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HoustonChronicle.com News
Jan. 28, 2002 Volume 7.04 In this Issue: Letter from the Editor :::::: Plus: *Lots of Sports, Too *What's New at HoustonChronicle.com *How to Send Us Community Notices *How to Contact Us :::::: Letter from the Editor: Time for a quick review as we start another online year around here. One of the obvious advantages of the Web is its immediacy. That's something we try to utilize every day, as we start updating the HoustonChronicle.com Web site -- especially the home page -- just about the time the printed newspaper is landing on front lawns all over the city. This becomes especially valuable when major news developments are occurring halfway around the world in places like Afghanistan and the Middle East, where the sun is revealing a new day just about the time those of us in Houston are going to sleep and the overnight press runs are beginning for the newspaper. The newspaper will contain full accounts of developments from the previous day, and then we can update those articles as the next day's events begin unfolding. Immediacy also is valuable closer to home, where new developments in ongoing stories like the Enron coverage or jury selection in the Andrea Yates murder trial come throughout the day. The Chronicle is keeping track of these for you, and we use the Web site to provide the information even before writing the articles which will appear in the next morning's newspaper. But it doesn't have to be a big story. News really never stops happening in a city the size of Houston; so we keep bringing new stories to you throughout the day. We do take a short break from about 2 a.m. to a little before 6 a.m. most days, but somebody is minding the store for you pretty much 'round the clock outside of those hours -- weekends and holidays included. Perhaps less obvious, another advantage of the Web is its longevity. The Chronicle brought you some outstanding reporting this past year from our reporters covering Central and South America. And if you missed the special sections in the newspaper on the demise of the rain forest or Colombia's FARC rebel movement, slip over to the World news section of the Web site and they still are there so you won't overlook them just because you missed seeing the paper the day they ran. Ongoing stories like the Yates murder case, the Enron bankruptcy, Tropical storm Allison -- even the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America -- we can provide not only the latest developments on the Web site, but all of the coverage from the very beginning of the story. Or even older stories lake the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper a few years back or the A&M Bonfire collapse and its aftermath. You just cannot get a more complete view of these stories than is available from the Web site. So, please, don't use the Web site just for a quick update of what's happening. Spend a little time delving into the backgrounds of the major stories of the day, too. After all, we are working to provide as complete a picture as we can for you. Thanks for visiting, and please take advantage of all we offer. Mike Read Editor HoustonChronicle.com News mike@chron.com ::::: **Lots of Sports, Too News comes in several flavors. One of the most popular turns out to be sports, where the games of our youth turn into big business and entertainment as we become adults. And we around here put a lot of effort into keeping you as up to date as we can in this flavor of news, too. The Rockets and Aeros are in the middle of their seasons. Baseball's spring training season is less than a month away. Professional football's Super Bowl XXXVI is two weeks away, and Houston's Texans are preparing for their first season this fall. We're not going to be ignoring any of this, but a lot of our attention these days is being devoted to turning from last week's Houston Marathon to next month's Olympic Games in Salt Lake City (and, of course, Houston's ongoing bid to host the summer games here in 2012). But we can't ignore that most Texan of sports either as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is just around the corner. Even if your taste in entertainment turns more toward TV and movies, we think you'll be missing an important part of the news if you don't at least take a brief tour through the Sports pages of the site from time to time. You can start that tour at: http://www.HoustonChronicle.com/sports ::::: *What's New at HoustonChronicle.com **Traffic It probably comes as no surprise to any of our Houston area readers that the city's traffic is a mess. <From the traditional congestion of the soon to be widened forever Katy Freeway to the forever under construction highways all around the city, traffic is a daily challenge for many of us. Main Street is, of course, a mess because of rail construction. It seems the entire downtown area is a giant detaour, whether from the construction on the east side, the Cotswald Project on the north or just general surprise projects on any street at any moment. The Southwest Freeway is a special challenge these days -- still under construction through the Museum District, torn all to pieces out near the Fort Bend county line, and now with multiple lanes blocked at its busiest point where it crosses under the Loop 610 interchange near the Galleria. HOV lanes, Metro's Park & Ride, van pooling -- nothing really solves the challenge, but we are trying to provide some tools to make it easier. We've got construction updates published in the newspaper and on the Web site every business day. Maps of the various transit possibilities, and links to real-time traffic conditions on all the major freeways. Along with maps and directions if you just need a little help figuring out where you are and where you need to be. Follow all of the construction at: http://www.HousotnChronicle.com/traffic ::::: **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. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: *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. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: *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. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 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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