Member News

Tom LaVenture, a veteran of more than 20 years in the newspaper industry, has been named managing editor of the Price County Review. Most recently, LaVenture spent two years as a staff writer for The Daily Globe in Ironwood, Mich. He previously held reporting roles at The Jamestown (N.D.) Sun, The Garden Island newspaper in Lihue, Hawaii, and The Daily Journal in International Falls, Minn.

Matt Bablick and Dawn Damrow also recently joined the newspaper as multimedia account executives.

Nealy Corcoran has been named editor of The (Osceola, Wis.) Sun and (Scandia, Minn.) Country Messenger. She began work on Nov. 3.

Corcoran previously was a contributing writer for the Country Messenger and the Stillwater (Minn.) Gazette, as well as the (Saint Paul, Minn.) Growler and (Eau Claire) Volume One magazines. She succeeds C.L. Sill, who accepted a position with Pheasants Forever in September.

Steve Clark, a veteran journalist with nearly three decades of newspaper experience, has joined the Oshkosh Herald as a staff writer and production editor. 

Clark, a UW-Whitewater graduate, is a Berlin native and current Oshkosh resident. He joins the Herald after having spent his career at newspapers including the Beloit Daily News, Berlin Journal Newspapers, and several Gannett-owned newspapers, including the Oshkosh Northwestern, The (Fond du Lac) Reporter, The Sheboygan Press and the (Manitowoc) Herald Times Reporter.

After 31 years in the Janesville newsroom, reporter Frank Schultz has retired from The Gazette, he announced in a column this week.

A 1986 UW-Madison journalism graduate, Schultz got his start in newspapers as a reporter at The Boscobel Dial. After later working for The Daily Item in Sunbury, Pa., he returned to Wisconsin in 1990 when he joined The Gazette.

Nathaniel Shuda, editor of the Oshkosh Northwestern since 2017, has been named editor of The (Fond du Lac) Reporter. He will oversee both newsrooms as former editor Taima Kern moves to a new role with The (Appleton) Post-Crescent, where she will lead a team of regional business reporters.

A UW-Eau Claire graduate and veteran journalist of 13 years with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Shuda started as a reporter for his hometown (Wisconsin Rapids) Daily Tribune before joining the Northwestern as a reporter in 2014.

In a third staffing change, the network also announced that Kevin Dittman will take on a new role overseeing the group's night news operations and non-daily publications. Dittman, a UW-Oshkosh graduate, has been with the newspaper group for nearly 30 years. 

Trevor Greene and Kelly Holm are the two newest reporters in The Lakeland Times newsroom.

Born and raised in the Milwaukee area, Greene graduated from Pewaukee High School before earning his bachelor's degree in English from UW-Milwaukee. The job is his first in newspapers.

Holm, also a Wisconsin native, earned her bachelor's degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., where she studied English and creative writing. While in college, she also wrote for the school's student newspaper, The Oracle. She previously served as an intern for The (Osceola) Sun. 

Jim Johnson, a longtime Iowa newspaper manager, has joined O'Rourke Media Group.

Johnson will serve as managing editor for five publications, two of which are online-only. They include the (Hudson) Star-Observer and River Falls Journal in Wisconsin and the Cannon Falls Beacon, Hastings Star Gazette and (Red Wing) Republican Eagle in Minnesota. The Republican Eagle also serves Ellsworth across the border in Wisconsin.

He fills the role vacated by Anne Jacobson, who left in September to become communications manager for Red Wing Public Schools. Jacobson had been with the company for 20 years, serving as editor of the Republican Eagle and later as news director.

Andrea Hansen Abler, editor of the Campbellsport News and Kewaskum Statesman, announced last week that she was leaving the two eastern Wisconsin newspapers. Her last day was Friday, Oct. 8. She had been with the Campbellsport paper for more than 17 years and with the Statesman for the last six years. Both newspapers are published by Multi Media Channels.

In a farewell column to readers, Abler noted she would continue to help the newspapers on a part-time basis until her replacement has been found. She also recalled the most memorable events she had covered during her tenure with the newspapers and encouraged readers to be patient and help however they can during the transition period following her departure.

Mitchell Keller has been named editor of the Dodge County Pionier. He fills the role vacated by Karen Rouse, who remains with the Pionier as a contributor. He also will continue to serve as sports editor for the newspaper.

Keller graduated in 2012 from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in journalism and film. He went on to serve as a programming intern for the Milwaukee Film Festival, a production intern for NFL Films, director of media and communications for the Melbourne Aces, a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League, and a correspondent for Major League Baseball. He has been a member of the Pionier news staff since October 2018 and previously worked in sales for its sister papers, the Campbellsport News and Kewaskum Statesman.