Real Name: Chris Cobler Address: 311 E. Constitution St. Victoria, TX 77901 Gender: male Member Since: September 16, 2007 Last Signed In: October 10, 2008 Profile Views: 2295 Blog Views: 14327 Who's Got Spirit? We hope our readers are the ultimate winners Can you tell the election is only a month away? Where do you turn for listings about businesses? Crikey, why did we write about alligator hunting? Aggies, butterflies, Pandora radio, and keeping Victoria beautiful What turns regular people into monsters? What is it about stories involving dogs? What new technology will change the world? Be true to your school September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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... but I find his work exciting and full of possibilities. Mr. Ortolon posted a simple story and two photos about Edna honoring one of its own. Our new Web site is all about trying to combine the efforts of our professional journalists with those of citizen journalists. We have a lot of work yet to be done to fully realize this dream, but Mr. Ortolon's contributions are an important step in that direction. At community newspapers, we have long relied on our readers to help us cover the community. Technology allows us to do that even better both in print and online. Our challenge is to keep learning and adapting. Thanks, Mr. Ortolon, for leading the way. My son and I gobbled up popcorn and settled in last night to watch my alma mater extend its perfect season. We were primed to buy tickets to next week's Big 12 championship game in San Antonio. Alas, our hated rivals, the Missouri Tigers, had other ideas. In the duel between two Texas quarterbacks, MU's Chase Daniels and KU's Todd Reesing, the Tigers' signal caller clearly won. Instead of the Jayhawks, Missouri will play Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship and a shot at the national championship. My son and I will have to find another game to attend. Maybe KU will be in the Cotton Bowl, and we can take a trip to Dallas. Or KU plays Arizona tonight in basketball, where the Jayhawks are much more accustomed to success. It's time to start thinking about driving to Austin or College Station to see KU this hard-court season. Rock chalk. I may not live long enough to see KU get so close again to an undefeated season and a national championship in football. Then again, Reesing is only a sophomore.
Location:
202 N. Fulton Beach Rd.,
Fulton, TX 78382
With my in-laws in town this week for the holiday, we took Tuesday to visit the whooping cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful day on the water ahead of the cold front. Capt. Tommy Moore guided us expertly on the three-hour tour. We saw the Lobstick family with twin chicks in tow. I learned twins are rare because one chick usually kills its sibling to ensure the availability of food. By comparison, I joked to my in-laws, our two kids get along pretty well. A highlight for our son was taking the helm of the boat on the ride back to Fulton. If you're a fan of whooping cranes, look Sunday for Advocate reporter Tara Bozick's story on the beautiful birds' future. An online reader asked this question: "What is the status of the Advocate request to see the documents that the D.A. sent back to the Police Chief? Is Tyler trying to keep them from the public with some sort of claim about confidentiality of information about the victims? I assume that if the court provides you with access to them you would either be required to redact that kind of information or choose to do so, in order to prevent embarrassing the victims involved." --------------- Our story Nov. 6 reported the Texas attorney general's office ruled Victoria County District Attorney Stephen Tyler must release documents the Advocate requested under the state's open-records act. The documents explain why Tyler rejected cases submitted by law enforcement. The DA has 30 days to appeal the attorney general's opinion. When I talked with Tyler recently, he indicated he was going to appeal, although we haven't heard any official word of that. The DA's concern seems based on attorney-client privilege, not on confidentiality regarding victims. Except for in certain cases, victims' names already are part of the public record on police reports. In our continuing quest to promote a community conversation, we've created a new reader call-in line called Speak Out. We hope you'll call 580-6587 and voice your opinions. We'll post the audio of the calls on the Web site and transcribe the messages for use in print on our Viewpoints page. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to join in the community conversation and to hear the voices of your neighbors. Give us a call, and let us know what you think.
At our ethics board meeting last week, we discussed how far we should go to protect the identity of someone who blogs or posts on our site. The issue came up because one motivated poster has repeatedly tried to identify Michael Ratcliff's accuser. As our policy states, we want to respect the privacy of those using VictoriaAdvocate.com and not share their e-mail addresses or identity without their permission. In many cases, we don't even know the identity of those posting. We make no effort to track people down through their IP addresses or any other cybersleuthing. However, board members agreed we probably wouldn't go to court to defend those who break the law or libel someone. The courts have held that people posting to the Web are the publishers of their own comments, meaning they are legally responsible for their words. This has allowed newspapers to open up their Web sites in a way that wasn't possible with a traditional opinion page. Of course, such freedom isn't without its own challenges. The Ratcliff poster may be breaking the law against identifying those under the age of 17 who report sexual assaults. I don't know whether the law applies in this case because Ratcliff's accuser is now an adult. We deleted the offending posts as soon as they've been reported. Board members agreed we're not going to fight a court order seeking information about someone accused of a crime. We hope we don't get placed in that situation and encourage everyone to act responsibly on the Web. Freedom isn't free. I can't believe my alma mater, the University of Kansas, is one of only two unbeaten teams in major college football. (If you want to read all about the Jayhawks, the Lawrence Journal-World site is one of my favorites.) As a kid, I often went to KU football games with my father and uncle, but the Jayhawks were regularly clobbered by Nebraska and Oklahoma in the Big 8. (No Big 12 back then.) If you're a Jayhawk fan, you learn there really is only one season: basketball. The only exception during my childhood that I remember was watching Nolan Cromwell run the wishbone at KU. He was an incredible athlete who lifted the team to respectability almost on his own. He hurt his knee in a game in which KU upset the mighty Sooners 23-3. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but does anybody know a good source for tickets to the Big 12 championship game in San Antonio? If KU wins two more games, the Jayhawks will be there against Oklahoma. I'd get a kick out of taking my son to that game. This quote from Jim Lehrer struck a chord with me: "I really believe with all my heart and soul that there is not one problem that can't be resolved by good people. That is the drive for me as a journalist." Lehrer, a Victoria College graduate, spoke this at the University of Texas. Read the story here. One of my favorite Web sites is Snopes, which checks out all of those rumors floating around cyberspace. I don't know who runs the site, but I've found it a great way to quickly check out the e-mails my friends, family and readers send me. Below is an e-mail a reader sent me and my response. Before sending the e-mail, the reader had called me and complained that we should have put this story about Denzel Washington on our front page instead of news about Michael Ratcliff. ----------------------------------------
To: Chris Cobler this is NEWS and decent enough for ALL to read and see instead of a man who does you know what to boys how disgusting thanks lets all show our christianity
An Advocate reader took umbrage at a recent editorial cartoon. I've attached the offending cartoon to this post, so you know the subject of the controversy. What are your thoughts about editorial cartoons? Below is the reader's complaint and then my response: Mr. Cobler:
I have come to expect less than professional journalism in the Victoria Advocate: misspelling, typos, errors in reporting, etc. – 99% left wing liberalism – 50% of the facts and truth (if that much) – and as much “hate Bush” rhetoric-in-print as possible.
But the cartoon in the October 29, 2007 Viewpoints section was absolutely deplorable – unpardonable – unacceptable – un-American for true Americans. Your integrity has sunk to an all-time low. You have fallen into the dung heap with the Congressman from California. Your choice!
Since I have not read in your newspaper the good things our military personnel are doing in Iraq, does that infer you don’t care to cover that side of the effort? Do you even have the decency to consider the military volunteers who risk their lives protecting your freedom in general and freedom of speech specifically – as well as the possibility of freedom for people who have never experienced it until recently?
As for our children having health care, sure we need health care availability – for all eligible Americans – but in the right way.
In the meantime, have a nice day. Your freedom to shamefully, disgracefully degrade the President is being protected. -------------------------------- Dear Mr. xxxxx,
I'll share your concerns with our Community Conversation Editor, Tim Delaney. He attempts to select a balance of editorial cartoons. Like letters to the editor and columns, these cartoons do not necessarily reflect the views of the Advocate's editorial board.
We focus our coverage on local issues. For news of the nation and world, we rely primarily on our wire services. We also encourage local people to write the issues that matter to them. I urge you to consider writing a letter to the editor supporting your political position.
During my six months as editor, the focus of our editorial board has been on local rather than national issues. We want to encourage our community to engage in a conversation about the issues that matter most to them rather than try to dictate our political beliefs.
Thank you for writing. Please don't hesitate to get back in touch with me about any issue.
Sincerely,
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Chris Cobler
Editor
Victoria Advocate
361-574-1271
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