Member News

Reagan Hoverman has joined the reporting staff of the Inter-County Leader, where he will cover sports and general assignment news. He also will oversee the newspaper’s podcast, which highlights local news and sports.

A native of St. Croix Falls, Hoverman earned his journalism degree from UW-River Falls in spring 2020. During college, he worked at the student radio station, WRFW-FM, and the Student Voice newspaper.

Sarah Knieff is the newest member of the (Red Wing, Minn.) Republican Eagle news staff, the newspaper announced Thursday.

Knieff will cover several beats for the newspaper, including area school boards and the Goodhue County Board. A 2020 graduate, Knieff earned her journalism degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. While in school, she worked for The Bark student news organization and did freelance work for several publications.

O’Rourke Media Group has named Caleb Anderson vice president of sales for Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The group owns several Wisconsin newspapers, including the Ripon Commonwealth Press and the recently acquired (Hudson) Star-Observer and (Ellsworth/Red Wing, Minn.) Republican Eagle.

A Wisconsin native, Anderson most recently worked two years as a La Crosse-based regional sales manager for Lee Enterprises. 

Rich Jackson, who in May earned national attention as "The Homeless Editor," has been named editor and general manager of the Spooner Advocate and the (Hayward) Sawyer County Record.

A Wisconsin native and longtime newspaper veteran, Jackson grew up in Chippewa Falls and earned his journalism degree from UW-Eau Claire. While in college, he worked for The Spectator student newspaper and interned for the Leader-Telegram. He started his professional career in the 1990s with stints at the (Beaver Dam) Daily Citizen, (Wisconsin Rapids) Daily Tribune and the Wausau Daily Herald. 

Jackson succeeds Paul Mitchell, who held the same roles with the Advocate and Record before retiring late last year.

Richard Moore, an award-winning investigative reporter for The Lakeland Times, has published a book on transparency in Wisconsin’s state government.

The book, “Dark State: How Citizens Can Open the Doors to Wisconsin’s Closed Government,” was released Feb. 2 and is available on Amazon or through Moore’s website. Moore’s announcement describes the book as an urgent call to action to combat what he says is a “dangerous turn toward secrecy and censorship in Wisconsin state government.”

After 43 years in the industry, Kathy Potter is retiring from her role as general manager for several News Publishing Company weekly newspapers and shoppers, the company announced Wednesday.

A Black River Falls native, Potter got her start in the late 1970s selling ads for the Jackson County Shopper. In 1985, she left to start her own publication, The Shopper’s Choice.

She sold the shopper in 1989 to News Publishing Company, where she went on to oversee day-to-day operations of three weekly newspapers and a group of shoppers as general manager. Potter remained in the role until her retirement this week. Succeeding her as general manager will be Julie Iverson.

The Post-Crescent has named Brad Star as its consumer business reporter, the Appleton newspaper announced this week.

Star, who has been with the newspaper’s parent company since July 2019, introduced himself to readers in a column Wednesday. He succeeds Maureen Wallenfang, who left in late November.

A native of the Milwaukee area, Star earned his bachelor’s degree from Beloit College in 2019, where he majored in business economics and served as news editor and editor-in-chief of The Round Table student newspaper. After graduating, he joined USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin as a producer.