THE PRESS DATE DESK — CITY EDITION — WEATHER: FAIR & HOT

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2026

PRESS TIME T-4 DAYS

THE DESK · FOLIO 2

Assignments

5 WRITERS ON DESK · 12 OPEN FILES

COPY DUE 17:00 SHARP, ALWAYS

FILED THIS WEEK

Copy on the spike, ready for the pass

DRAFTING

Typewriters audibly warming up

IN REVIEW

Awaiting the proofreader's pencil

ON THE TAKE BOARD

Unclaimed — first hand up gets the byline

House rule, posted since Vol. I: a story belongs to whoever signs the card. File on time and the desk remembers; file late twice and you cover the county fair beat in August. Questions of taste go to the publisher; questions of spelling go to the stylebook.

Ingrid Kessler

CHIEF CORRESPONDENT — FEATURES DESK

FILES ON DESK

STORY	DESK	DUE	WORDS	STATUS	DESK ACTION
Summer in the Switchboard Museum	FEATURES	2026-07-29	2400	DRAFTING

Tobias Marchetti

CULTURE WRITER — MANNERS & MACHINES

FILES ON DESK

STORY	DESK	DUE	WORDS	STATUS	DESK ACTION
The Sociable History of the Office Water Cooler	CULTURE	2026-07-27	2200	DRAFTING

Willa Okonkwo

COLUMNIST — FOOD & DRINK

FILES ON DESK

STORY	DESK	DUE	WORDS	STATUS	DESK ACTION
Five Recipes from the Newsroom Cafeteria, 1954	FOOD & DRINK	2026-07-26	1400	IN REVIEW

Edmund Vasquez

ESSAYIST — BUILDINGS & BROADCASTS

FILES ON DESK

STORY	DESK	DUE	WORDS	STATUS	DESK ACTION
Obituaries for Buildings: The Demolition of the Grand Meridian	ESSAYS	2026-07-20	2000	IN REVIEW

Rosa Delgado

CRITIC — REVIEWS & THE ARTS

FILES ON DESK

STORY	DESK	DUE	WORDS	STATUS	DESK ACTION
The Paperback Rack at Union Station	REVIEWS	2026-08-05	1500	ASSIGNED

THE TAKE BOARD

Unclaimed Stories

Pinned to the corkboard by the desk, free to a good home. Sign the card and the byline is yours — first hand up wins, no arm-wrestling after 17:00.

2 CARDS PINNED

FEATURES · ISSUE 8

A Census of the City's Remaining Phone Booths

Count them, photograph them, phone one in from inside. Bring a pocket of dimes and a sense of loss.

DUE 2026-08-07 · 1600 WORDS