Another apology ... and year-end thank yous (plus an update on whistleblowing).

• Author: McCormally, Timothy J.

This issue of The Tax Executive is late. Like its predecessor. And their predecessors. This development has caused some dismay in my family, which is blessed with a surfeit of journalists. My father was an editor and publisher of a daily newspaper, and three of my brothers have plied their trade with publications that come out more frequently than once every other month. When one of my daughters served as editor of her high school newspaper more than a decade ago, she was better at meeting deadlines than her father. That, clearly, was a result of her learning from her mother, another writer.

During 2006, we made strides toward getting The Tax Executive back on schedule, but with the end of the year in sight, we backslid. Our September-October issue made up almost a month, but alas we have lost nearly half of that gain with this issue. My heartfelt apologies to our readers, as well as to our authors who did their part in submitting their articles in a timely manner. My resolution as editor for 2007 is to make the rest of the journey toward timeliness. In the meantime, I remind TEI members and other readers that they can find up-to-date information on TEI's advocacy and educational endeavors on our website.

One consequence of falling behind has been to delay my publicly thanking the leaders of the TEI chapters I have had the good fortune to visit. Since my last column, I have visited four chapters. Almost five.

Shortly before the Annual Conference, I travelled to Des Moines to visit the Iowa Chapter. Chapter President Steve Gatton ran an excellent meeting, which featured a presentation by Marianna Dyson of Miller & Chevalier. I thank him for his hospitality, but extend special appreciation to Bob Birch, who chauffeured me hither and yon. (Bob is the chapter's representative on the Institute's Board of Directors.) Now, when you come from the Midwest, you know "hither and yon" means more than a few blocks. In Bob's case, he not only picked me up at the airport and deposited me at my hotel, but on the day following the Iowa Chapter meeting, he drove Marianna and me to Omaha for a meeting of the Institute's nascent Omaha Chapter. Special thanks are also due to Randy Harvey and his company, ConAgra, for hosting the meeting and taking the lead in establishing a chapter in Omaha. Based on the excellent results, the Institute's Board may be asked to grant the group a charter as early as March 2007.

My second visit was to an all-day tax seminar hosted...