Persons

Deep in the heart, Part 1: Hearst, which owns six dailies in Texas, is combining certain management and operations among the group. Jack Sweeney has been named group president; he remains president and publisher of the Houston Chronicle, a job he's held since 2000. Earlier, the 20-plus-year veteran of the Chronicle was sales and marketing director and vice president and served seven years as the paper's general manager. He began his career in 1968 in the ad department at the Washington Post. Tom Stephenson has been named group general manager; he remains publisher of the San Antonio Express-News, a job he's held since 2005. Earlier, Stephenson spent seven years as the Express-News' senior vice president of operations and administration. Before that, he had a 22-year career with Knight Ridder, including stints in Aberdeen, S.D., Long Beach, Calif., and at Minnesota's St. Paul Pioneer Press. Stephen Weis has been named group head of ad sales and digital services; he remains an executive vice president at the Chronicle, a job he's held for 14 months. Weis joined the Chronicle in 2004 as director of on-line sales and has more than 12 years of Internet operations and sales experience, including positions at Freedom Communications, Advance Internet/Publications and The Seattle Times Co. Bill Offill has been named publisher of the company's Beaumont Enterprise and now has direct responsibility for the other smaller papers in the group -- the Midland Reporter-Telegram, Laredo Morning Times and Plainview Daily Herald; previously, he was executive vice president of sales and marketing at the Chronicle, a job he'd held for 5-1/4 years. Earlier, he had been vice president for circulation, packaging and distribution for three years. A 22-year veteran of the Chronicle, Offill joined the paper as an advertising account executive and later became the paper's classified ad director. Offill replaces John Newhouse, who has resigned; he had been publisher since early 2007. Earlier, Newhouse was publisher at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., for two years and before that, he spent nine years as publisher of the Town Talk in Alexanderia, La. Earlier still, Newhouse was a manager at New York Times Regional Newspaper Group's papers. Also at Hearst, Chris Blaser has been named senior vice president of circulation at the San Francisco Chronicle; previously, he was circulation vice president, a job he'd held since 2004. Earlier, Blaser did a two-year stint as circulation director in San Francisco, following time as a top circulation executive at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and at the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Wash. Blaser will have consumer marketing responsibilities for the Texas group as well. ... Deep in the heart, Part 2: At American Community Newspapers II LLC of Plano, Texas, Richard Franks has been named interim chief executive; he remains a member of the company's board of directors. Earlier, Franks was president and publisher of The Eagle Tribune Cos. of North Andover, Mass. A 30-year newspaper veteran, Franks started at Ohio's Columbus Dispatch, ultimately becoming the paper's executive vice president and general manager. Before joining Eagle Tribune in 2000, Franks was president of Westward Communications LLC of Dallas. Assisting Franks will be another ACN board member, Frank Shepard; earlier, Shepard was founder, chairman and chief executive of 21st Century Newspapers Inc. of Pontiac, Mich. from 1995 until the group's sale to Journal Register Co. in 2004. The leadership vacuum was created with Friday's resignation of Gene Carr, who had been chief executive since 2002 and president since 2001. Earlier, Carr was with Brown Publishing Co. and Trinity Holdings Inc. and served as publisher of the Morning Journal of Lisbon, Ohio. ...