After a year of primarily remote work, Unified Newspaper Group is consolidating in-person operations into its downtown Oregon office.

The move will close the group’s longtime Verona headquarters and move all four newspapers to 156 N. Main St., Oregon. UNG publishes The Verona Press, The Oregon Observer, The Stoughton Courier Hub and the Fitchburg Star. UNG general manager Jim Ferolie said in the announcement that consolidating will reduce the group’s facility costs by about 90%.

Benjamin Pierce is the newest member of the Unified Newspaper Group reporting staff. He will cover sports and community news.

Pierce previously spent two years with The (Janesville) Gazette as an education reporter, while covering sports part-time. A La Crosse native, he was a sportswriter for nearby Lee Enterprises’ weekly newspapers while attending Western Technical College. He later attended UW-Whitewater, where he served as assistant news editor and managing editor of the Royal Purple student newspaper. 

Hallie Chasensky is joining the Amery Free Press advertising staff, the newspaper announced Tuesday.

Chasensky will serve as a multimedia sales consultant for the Free Press. She will succeed Pam Humpal, who plans to retire from the newspaper this summer. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Chasensky earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing communications from UW-River Falls.

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.