Member News

John Halverson, a longtime journalist and former general manager of the Lake Geneva Regional News, last week won re-election to the Lake Geneva city council, the newspaper reported.

A journalist for more than 40 years, Halverson served as general manager of the Regional News from 2008 to 2014. He also was a member of the WNA Foundation Board from May 2016 to June 2017.

Samantha Yocius, a graphic designer for TP Printing, is leaving the company this week.

Reporter Ross Pattermann noted her departure in a column, saying goodbye and wishing her good luck. Yocius started in July 2019 and spent nearly two years with the company, which publishes The (Abbotsford) Tribune-Phonograph, The (Edgar) Record-Review and the (Loyal) Tribune Record Gleaner.

Reporter Luke Reimer has joined the NEW Media news staff, and will cover Shawano County for the news group. Reimer also writes about pro and college sports for the Wisconsin-based sports website Flurry Sports.

Warren Bluhm, interim editor-in-chief, said in the announcement that Reimer’s “invaluable” digital experience made him an ideal fit for NEW Media. The group, which publishes the Shawano Leader, Oconto County Times Herald and Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News, is working to grow its online news coverage.

Greg Marsten, a veteran journalist and Minneapolis native, has been named editor of the Burnett County Sentinel. He replaces Jonathan Richie, who left the Sentinel to join the Portage Daily Registernewsroom.

Most recently, Marsten spent nearly 12 years with the (Frederic) Inter-County Leader as a reporter and photographer. Since starting his reporting career at age 15 with KBEM-FM in Minneapolis, Marsten estimates he has worked for five radio stations, five newspapers, three magazines, and has been published in a dozen other periodicals.

After nine years with the newspaper, assistant editor Anna Maria Hansen is leaving the (Phillips) Price County Review.

Hansen, whose last day with the Review will be Friday, wrote about her departure in a farewell column. She recalled her start as a reporter for The Phillips Bee, which later merged with the Park Falls Herald to become the Price County Review.

Sid Schwartz, editor of The Gazette and regional editor for Adams Publishing Group, will retire next month, the Janesville newspaper announced Thursday.

Schwartz has led The Gazette newsroom for the past six years, and last year added regional editor responsibilities for APG, overseeing its southern Wisconsin newspapers. He also took over in November as editor of the Beloit Daily News following the retirement of longtime editor Bill Barth.

Alex Anderson has been named advertising manager for the Washington Island Observer. A UW-Madison graduate with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, Anderson has worked part-time for the Observer as an office assistant and social media consultant.

Anderson takes over the position vacated by Zuzka Krueger, who had served in the role since 2016. Krueger is credited by the Observer with growing the number and scope of the newspaper’s advertisers during her tenure.

Christina Wierichs-Kimball has joined the Wausau Pilot & Review as an advertising sales representative.

An Appleton native, Wierichs-Kimball attended UW-Whitewater and has lived in the Wausau area for more than two decades. She has extensive experience in media sales, fundraising and organizing promotional events. She will be the main point of contact for local businesses looking to advertise with the Pilot & Review, an online-only nonprofit news organization.

Warren Bluhm has been named interim editor-in-chief for NEW Media.

He fills the role vacated by Carol Ryczek, who had held the position since September 2018.  Bluhm joined the company in March 2017, serving as editor of the Oconto County Times Herald. He previously served as managing editor of the Green Bay News-Chronicle, opinion editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and editor of the Door County Advocate in Sturgeon Bay.