After seven years with the Vilas County News-Review, editor Michelle Drew is embarking on a new journey. March 20 was her final day at the newspaper.

“The number of wonderful people I’ve met that care so much for this community and this newspaper has been one of the best parts of the last seven years,” Drew said in the nnouncement. “Great community newspapers come from having a great community. We have been blessed here to have a strong base of caring readers that engage via letters to the editor, event announcements, news tips, advertising dollars and subscriptions.”

“I won’t say that has made my job easy per se, but it has allowed me to bring a wide variety of topics to people who truly care.”

Drew added she was privileged to work under some of the greatest journalistic minds in the state, including former editor Gary Ridderbusch and publisher Kurt Krueger.

Drew joined the News-Review as lifestyle editor in March 2017. She was promoted to assistant editor in 2019 and editor in December 2021.

Incoming staff

A number of new faces will take the reins upon Drew’s departure, including new associate editors Jacob Heid and Josephine Hinderman.

Heid previously worked for the last two years as the sports editor for the Stevens Point Gazette. A native of Kaukauna, he graduated from Southern Illinois University with a journalism degree in the spring of 2022 and has been honing his craft ever since.

A native of Kaukauna, Hinderman graduated from high school there in 2020 and is working toward her bachelor’s degree in writing and applied arts with an emphasis in editing and publishing at UW-Green Bay. She has been part of the internship program at The (Green Bay) Press Times and is expected to graduate in May.