Member News

Pete Wicklund, managing editor of the Kenosha News, will retire this week after a 37-year career in journalism. Wicklund’s last day at the newspaper will be Friday, March 4. John Sloca, who has worked as deputy editor under Wicklund, will lead the newsroom as local news editor.

Wicklund has been managing editor of the News since October 2020. Prior to his time in Kenosha, he spent 21 years with The Journal Times. He started in the Burlington bureau and went on to serve as a police reporter, copy editor, photographer and assistant managing editor. Wicklund and his wife, Susan Shemanske, are part owners of the Washington Island Observer. 

Tannette Elie, a UW-Parkside lecturer and longtime journalist, has been named as the school's executive director of university relations.

In the role, Elie is the school's primary legislative liaison and public information officer. She also will serve as a member of the chancellor's cabinet and will lead the communications, branding and marketing efforts at UW-Parkside. Prior to her career in higher education, Elie spent 20 years as a reporter and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Jason Adrians, who has served as executive editor of the Wisconsin State Journal since September 2020, has been named vice president of local news for Lee Enterprises. Longtime city editor Phil Brinkman has been named interim editor while the newspaper searches for Adrians' replacement. 

In his new role, Adrians will be the top news executive for all Lee local news organizations, including the State Journal. He previously had held the role of national editor for Lee since January 2017.

Kevin O'Brien, longtime editor of The (Abbotsford) Tribune-Phonograph, is stepping down from the role. In a farewell column, O'Brien noted his decision was due to a personal medical issue. He said he hoped to continue his journalism career once his health is back on track.

O'Brien has served as Tribune-Phonograph editor since August 2008. During his time as editor, the newspaper won numerous awards in the WNA Foundation Better Newspaper Contest, including O'Brien's recent first-place honors for local column and general news photo.

Hannah Coyle, who joined the staff of the (Hudson) Star-Observer full-time in June, has a new beat covering the city of Hudson.

Coyle, who played a major role in O’Rourke Media Group’s efforts to relaunch the River Falls Journal as an online-only publication, previously covered the city of River Falls and Pierce County. She previously contributed as a freelancer for the group of papers along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. She also served as an intern for the newspapers in summer 2018, when they were still part of RiverTown Multimedia.

Craig Gilbert and Tom Haudricourt, veteran reporters of more than 70 combined years at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, each announced on Twitter this week their plans to retire from the newspaper.

Gilbert, the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief, has spent 35 years as a political reporter for the Journal Sentinel, covering every presidential campaign since 1988 and chronicling Wisconsin’s role as an important swing state in national elections. Through a fellowship with the Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center, he will be doing Wisconsin political analysis that will appear in the Journal Sentinel later this year. 

Haudricourt has spent the last 36 years covering the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball for the Journal Sentinel. He has won numerous awards for his work, including being named Wisconsin sportswriter of the year by the National Sports Media Association four times, including back-to-back honors in 2018 and 2019. 

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.