Member News

Emily Schendel has been named editor of the Boscobel Dial, the newspaper announced this week. She takes over for David Krier, who retired last month after 30 years in the role.

Schendel started with Morris Newspapers in high school as an intern for the Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout in Gays Mills. She has since worked as a reporter and editor for several of the company's newspapers, including the Fennimore Times, Dial, and the Independent.

Jeff Seisser is returning to Adams Publishing Group as lead sports editor for its southern Wisconsin newspapers.

Seisser stepped down from his previous sports editor role with APG in April, after more than 30 years in the newspaper industry. He had been serving as sports editor for the Sun Prairie Star, The (Waterloo/Marshall) Courier and The Cambridge News and Deerfield Independent. He previously held the same role for the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson.

In his new role, Seisser will oversee the sports departments at all 15 of the newspapers that comprise the APG Media of Southern Wisconsin group, including the Beloit Daily News, The (Janesville) Gazette, Watertown Daily Times and all of the former Hometown News publications.

Michelle Drew, who has served as an assistant editor of the Vilas County News-Review since 2019, has been named news editor of the paper. Her promotion comes following the retirement of longtime editor Gary Ridderbusch.

An Eagle River native, Drew has been with the News-Review since March 2017, when she joined as a part-time lifestyle editor.

Gary Mays, who a decade ago served as news editor of The Monroe Times has returned to the paper as a reporter.

A native of Rockford, Ill., Mays earned his bachelor's degree from Illinois State University, where he served as editor of The Daily Vidette student newspaper. He went on to work in both public relations and newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Wisconsin State Journal, The Journal-Standard in Freeport, Ill., The Daily Journal in Kankakee, Ill., and The Monroe Times. He served as news editor of the Times from August 2010 until September 2011. 

Gary Ridderbusch, who has led the (Eagle River) Vilas County News-Review newsroom for the past decade, has retired as editor.

Ridderbusch, an Abbotsford native and UW-Madison graduate, joined the News-Review staff in April 1985 as an assistant editor. He has remained with the newspaper ever since, moving up to top editor in January 2010 when then-editor Kurt Krueger was named publisher.

Larry Gallup has been named editor of The (Appleton) Post-Crescent, where he has worked for more than 29 years. He succeeds Jim Fitzhenry, vice president of news for USA TODAY NETWORK-Central Wisconsin. Fitzhenry had filled the position since December 2018, following the departure of Ed Berthiaume.

A UW-Madison graduate, Gallup started his career at the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune before moving on to the Wisconsin State Journal. In 1992, he accepted the position of sports editor with the Post-Crescent. He went on to serve as the newspaper's editorial page editor, as well as audience analyst, regional content strategist and consumer experience director for USA TODAY NETWORK-Central Wisconsin.

Tara Jones has been named managing editor for Wisconsin Media Group‘s suburban Madison publications. Jones will oversee the newsrooms at the Fitchburg Star, The Oregon Observer, The Stoughton Courier Hub and The Verona Press. She also will continue to serve as managing editor of the Sheboygan Sun.

Previously, Jones had served as a reporter for the Sun. She also held reporting roles at The Lima (Ohio) News and the Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green, Ohio. In 2015, Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University, where she served as sports editor for The BG News student newspaper.

Anne Trautner has left the Campbellsport News and Kewaskum Statesman, after serving as editor of the newspapers for a little more than a month, following the departure of Andrea Hansen Abler. Prior to that time, Trautner worked as a reporter for the newspaper. Trautner’s new roles will be as executive director of the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center and as town clerk for the town of Kewaskum. 

She will be succeeded by Mitchell Keller, who also serves as editor of the (Mayville) Dodge County Pionier. Keller has been with the Pionier since October 2018. Joining Keller on the news staff will be Clarice Case, a Mayville High School graduate who earned her bachelor’s degree from Lakeland University in December 2020.

Heather Graves has been named editor of The (Green Bay) Press Times. While new to the editor’s role, Graves started with the newspaper in April 2019 as a freelancer and became a full-time staff member in May 2021.

Prior to joining The Press Times, she worked for several news outlets, including three television stations in the Green Bay area and more than a dozen newspapers and magazines. Graves earned her bachelor’s degree from UW-Green Bay with an emphasis in print journalism before starting her career at the Green Bay News-Chronicle.

Ashley (Haynes) Smart has joined BizTimes Milwaukee as a reporter covering startups, technology and manufacturing. Smart previously worked for Conley Media as an education reporter for The (Waukesha) Freeman and, most recently, as managing editor of the (West Bend) Daily News and (Cedarburg) News Graphic.

A 2017 graduate of UW-Milwaukee, Smart worked in college for Media Milwaukee, the school's digital-first news publication. She also did freelance work for The Freeman while in school.