer on a set for a group playing that evening. It had been years since he had played the drums, but at the conclusion of his performance he commented, “Boy, that brought back some fond memories!” He was referring to the days when he and his parents would travel to Noxon, Mont. where Allen would play the drums while his mother played the piano in a local establishment. They weren’t professional because they didn’t receive any “cash” payment.

Over the years he would also regale his laughing dinner guests with his routine of his old and yet still funny jokes used when he performed for audiences during his TKE National Magazine days, playing his harmonica and reciting poems from memory from years ago.

One of his favorite places to relax was on his boat, a 26-foot fiberfoam, Baja, with a flying bridge on Payette Lake in McCall. When it came time to part with his prized possession he gave it to his son, David, knowing it would be used and enjoyed by him and the granddaughters.

The ACLU recognized him in 2002 with the Idaho Freedom Award, the Idaho State Bar honored him with the Professionalism Award in 2002, the University of Idaho bestowed upon him the Alumni Association Hall of Fame award in 2005, and he was featured, along with his client, Sally Reed, in the book DAYS OF DESTINY CROSSROADS IN AMERICAN HISTORY in which America’s greatest historians examined thirty-one uncelebrated days that changed the course of history. The chapter examines the Reed vs. Reed case 92 S.Ct.251 (1971) in which the U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time in its history, declared a state law discriminating against women violative of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

In 2011, Allen was honored at the annual Idaho Press Club awards banquet for his many years of service to the club, and presented with a plaque and a lifetime membership in the club. The plaque said, “ALLEN DERR, In honor of his extensive and continuing service, is hereby declared a LIFETIME MEMBER, Idaho Press Club, May 7, 2011.” His response: “Does this mean I don’t have to pay dues any more?”

Allen will be remembered by friends, family, and associates as being one of the most kind, gentle, gracious, and caring men to grace our presence. That alone would be enough to claim a life well lived but he has also left a major legacy for women and their families.

And for the Press Club, he left a legacy of standing up for open records and meetings, frequently serving as our attorney over the years in important and precedent-setting cases, serving as our open government lobbyist in the Idaho Legislature and an active member of our First Amendment Committee, always promptly and thoroughly answering questions from reporters facing access problems, and serving for many decades – until his death – as a valued and active member of the Idaho Press Club board.

He is survived by his wife, Judy Peavey-Derr; children, Sandra Delanoy (Russell), David Larson; Brian Peavey (Elisa), Jennifer Joanis (Lance); sisters, Beverly Shields and Jane Betts (Bill); brother, John Derr (Dotty); grandchildren, Amanda Larson, Alyssa Larson, Taylor Peavey, Bella Peavey, Emi Peavey, Gabriel Joanis, Jacob Joanis; sister-in-law, Betty Derr; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, brother and former law partner, Jim, little sister, Marietta, and wife, Helen.

While Allen was a Vandal until his death, he did cheer for and held season tickets for years to the BSU Broncos football games. His final request was he hoped friends and family would put aside the rivalry just this once and support his favorite program at the University Of Idaho College Of Law (for “pro bono program”). Address: P.O. Box 442321, Moscow, ID 83844-2321. He believed with all of his heart that more young people studying law needed to understand that it isn’t always about making money; sometimes you just have to do the right thing for the sake of justice and your client.

A celebration memorial will be held at the Barber Park Event Center Wednesday, July 31, 2013 from 7 – 9:30 PM. Arrangements are by Summers Funeral Homes, Boise Chapel. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Allen’s memorial webpage at www.summersfuneral.com.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1988, the annual dues to join the Idaho Press Club was $25.

The cost this year, until July 1?  Also $25. Though it’s decades later and costs have gone way up. So now, after long resisting it, the Idaho Press Club board has decided to raise annual dues by $5 on July 1, to $30. It’s a modest increase that’s still a screaming deal; most press associations charge much higher dues, often more than double that amount.

The Press Club is funded solely by membership dues and contest entry fees. Yet we do so much. We fight for open records and meetings, watchdogging open government issues in the state Legislature each year. We run an annual journalism contest that recognizes the best in Idaho journalism each year, an important source of recognition that just might be the burnishing your resume needs when you look for your next job. We sponsor an annual professional development conference in the fall, and a gala awards banquet in the spring; both are heavily subsidized by the club to keep attendance fees low. We bestow scholarships both to Idaho journalism students and to mid-career professionals seeking training. We keep you up to date with our website and newsletter.

The Idaho Press Club has been very frugal over the years, and has built up substantial reserves. But since the downturn hit, we have begun to spend more each year than we take in, relying on our reserves to make up the difference. If nothing changed, we could only keep doing that for a few more years – and then we’d be broke.

This small increase in annual dues won’t make up that whole difference. The board is weighing how best to get our annual revenues and expenses more in line. It will take time, and there could be other changes in the future. But the Press Club will continue to be an excellent deal for any Idaho journalist, journalism teacher or public relations professional. And it’s a heck of a deal for students at only $10, which for now, is not changing.

Please, renew your membership, support us, and stay with us. We’re here for you.

House rule still in the works

In our last issue, I proudly proclaimed our success in getting new rules adopted in the House and Senate to make it easier for the public, and the Legislature, to handle public records requests, by designating a single custodian of the records – a single point of contact – for each house, rather than relying on 105 individual legislators to respond to such requests on their own.

Since then, we got a surprise: The House never took its final vote to adopt the rule, though the Senate did. Some last-minute questions arose about the role of the Legislative Services Office and the responsibilities of a records custodian, but House Speaker Scott Bedke assures us the rule is still in the works and it will be worked out. The new Senate rule is in effect; we should see the fruit of both rule changes in next year’s legislative session.

We miss Allen!

It’s kind of hard to picture the Idaho Press Club without our longtime board member, sometimes attorney and lobbyist, font of media law knowledge, good friend and overall great guy Allen Derr. His passing at age 85 has saddened us all; please check out his full obituary on page 4.

Betsy Russell is a Boise-based reporter for The Spokesman-Review, and is the president of the Idaho Press Club.