Member News

Chris Mertes, who has served the Sun Prairie area as a reporter and editor for 33 years, has retired from his position as managing editor of the Sun Prairie Star, he announced in a farewell column. His last day was Thursday, June 8.

After earning his journalism degree in 1987 from UW-Eau Claire and spending a year as a reporter for The Clark County Press in Neilsville, Wisconsin, Mertes began his tenure with the Star on Sept. 5, 1989.

Jonathan Richie, who has worked as a reporter and editor in Wisconsin for the last decade, has joined the Oshkosh Herald staff as a general assignment reporter and assistant editor.

Most recently, Richie served as a reporter and photographer for the Portage Daily Register, where he covered city and county governments, small businesses and courts. Prior to that position, he was editor of the Burnett County Sentinel in Grantsburg. He's also written for Conley Media, Urban Milwaukee and Media Milwaukee, the student newspaper of UW-Milwaukee, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2015.

Kaitlyn Doolittle, who graduated in May with a degree in English, film and media studies from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, has joined the Hudson Star-Observer reporting team, the newspaper has announced.

A native of Plato, Minnesota, Doolittle began her reporting career as an intern for Greenspring Media, where she wrote for Minnesota Monthly and Midwest Home. While in college, she wrote for the student newspaper, as well as the Fine Arts and Marketing and Communications offices, she wrote in an introductory column to readers.

Tom Ackerman, who has spent the last year-and-a-half writing, editing, and taking photos for newspapers in Montana, has been named editor of the Jefferson County Daily Union.

Originally from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, Ackerman most recently served as editor of the Big Horn County News in Hardin, Montana, which is owned by Adams Publishing Group — the Daily Union's parent company.

Carly Davis, who earned her bachelor's degree in May from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, has joined Adams Publishing Group.

In college, Davis studied art, creative writing and English and served as managing editor of the Augustana Observer, the student paper, and editor-in-chief of SAGA Art & Literary Magazine. She first got her start in journalism at Milton High School, where she wrote for the student paper from 2015 to 2019.

Seid Husic, a recent graduate of Ripon College, has joined The Green Laker on a full time basis, the Ripon Commonwealth Press has announced. The Green Laker is the newspaper's biweekly summertime publication.

Born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husic is the first member of his family to graduate from college, he wrote in an introductory column. His passion for journalism developed after taking a journalism course taught by Ian Stepleton, former editor of the Commonwealth Press.

Melissa Thorud, who joined the (Red Wing, Minn.) Republican Eagle in April 2022, has been named the newspaper's community news editor.

A native of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, she joined O’Rourke Media, owner of the Eagle, after earning a degree in journalism from UW-River Falls. She succeeds managing editor Jim Johnson, who is leaving the newspaper to pursue new opportunities in Maryland.

Peter Fox, former executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and longtime Wisconsin journalist, was inducted on May 17 into the Wisconsin Dells Education Foundation’s Distinguished Achievement Hall of Fame. The honor was bestowed on Fox for his contributions to the Dells area and school district.

A 1966 graduate of Wisconsin Dells High School, Fox wrote for the Wisconsin Dells Events and Wisconsin State Journal early in his career. His induction into the WDEF Distinguished Achievement Hall of Fame is his second such honor in less than a year. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Hall of Fame on Nov. 10.

Hunter Turpin, a recent journalism graduate from UW-Milwaukee, has joined the BizTimes in Milwaukee as a reporter. He will cover commercial and residential real estate.

During college, Turping also studied served as news editor for school newspaper, the UWM Post. He has worked as a reporter for The Waukesha Freeman and as an intern for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Jill Williams, who joined the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2000 as features editor and has continued to take on ever-expaning roles, has been named the newspaper's deputy editor of features, sports and new initiatives.

Williams, a member of the newspaper’s editorial board, will continue working with the features and sports reporting teams. In the new role, she will also focus on recruiting, mentoring, coaching and making sure the newspaper connects with the whole community.