GOP, hurricane blogs prove popular

Two of our blogs have been getting a lot of attention from readers in the past week -- and they're both "extras" with postings coming from a lot of Herald newsroom staffers.

The 2012 GOP Convention has been supplying plenty of blog-perfect content, so we spun off this Republic National Convention blog from our regular political blogging.

We also have a special convention section on Bradenton.com: Bradenton.com/Republican-convention/

And then Isaac reared his ugly head, sparing us for the most part, but now is barreling toward Louisiana and Mississippi. We dusted off our "Hurricane Watch" blog and thousands of you visited it in the past week.

We're a partner with the Biloxi Sun-Herald, and have offered them help with production or online work. But we're hoping for the best: a non-event from Isaac. Stay tuned to the most current predictions on our blog.

Send us your back-to-school photos

It's back to school week in Manatee County -- and that means photo opps galore! Herald Metro Editor Marc Masferrer decided to tap into that, asking readers to send him photographs capturing their children's first days back.

And almost 60 of you have sent in such cute photographs! Here's the gallery:
The first day of school in Manatee

Everyone likes it so much that we'll make it back-to-school week. All you need to do is email your photograph to mmasferrer@bradenton.com, and he will add your child's photo to our gallery. And it's by far the most popular posting on Bradenton.com this week. Check it out -- it's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Jayleen, 8, Jestany, 7 and Jasity, 7, students at Virgil Mills Elementary.
PROVIDED PHOTO.

Our 'Recipe of the Day' newsletter launches

My favorite daily newsletter has arrived from Bradenton.com:
Recipe of the Day!

Each weekday, right after lunch, you'll receive a scrumptious recipe to try, courtesy of the Bradenton Herald. There's usually a theme each week -- and this week, it's Back to School (though I have to admit, that used to mean PB&J, not Chicken Avocado Pitas!).

Sign up by Friday, Aug. 17, and you'll have a chance at winning a $500 room makeover gift certificate from Kirkland's, the new store at The Shoppes at University Park.

Click here for all the information and directions. And get your kitchen or your grill and your taste buds ready for some mouthwatering experiments.

Readers following Delmer Smith trial

I just got this email from Herald crime reporter Elizabeth Johnson, who is in the Manatee County Courthouse covering the opening testimony in the murder trial of Delmer Smith III:

Crazy. People are making accounts to follow me. I'm the only person many of them follow.

That followed a comment early today on Elizabeth's breaking news coverage on Bradenton.com from a reader, irritated that there wasn't live streaming of the trial:

Marjie, Although there isn't streaming of the trial, which I too would like, you can follow it live on Twitter from a BH reporter ( @EJohnsonBHcrime ) who is in the courtroom. If you don't have a Twitter account, you may consider setting one up. I just found this. She is tweeting often about what is taking place, being said, and who is on the stand. Hopefully this helps.

Elizabeth and photographer Tiffany Tompkins-Condie will be sending us coverage all week from the trial. We'll update throughout the day with trial developments and galleries. On Twitter, follow #DelmerSmith. And on Bradenton.com, we're compiling all the coverage in a special section, Murder trial of Delmer Smith III

TIFFANY TOMPKINS-CONDIE/Bradenton Herald
Delmer Smith, charged with the murder of Terra Ceia's Kathleen Briles, sits at the defense table between attorneys Daniel Hernandez and Bjorn Brunvand on the first day of his trial in Manatee County's Judicial Center.

Sticking by your words -- and ours

A recent front-page article in The New York Times stirred up a hornet's nest among journalists. The story by Jeremy W. Peters takes a look at the surprisingly common practice of "quote approval."

I'll admit -- it took me totally by surprise. Apparently it has become quite common for journalists to send quotes back to campaign members and government officials after interviews for approval. According to Peters, "It was difficult to find a news outlet that had not agreed to quote approval, albeit reluctantly. Organizations like Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Reuters and The New York Times have all consented to interviews under such terms."

That practice is blatantly wrong. Period. And you'll notice that McClatchy -- the Herald's parent company -- wasn't mentioned. It didn't take long for James Asher, our Washington Bureau chief, to issue a memo on our standing policy:

Don't do it. We share this policy here with pride.

Sure, as Jim notes, this can put our reporters at a disadvantage. But our mission statement declares that "we will passionately uphold the First Amendment."

It's extremely rare that the Bradenton Herald will use unnamed sources, and then only with the approval of the executive editor and assigning editor. We may go off-the-record for background material, or if someone's information might endanger them. But in demanding that government be open for its citizens, we also must be transparent and "in the Sunshine" for our readers.

Here is another link to the policy posted on McClatchy's site. The Herald is adding this to our policies section online, too.

This is the Sunshine State. And that's how we do journalism.

My favorite Herald blog posts today

These two blog posts are so refreshing and fun -- they more than trump anything I could come up with today. So a huge "like" from the Editor's Blog to posts by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie on Through the Lens, and Wade Tatangelo on Buzz Worthy.

Tiffany writes with unabashed hope for the next generation in an unlikely match: children and politics.

And Wade has the Top 10 Songs for Snooty (my favorite? "Fat Man in a Bathtub"!)

Reporter investigating HRK, Piney Point

In the midst of bankruptcy hearings and litigation involving HRK Holdings LLC, the firm that purchased Piney Point before last year's disastrous toxic spill, Herald reporter Josh Salman has uncovered documents that point to potential negligence by the company long before the leak last summer gushed 170 million gallons of toxic water into Bishop Harbor.

Salman's first investigative report published July 6 revealed that HRK notified environmental officials of a storage liner tear at Piney Point three months before the 2011 spill.

And in today's published story, Salman reports that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection waived a stipulation for HRK to install a commonly used protective dirt coer -- after HRK agreed to assume full financial responsibility if something went awry. That dirt, experts say, might have prevented the liner cracks that caused the spill.

One note for the Herald's print readers: An error in production led to several lines dropped from the story between 1A and the jump on Page 5A. Those two paragraphs should have read:

An 11-page administrative agreement signed between HRK and the DEP waived that requirement in August 2006, according to emails and documents obtained by the Herald.

A study later commissioned by HRK found that heat-induced stress cracks had penetrated the gypsum stack liner months before it ever was filled with water, contributing to the cause of the liner tears.

That mistake certainly ruined my morning coffee. But the online version is intact, and we'll republish the missing lines Thursday.

Stay tuned for more of Salman's reports on HRK and Piney Point.