Connecting - Jan. 12, 2026

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Jan. 12, 2026

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Colleagues,

Good Monday morning on this Jan. 12, 2026,

"I had an amazing and wonderful life – no regrets – great family, fantastic friends, wonderful husband and my amazing, amazing son."

Those were the words of Lori A. Greene, former director of AP Global Procurement in New York, when, dying of cancer, she wrote a touching obituary of her 63 years.

Our colleague Susan Clark, who once worked for Lori, shared her obituary and we bring it to you as the lead item in today’s issue.

Lori died of cancer Nov. 26, 2025, at the age of 63, surrounded by her loving family, but not before she wrote her own obituary.

She wrote:

“Having cancer really sucks so I will definitely be in a better place. I had a good run though, so celebrate the time we spent together, since it’s been great! I had an amazing and wonderful life – no regrets – great family, fantastic friends, wonderful husband and my amazing, amazing son. My career was perfect – always interesting, always learning new things and meeting new people. Worked in every industry and have to say I had it all – a fabulous career and a perfect life. Happy to have done it for close to 50 years! Then there’s cancer and disability – sucks – but you take the cards you’re dealt and work with it. I did as good of a job as I could these past few years in living life, despite cancer -- since you’re never the same after a diagnosis and putting it aside is impossible. Remember me from the previous 63 years and the last few as I rallied through and tried to do as much as possible.”

According to her obituary, Lori orchestrated all the events in her life on her terms, which included her favorite pastimes like musical concerts, Broadway shows, traveling on vacation, and scenic drives. She was always the one making and organizing plans to pull together close friends for chats and dinner, where laughter was the main event. In between all of this, she always looked forward to unwinding by just hanging out at the beach and gazing out onto the tranquil ocean.

Click here for link to her obituary.

Susan said she just learned of her death several days ago – “She was always wonderful to me. I’m so sad because we always said we’d get together, but it never happened. I loved Lori as a boss, and she became a wonderful friend.”

Here’s to a great week – be safe, stay healthy, live it to your fullest.

Paul

AP is my go-to for accurate, factual, honest reporting

Tom Eblen - former managing editor and columnist, Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader and former AP journalist - The Associated Press is my go-to source for accurate, factual and honest reporting. The staff and leadership should be commended for excellent work under increasingly difficult circumstances.

I disagree with the chart created by AllSides that labels the AP as having a “left” bias. I also disagree with many of its other ratings. And I would note that AllSides is run by John Gable, who formerly worked for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, former Republican President George Bush and the Republican National Committee.

In addition to AP, I get straight news from Reuters, The New York Times and, of course, the newspaper I used to edit, The Lexington Herald-Leader. The new online Kentucky Lantern, a part of States News Service, also is doing a fine job of covering state government and public policy issues in Kentucky. I rarely watch news on TV anymore, although PBS News Hour has always been good. I think NPR and the BBC World Service do fine work on the radio.

The right has long used “bias” claims to try to silence good journalism it disagrees with. And now it wants to label as “leftist” any journalism that questions or plainly reports illegal and unconstitutional behavior by Republicans. Yet the right embraces the blatant daily bias and dishonesty of Fox News.

There has never been a greater need for good journalism. The AP delivers it every day.

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Rhonda Shafner - AP does seem neutral to me. I also like to look at different perspectives. I do look at Fox News from time to time to see how they cover things and I sometimes read WSJ editorials. I was in a NYC taxi the other day, they are now broadcasting NewsMax, so there’s that. I also like to hear what Joe Rogan is saying. Additionally, I read AP, NYT, WP, Wired magazine and The New Yorker.

My Side Hustle

Joni Beall - When my husband and I retired, we got involved in our small town. That’s something we couldn’t do with our crazy work schedules. We both volunteer for Cheverly Day, an annual celebration of our town.

I do publicity in the town newsletter. A fellow committee member called me Communications Maven on recent paperwork for the town. What makes this unusual is that, since my stroke, my left hand refuses to type. My husband types the stuff I write with his two finger typing ability.

This year I am spearheading the weeklong celebration for the town’s 95th anniversary and the parade. We’ll see how it goes.

I also edit my husband’s publicity for his side hustle, The 108 Music Series. He plans shows to raise money our American Legion. Anyone reading this in the DMV, please come to his March 20th show, a tribute to Etta and Aretha, with all wonderful DMV musicians. Tix are available on eventbrite (end of commercial).

A matter of semantics

Doug Pizac - A couple of weeks ago I talked about how meanings in one culture can be different in another (protest vs riot with Nick Ut). And one of my Cranial Cardio questions ten days ago was how two separate words can have a different meaning when placed together. Above is another proof that communication can rest on a matter of semantics. Enjoy, and beware if you are ever invited to participate in a naked running event. Or you might be featured in a future Connecting.

Out of the past

Edward Birk – This is a photo from the inauguration of Bob Martinez as Florida's 40th governor, 1987-91. At left is Brent Kallestad, Tallahassee correspondent. Newswoman Diana Smith and I are standing to Brent's left. Brent made the effort for us to attend the inauguration, which may have been unprecedented. It was one of the many things he did as correspondent to elevate the bureau's standing among the press corps and capital city.

Watching a Vietnamese Dissident Go Down in Real Time

Carl Robinson - Watching present‑day, Communist‑run Vietnam as closely as I do, there are always little surprises — but nothing quite like watching a dissident go down in real time. I knew this one was coming. When Facebook’s algorithm started flooding me with posts from both inside and outside Vietnam a couple of months ago, one account kept popping up. And not just because I’m a sucker for women in glasses — hers were enormous. With 120,000 followers, Hanoi‑based Hồng Thái Hoàng, a single mum to boot, was cranking out long, articulate posts that simply pointed out what the Aussies call the bloomin’ obvious.

She kept coming back to the same point: the system itself isn’t the problem — it’s the way it’s been twisted, bent, and abused by the people running it. That was her refrain. Vietnam has laws, institutions, procedures, even rights on paper; what it doesn’t have is anyone willing to follow them. Her posts walked readers through the everyday absurdities: police who enforce rules only when it suits them, officials who treat public authority like private property, a bureaucracy that works beautifully in theory and disastrously in practice. She wasn’t attacking the state so much as holding up a mirror to the way it behaves.

Read more here. Shared by Doug Pizac.

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Crime reporter killed in Mexico’s Veracruz state (AP)

By Alba Aleman

XALAPA, Mexico (AP) — A reporter covering crime in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz was killed Thursday night in the city of Poza Rica, according to a state entity.

The State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists said in a statement that it condemned the killing and called for an exhaustive investigation.

The commission identified the victim only by his first name in keeping with state policy, but local outlets identified him as Carlos Castro, director of an online outlet called Código Norte Veracruz, who also collaborated with other regional outlets.

Another local reporter at the scene, who requested anonymity for safety, said Castro was shot at a restaurant in the city. State and local police, as well as the National Guard responded to the scene.

The reporter said Castro had recently returned to the city after spending several months outside the state due to threats, and that he had received protective measures from the state commission. Castro had also moved to Guanajuato state in 2024 to escape threats.

Castro is the first journalist killed this year in Mexico, historically one of the region’s deadliest for journalists. According to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, six journalists and media workers were killed in Mexico last year.

Read more here. Shared by Doug Pizac.

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FACT FOCUS: Minneapolis shooting prompts spread of misrepresented and fabricated images online (AP)

By Melissa Goldin

The Associated Press

Misrepresented and fabricated images spread widely on social media in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday.

Soon after the shooting, photos emerged erroneously identified as showing the victim, a 37-year-old mother of three. Others were fabricated to falsely show the face of the officer involved or were misrepresented to say he had a Nazi tattoo. And an old video of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was said to show him speaking about the episode.

Read more here. Shared by Doug Pizac.

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Rightwing bloggers and Maga minions: meet the Trump-loving Pentagon press corps (The Guardian)

By Adam Gabbatt

After US troops swarmed into Venezuela, seizing the country’s president and his wife, there was little to be heard from the Pentagon.

Typically, it would be a time for defense officials to talk to the Pentagon press corps: a group of journalists made up of some of the most talented reporters in the US. The Pentagon could have been expected to be held to account over what has been criticized as a violation of international law.

Under the Trump administration, that didn’t happen.

The press corps was decimated late last year. Almost all credentialed reporters from traditional media companies surrendered their Pentagon press passes in October, rather than sign a 21-page Pentagon document that set restrictions on journalistic activities.

Into that void, the Pentagon credentialed dozens of pro-Trump rightwing online figures, creating a distinctly unserious press corps which includes someone from a pillow salesman’s nascent media company, and a man from a “maritime news” website who has openly fawned over Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary.

This new group of reporters – nominally supposed to hold Trump and the Pentagon to account – reacted much as one might expect after the US captured Nicolás Maduro in a pre-dawn raid.

Read more here. Shared by Richard Chady, Doug Pizac.

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How Our White House Photographer Finds New Angles on the Oval Office (The New York Times)

By Jodi Rudoren

Doug Mills has been in the Oval Office thousands of times since he started covering the White House in 1983, mostly for rushed and crowded photo ops. He recently photographed virtually every inch of the room in 600 images that our colleagues stitched together to create a 3-D view of the gilded spectacle President Trump has made of it.

But even for Doug, who won his third Pulitzer Prize last year — for pictures of the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump at a campaign event in Pennsylvania — The Times’s nearly two-hour interview with the president this week was extraordinary. He thought he might be asked to leave after 10 or 15 minutes but ended up staying the entire time, including an hourlong off-the-record phone call that President Trump took from the president of Colombia, and an impromptu tour of the residence. At times, Doug sat on the floor to avoid the gaze of the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.

He brought three Sony A1 II camera bodies into the Oval, with a 24-millimeter lens, a 50-millimeter lens and a 135-millimeter lens. Plus a Gitzo monopod that allowed him to hoist a camera (with the 24-millimeter lens) about 15 feet to create a bird’s-eye view — something that has become a Doug Mills signature and that was requested by his editor, Marisa Schwartz Taylor.

He emerged having snapped about 3,700 frames, the first at 5:08 p.m., the last at 8:24, when the tour began (no cameras or cellphones were allowed). He filed 41 of those for editors to choose from. Doug was just outside the White House on Thursday when we talked by phone about the experience. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.

Read more here. Shared by Doug Pizac.

Today in History - Jan. 12, 2026

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2026. There are 353 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 12, 1969, the biggest upset in Super Bowl history occurred as the New York Jets of the American Football League defeated the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League 16-7 in Super Bowl III, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Also on this date:

In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to give women nationwide the right to vote.

In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman to win election to the U.S. Senate after initially being appointed to serve out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, unanimously ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit.

In 1966, “Batman” premiered on ABC, starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

In 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that the Haitian government estimated killed some 300,000 people.

Today’s birthdays: Author Haruki Murakami is 77. Filmmaker Wayne Wang is 77. Football Hall of Famer Drew Pearson is 75. Writer Walter Mosley is 74. Media personality Howard Stern is 72. Filmmaker John Lasseter is 69. Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour is 68. Actor Oliver Platt is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is 66. Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is 62. Musician-filmmaker Rob Zombie is 61. Rock singer Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) is 56. Rapper Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) is 56. Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls) is 52. Hockey Hall of Famer Marián Hossa is 47. Actor Issa Rae is 41. Singer Zayn Malik is 33. Actor Nathan Gamble is 27.

AP classes, by the year...

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a listing of Connecting colleagues who have shared the year and the bureau where they started with the AP. We publish this once a month. If you would like to share your own information, I will include it in later postings. Current AP staffers are also welcome to share their information. We include deceased staffers when their information is shared; their names are italicized.)

1951 - Norm Abelson (Boston)

1953 – Charles Monzella (Huntington, WVa)

1955 – Henry Bradsher (Atlanta), Paul Harrington (Boston), Joe McGowan (Cheyenne)

1957 - Louis Uchitelle (Philadelphia)

1958 – Roy Bolch (Kansas City), Robert Dubill (Buffalo)

1959 – Charlie Bruce (Montgomery)

1960 – Claude Erbsen (New York), Bill Lenz (Detroit), Carl Leubsdorf (New Orleans), Harry Moskos (Albuquerque)

1961 – Peter Arnett (Jakarta, Indonesia), Strat Douthat (Charleston. WVa), Warren Lerude (San Diego), Ed Staats (Austin)

1962 – Paul Albright (Cheyenne), Malcolm Barr Sr. (Honolulu), Myron Belkind (New York), Dave Mazzarella (Newark), Peggy Simpson (Dallas), Kelly Smith Tunney (Miami)

1963 – Hal Bock (New York), Jeff Williams (Portland OR)

1964 – Rachel Ambrose (Indianapolis), Larry Hamlin (Oklahoma City), John Lengel (Los Angeles), Ron Mulnix (Denver), Lyle Price (San Francisco), Lew Simons (New York), Arlene Sposato (New York), Karol Stonger (Indianapolis), Hilmi Toros (New York)

1965 – Niles Andersen (Omaha), Bob Dobkin (Pittsburgh), Harry Dunphy (Denver), John Gibbons (New York), Bob Greene (Kansas City), Jim Luther (Nashville), Larry Margasak (Harrisburg), Rich Oppel (Tallahassee), Jim Rubin (Trenton). Lynn Sherr (New York), Mark Thayer (San Francisco)

1966 – Shirley Christian (Kansas City), Mike Doan (Portland, OR), Edie Lederer (New York), Nancy Shipley (Nashville), Mike Short (Los Angeles), Marty Thompson (Seattle), Nick Ut (Saigon), Kent Zimmerman (Chicago)

1967 – Dan Berger (Los Angeles), Adolphe Bernotas (Concord), Lou Boccardi (New York), Linda Deutsch (Los Angeles), Don Harrison (Los Angeles), Frank Hawkins (New York), Doug Kienitz (Cheyenne), David Liu (New York), Bruce Lowitt (Los Angeles), Chuck McFadden (Los Angeles), Martha Malan (Minneapolis), Bill Morrissey (Buffalo), Larry Paladino (Detroit), Michael Putzel (Raleigh), Bruce Richardson (Chicago), Richard Shafer (Baltimore), Victor Simpson (Newark), Michael Sniffen (Newark), Kernan Turner (Portland, Ore)

1968 – Lee Balgemann (Chicago), John Eagan (San Francisco), Earleen Fisher (Indianapolis), Joe Galu (Albany/Troy), Peter Gehrig (Frankfurt), Charles Hanley (Albany), Jerry Harkavy (Portland, Maine), Herb Hemming (New York), Brian King (Albany), Samuel Koo (New York), Karren Mills (Minneapolis), Michael Rubin (Los Angeles), Rick Spratling (Salt Lake City), Barry Sweet (Seattle)

1969 - Ann Blackman (New York), Ford Burkhart (Philadelphia), Harry Cabluck (Pittsburgh), Dick Carelli (Charleston, WVa), Dennis Coston (Richmond), Ron Frehm (New York), Mary V. Gordon (Newark), Daniel Q. Haney (Portland, Maine), Mike Harris (Chicago), Brad Martin (Kansas City), David Minthorn (Frankfurt), Cynthia Rawitch (Los Angeles), Bob Reid (Charlotte), Mike Reilly (New York), Doug Tucker (Tulsa), Bill Wertz (Minneapolis), Jim Willse (New York), Bill Winter (Helena)

1970 – Richard Boudreaux (New York), David Briscoe (Manila), Sibby Christensen (New York), Richard Drew (San Francisco), Bob Egelko (Los Angeles), James Gerstenzang (San Francisco), Steve (Indy) Herman (Indianapolis), Tim Litsch (New York), Lee Margulies (Los Angeles), Arthur Max (Tel Aviv), Chris Pederson (Salt Lake City), Brendan Riley (San Francisco), Chuck Robinson (Indianapolis), Larry Thorson (Philadelphia)

1971 – Harry Atkins (Detroit), Jim Bagby (Kansas City), Larry Blasko (Chicago), Jim Carlson (Milwaukee), Jim Carrier (New Haven), Chris Connell (Newark), Bill Gillen (New York), Bill Hendrick (Birmingham), John Lumpkin (Dallas), Kendal Weaver (Montgomery)

1972 – Hank Ackerman (New York), Rod Davis (Dallas), Bob Fick (St. Louis), Joe Frazier (Portland, Ore.), Terry Ganey (St. Louis), Mike Graczyk (Detroit), Denis Gray (Albany), Lindel Hutson (Little Rock), Linda Kramer Jenning (San Francisco), Brent Kallestad (Sioux Falls), Tom Kent (Hartford), Nolan Kienitz (Dallas), Kent Kilpatrick (Detroit), Andy Lippman (Phoenix), Mike Millican (Hartford), Bruce Nathan (New York), Ginny Pitt Sherlock (Boston), Lew Wheaton (Richmond)

1973 - Jerry Cipriano (New York), Susan Clark (New York), Norm Clarke (Cincinnati), Marty Crutsinger (Miami), Steve Fox (Los Angeles), Joe Galianese (East Brunswick), Merrill Hartson (Richmond), Mike Hendricks (Albany), Tom Journey (Tucson), Steve Loeper (Los Angeles), Jesus Medina (New York), Ellen Miller (Helena), Tom Slaughter (Sioux Falls), Jim Spehar (Denver), Paul Stevens (Albany), Jeffrey Ulbrich (Cheyenne), Owen Ullmann (Detroit), Suzanne Vlamis (New York), John Willis (Omaha), Evans Witt (San Francisco)

1974 – Norman Black (Baltimore), Julie Dunlap (Philadelphia), David Espo (Cheyenne), Dan George (Topeka), Robert Glass (Philadelphia), Steve Graham (Helena), Tim Harper (Milwaukee), Elaine Hooker (Hartford), Sue Price Johnson (Charlotte), Fong Lien (Los Angeles), Dave Lubeski (Washington), Janet McConnaughey (Washington), Lee Mitgang (New York), Barry Shlachter (Tokyo), Bud Weydert (Toledo), Marc Wilson (Little Rock)

1975 – Peter Eisner (Columbus), Charles Hill (Charlotte), Jim Limbach (Washington), Bill McCloskey (Washington), David Powell (New York), Eileen Alt Powell (Milwaukee)

1976 – Brad Cain (Chicago), Judith Capar (Philadelphia), Dick Chady (Albany), David Crary (Jackson), Steve Crowley (Washington), Diane Duston (Columbus), David Egner (Oklahoma City), Carole Feldman (Newark), Ed Golden (New York), Steve Hindy (Newark), Marc Humbert (Albany), Steven Hurst (Columbus), Richard Lowe (Nashville), Mike Mcphee (Boston), John Nolan (Nashville), Guy Palmiotto (New York), Charlotte Porter (Minneapolis), Greg Thompson (Dallas), Chuck Wolfe (Charlotte)

1977 – Bryan Brumley (Washington), Robert Burns (Jefferson City), Charles Campbell (Nashville), Carolyn Carlson (Atlanta), Dave Carpenter (Philadelphia), Solange De Santis (New York), Jim Drinkard (Jefferson City), Ken Herman (Dallas), Mike Holmes (Des Moines), Doug Jeffries (New York), Brad Kalbfeld (New York), Larry Kilman (Atlanta), Scott Kraft (Jefferson City), John Kreiser (New York), Peter Leabo (Dallas), Kevin LeBoeuf (Los Angeles), Ellen Nimmons (Minneapolis), Joyce Rosenberg (New York), Dan Sewell (Buffalo), Estes Thompson (Richmond), David Tirrell-Wysocki (Concord)

1978 – Jane Anderson (Providence), Vinnie D'Alessandro (Hartford), Tom Eblen (Louisville), Ruth Gersh (Richmond), Monte Hayes (Caracas), Matt Mygatt (New Orleans), Doug Pizac (Los Angeles), Charles Richards (Dallas), Reed Saxon (Los Angeles), Steve Wilson (Boston)

1979 – Jim Abrams (Tokyo), Peter Banda (Albuquerque), Brian Bland (Los Angeles), Scotty Comegys (Chicago), John Daniszewski (Philadelphia), Frances D’Emilio (San Francisco), Pat Fergus (Albany), Ken Fields (St. Louis), Brian Friedman (Des Moines), Sally Hale (Dallas), Susana Hayward (New York), Jill Lawrence (Harrisburg), Thomas Leone (Harrisburg), Warren Levinson (New York), Joe Madison (New York), Barry Massey (Kansas City), Phillip Rawls (Nashville), John Redman (London), John Rice (Carson City), Kurt Rossi (New York), Linda Sargent (Little Rock), Joel Stashenko (Albany), Rebecca Trounson (Denver), Robert Wielaard (Brussels)

1980 – Alan Adler (Cleveland), Christopher Bacey (New York), Diane M. Balk (Indianapolis), Jeff Barnard (Providence), Nancy Benac (New York), Peter Coy (Albany), Mark Duncan (Cleveland), Bill Kaczor (Tallahassee), Mitchell Landsberg (Reno), Mike Mazzo (East Brunswick), Kevin Noblet (New Orleans), Lee Perryman (Tampa), Jim Rowley (Baltimore), David Speer (Jackson), Hal Spencer (Providence), Jo Steck (Los Angeles), Carol J. Williams (Seattle)

1981 – Paul Davenport (Phoenix), Dan Day (Milwaukee), John Flesher (Raleigh), Ray Formanek Jr. (St. Louis), Alan Fram (Newark), Debra Hale-Shelton (Little Rock), Len Iwanski (Bismarck), Ed McCullough (Albany), Drusilla Menaker (Philadelphia), Kim Mills (New York), Mark Mittelstadt (Des Moines), Susan Okula (Hartford), Roland Rochet (New York), Larry Ryckman (Carson City NV), Lee Siegel (Seattle), Marty Steinberg (Baltimore), Bill Vogrin (Kansas City)

1982 – Dorothy Abernathy (Little Rock), Al Behrman (Cincinnati), Tom Cohen (Jefferson City), John Epperson (Chicago), Ric Feld (Atlanta), Kiki Lascaris Georgio (New York), Nick Geranios (Helena), Mike Gracia (Washington), Howard Gros (New Orleans), Mark Humphrey (Nashville), Dan Juric (East Brunswick), Robert Kimball (New York), Rob Kozloff (Detroit), Bill Menezes (Kansas City), Jack Messmer (New York), David Ochs (New York), Eric Risberg (San Francisco), Cecilia White (Los Angeles)

1983 – Elise Amendola (Boston), Edward L. Birk (Boston), Donna Cassata (Albany), Scott Charton (Little Rock), Sue Cross (Columbus), Mark Elias (Chicago), Mary Esch (Albany), Doug Fisher (Columbus), David Ginsburg (Washington), Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt (Washington), Diana Heidgerd (Miami), Kevin McGill (New Orleans), Sheila Norman-Culp (New York), Carol Esler Ochs (New York), Jim Reindl (Detroit), Carol Riha (Detroit), Amy Sancetta (Philadelphia), Angie Lamoli Silvestry (New Orleans), Rande Simpson (New York), Dave Skidmore (Milwaukee), Barbara Worth (New York)

1984 – Laurie Asseo (Phoenix), David Beard (Chicago), Owen Canfield (Oklahoma City), Raf Casert (Brussels), Wayne Chin (Washington), Jack Elliott (Oklahoma City), Jim Heintz (Columbus), Candice Hughes (Dallas), Danny Johnston (Little Rock), Kelly P. Kissel (New Orleans), Hank Kurz (New York), Joe Macenka (Richmond), Paul Newberry (Atlanta), Eva Parziale (San Francisco), Walt Rastetter (New York), Malcolm Ritter (New York), Keith Robinson (Columbus), Cliff Schiappa (Kansas City), David Sedeño (Dallas), Andrew Selsky (Cheyenne), Pedro Sotomayor (Los Angeles), Lindsey Tanner (Chicago), Patty Woodrow (Washington)

1985 – Dennis Anderson (Los Angeles), Dennis Conrad (Cleveland), George Garties (Los Angeles), Beth Grace (Columbus), Bob McHugh (Newark), Betty Kumpf Pizac (Los Angeles), Susan Spaulding (San Francisco)

1986 – Joni Baluh Beall (Richmond), David Beard (Jackson), Tom Coyne (Columbia, SC), Dave DeGrace (Milwaukee), Alan Flippen (Louisville), Paul Geitner (Montgomery), Jim Gerberich (San Francisco), Howard Goldberg (New York), Mark Hamrick (Dallas), Sandy Kozel (Washington), Arlene Levinson (Boston), Robert Meyers (London), David Morris (Harrisburg), Susan Ragan (New York), Lori Dodge Rose (Jefferson City), Bob Seavey (Lima), Barbara Woike (New York)

1987 – Donna Abu-Nasr (Beirut), Jim Anderson (Mexico City), Dave Bauder (Albany), Bob Bellafiore (Albany), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Ted Duncombe (Philadelphia), Beth Harris (Indianapolis), Lynne Harris (New York), Steven L. Herman (Charleston, WVa), Elaine Kurtenbach (Tokyo), Rosemarie Mileto (New York), John Rogers (Los Angeles), Julia Rubin (Denver)

1988 – Chris Carola (Albany), Peg Coughlin (Pierre), Frank Eltman (New York), Kathy Gannon (Islamabad), Steve Hart (Washington), Melissa Jordan (Sioux Falls), Mark Lennihan (New York), Margaret Lillard (Nashville), Bill Pilc (New York), Philip Rosenbaum (New York), Kelley Shannon (Dallas), Darlene Superville (Newark)

1989 – Charlie Arbogast (Trenton), Susan Boyle (New York), John Braunreiter (Milwaukee), Ted Bridis (Oklahoma City), Paul Randall Dickerson (Nashville), Katie Fairbank (Indianapolis), Ron Fournier (Little Rock), Ann Gibson (Richmond), Josh Lemieux (Kansas City), Teresa Walker (Nashville), Michelle Williams (Nashville)

1990 – David Boe (Chicago), Gary Fine (Washington), Martin Finucane (Providence), Frank Fisher (Jackson), Ken Giglio (Washington), Dick Lipsey (Kansas City), Kathryn Loomans (Washington), Dan Perry (Bucharest), Steve Sakson (Baltimore), Sean Thompson (New York)

1991 – Amanda Kell (Richmond), Suzanne Mast Lee (Washingon), Santiago Lyon (Cairo), Lisa Pane (Hartford), Wayne Partlow (Washington), Ricardo Reif (Caracas), Bill Sikes (Buffalo), Susan Walsh (Boston)

1992 – Emery P. Dalesio (Trenton), Jennifer Garske (Washington), Kerry Huggard (New York), Wilfredo Lee (Washington)

1993 – Connie Farrow (St. Louis), Shawn Pogatchnik (London), Jim Salter (St. Louis), Tim Sullivan (New York), Adam Yeomans (Tallahassee)

1994 - Bill Gorman (Washington), Glen Johnson (Boston), Ralph Siegel (Trenton), Margie Szaroleta (Washington)

1995 – Kathy Barks Hoffman (Lansing), Ray Long (Springfield IL), Elaine Thompson (Houston), Donna Tommelleo (Hartford)

1996 – Patricia N. Casillo (New York), Burt Herman (Sacramento), John Khin (New York)

1997 – J. David Ake (Chicago), Peter Banda (Albuquerque), Martha Bellisle (Carson City), Kia Breaux (Kansas City), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Pamela Collins (Dallas), Aaron Jackson (New York), Rachel La Corte (Miami), Madhu Krishnappa Maron (New York), Jim Suhr (Detroit), Jennifer Yates (Baltimore)

1998 – Alan Clendenning (New Orleans), Guthrie Collin (Albany), David Koenig (Dallas), Mitch Stacy (London), Richard Turkheimer (New Orleans)

1999 – Melinda Deslatte (Raleigh), Stacey Plaisance (New Orleans), Laura Rauch (Las Vegas), Terry Spencer (Miami)

2000 – Carrie Antlfinger (Milwaukee), Betsy Blaney (Dallas), Gary Gentile (Los Angeles), Ken Miller (Oklahoma City), Kevin O'Sullivan (New York), Rhonda Shafner (New York), Tom Tait (Las Vegas), Juliet Williams (Milwaukee)

2001 - Mike Weissenstein (New York)

2002 - Michael Casey (Jakarta)

2003 - Lolita Baldor (Washington), Valerie Komor (New York)

2004 - Jim Baltzelle (Dallas)

2005 – Ric Brack (Chicago), Richard Jacobsen (Mexico City), Frank Jordans (London), Angie Yack (Washington)

2006 – Jon Gambrell (Little Rock)

2008 - Steve Braun (Washington)

2011 - Joseph B. Frederick (New York)

2013 - Alex Sanz (Atlanta)

2014 - Peter Costanzo (New York)

2024 - Gabriela Aoun (San Diego)

Got a photo or story to share?

Connecting is a daily newsletter published Monday through Friday that reaches 2,000 retired and former Associated Press employees, present-day employees, and news industry and journalism school colleagues. It began in 2013. Past issues can be found by clicking Connecting Archive in the masthead. Its author, Paul Stevens, retired from the AP in 2009 after a 36-year career as a newsman in Albany and St. Louis, correspondent in Wichita, chief of bureau in Albuquerque, Indianapolis and Kansas City, and Central Region vice president based in Kansas City.

Got a story to share? A favorite memory of your AP days? Don't keep them to yourself. Share with your colleagues by sending to Ye Olde Connecting Editor. And don't forget to include photos!

Here are some suggestions:

- Connecting "selfies" - a word and photo self-profile of you and your career, and what you are doing today. Both for new members and those who have been with us a while.

- Second chapters - You finished a great career. Now tell us about your second (and third and fourth?) chapters of life.

- Spousal support - How your spouse helped in supporting your work during your AP career.

- My most unusual story - tell us about an unusual, off the wall story that you covered.

- "A silly mistake that you make"- a chance to 'fess up with a memorable mistake in your journalistic career.

- Multigenerational AP families - profiles of families whose service spanned two or more generations.

- Volunteering - benefit your colleagues by sharing volunteer stories - with ideas on such work they can do themselves.

- First job - How did you get your first job in journalism?

- Most unusual place a story assignment took you.

Paul Stevens

Editor, Connecting newsletter

paulstevens46@gmail.com