Matt Anderson, who worked as an editor of Sentinel Publications from 2018 to 2020, is returning to the news group as editor of The (Osceola) Sun and (Scandia, Minn.) Country Messenger, the company has announced.

A native of Rockford, Illinois, Anderson earned a bachelor's degree in English from Carthage College in Kenosha. Since leaving Sentinel Publications in 2020, he has worked as a writer for Birdeye and Osceola-based extraktLAB.

Emily Pyrek, who has worked as a reporter at the La Crosse Tribune for more than seven years, is leaving the newspaper, she announced in a farewell column.

Pyrek, a graduate of UW-La Crosse with a degree in journalism, joined the Tribune in 2015 as a news clerk before moving up to general assignment reporter and later assuming the community health beat. In her new role, she will be working in community health, helping people seeking assistance with housing, health care, employment and other services in the La Crosse region.

Chris Mertes, who has served the Sun Prairie area as a reporter and editor for 33 years, has retired from his position as managing editor of the Sun Prairie Star, he announced in a farewell column. His last day was Thursday, June 8.

After earning his journalism degree in 1987 from UW-Eau Claire and spending a year as a reporter for The Clark County Press in Neilsville, Wisconsin, Mertes began his tenure with the Star on Sept. 5, 1989.

Jonathan Richie, who has worked as a reporter and editor in Wisconsin for the last decade, has joined the Oshkosh Herald staff as a general assignment reporter and assistant editor.

Most recently, Richie served as a reporter and photographer for the Portage Daily Register, where he covered city and county governments, small businesses and courts. Prior to that position, he was editor of the Burnett County Sentinel in Grantsburg. He's also written for Conley Media, Urban Milwaukee and Media Milwaukee, the student newspaper of UW-Milwaukee, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2015.