Donna Nickel, the Sawyer County Record's lake columnist for the Spider Lake News, has penned her last column for the newspaper.

Nickel, a Cleveland native, has been writing the column — "leaving her unique stamp of whimsy, humor and insight on a column devoted to community news, stories, events, weather, anniversaries and birthdays" — since Jan. 8, 2014. During the last eight years, it has developed a devoted following.

Mike Johnson, sports editor for the Kenosha News since 2018, announced in his farewell column Sunday that he will be leaving the newspaper.

Johnson joined the Kenosha News as a sports reporter in 2004, shortly after graduting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he worked at the Badger Herald student newspaper. At the News, he covered countless high school regional and sectional games, and many state championships — as well as the NFC Championship Game that turned out to be Brett Favre’s last as a Green Bay Packer.

Alexandra Steussy-Williams, former assistant editor for Lee Enterprises' Madison based Agri-View, is the new Natural Resources Communications Specialist with University of Wisconsin-Extension, the newspaper reports.

In October 2013 — just eight months after joining Agri-View as an intern — Steussy-Williams was named the newspaper's assistant editor. After the work inspired her to dive into the confluence of conservation and agriculture,  she left the newspaper to pursue a master’s degree in agroecology at UW-Madison. In her new role she works specifically on Grassland 2.0, a collaboration of farmers, academics, Extension professionals and others who work to develop pathways for farmers to increase profits, yields, and efficiency.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel statehouse reporter Patrick Marley will join The Washington Post in the newly created position of democracy reporter for the Upper Midwest, The Post reported Thursday.

Marley will focus on how state and local officials navigate pressures on the administration of elections, while tracking legislative and legal battles over voting rules and access to the polls. He also will be responsible for telling the stories of those who have lost faith in the electoral process, according to the announcement, which noted his reporting will focus on Wisconsin, Michigan and other parts of the Upper Midwest.