In the story, which discussed the RTA's "accountability resolution pledge," Ellis referred to Richard Elias as being the RTA board chairman, when in reality, it is fellow Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez.
"I bungled that," Ellis said. "I slammed the story out and didn't review it, then went back to work on another story that I'd been working on for the Sunday paper. I'd wanted to move into another beat, and I think my error made management decide to make a change sooner rather than later."
Ellis, a seven-year employee at the Star, now reports on issues pertaining to southeast Tucson and the Sahuarita corridor.
Andrea Kelly is the new transportation beat writer.
'DAILY TERRITORIAL' LANDS PUBLIC NOTICE CONTRACT
After a one-year hiatus, The Daily Territorial is Pima County's official paper of record once again. For years, the quarter-million dollar deal with the county seemed a mere formality. The Daily Territorial--which is a Wick Communications sister newspaper of the Tucson Weekly--would place the bid unopposed. That changed when Gannett made a successful play for the contract last year, running public notice information in the Tucson Citizen.
That lasted one year. Pima County awarded the Daily Territorial a one-year contract for up to $260,000 in late March.
"We publish public notices," Territorial Newspapers General Manager Joann Hardy Carranza said. "We are one, if not the only, paper that has comprehensive coverage of public notices. Births, deaths, divorces--those used to be standard fare for daily papers, but they're getting away from it.
"The publication must be adjudicated. It has to be subscription-based, printed in the county. They just pick out a paper, because they're looking to get the best deal for the county with their specifications, just like anything the county puts out for bid. What that means is the county legal notices are published in our paper. It doesn't mean, however, that the county can't publish legal notices elsewhere. Sometimes legal notices are published because they want to get input, and they want to reach as wide an audience as possible. In those cases, a county or municipality could publish in as many places as they like."
KXCI HAS GM TARGET DATE
Community radio KXCI-FM 91.3 hopes to find a replacement for General Manager Larry Bruce by the first of August, according to acting General Manager Randy Peterson. Bruce and KXCI parted ways in late March over philosophical differences.
