Chronicle Reassigns Reporter

The Houston Chronicle has named a new bureau chief for its Brazoria County newsgathering operation.
Richard Stewart, who headed the newspaper's East Texas Bureau for nearly 20 years, will take over the Brazoria County correspondent's position around the first of the new year, officials said.
Kelly Hawes, the managing editor of the Clute-based daily newspaper The Facts, has not voiced any objections to Stewarts' reassignment, but Chronicle officials reportedly feel sure Hawes will OK the move.
Hawes complained about the Chronicle's last reporter to be posted in Brazoria County, leading Chronicle officials to terminate the writer.
Hawes' action has earned him kudos among media watchdogs, who mounted an effort to name the new FM 2004 overpass in his honor.
State highway officials so far have not announced a name for the overpass.
Others whose names have been offered as possible namesakes for the overpass include former heavyweight prize fighting champion George Foreman, the so-called "5th Beatle" Pete Best and controversial Justice of the Peace Matt Zepeda.
As the new chief of the Brazoria County Bureau, Stewart will be returning to his chidhood home. He grew up in Brazoria County and still has relatives in the county "where Texas began."
Newspaper insiders say he was a natural choice for the position because of his many years covering news in heavily industrialized Jefferson County.
"Brazoria County has a lot of industrial-type plants, too, so the thinking was Richard understands the mentalility of folks who live and work around places that sometimes blow up," said a Chronicle newsroom source.
The Chronicle has not announced the hiring of a new reporter for its East Texas Bureau operation. The newspaper, ranked among the country's top 10 in circulation, may decide to reprint news generated by its sister Hearst paper in Beaumont rather than hire a reporter to cover the region, said one newspaper official who asked to remain anonymous.