Barry Alexander has been named manager of the Baird Star. He is a veteran newspaper employee.

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G. Zulema Baez Ahumada has joined The Brownsville Herald and El Nuevo Heraldo staff as the first director of Spanish publications. Baez also will serve as managing editor. Originally from Sinaba, Mexico, Baez moved to the United States in 2003 and joined parent company Freedom Communications in 2004.

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Anita Cavazos retired Sept. 15 as society editor for the Jackson County Herald-Tribune, after a 30-year career entirely at the newspaper. She started in 1969 in composition but left in 1970 only to return around 1974 after having a child. She was promoted to society editor in 1987.

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LaDonna Click joined the staff of The Brownfield News as a news and sports writer. Click replaces Mitch Word, who took a similar position in Levelland. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in communication studies in May 2005.

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Kristy Davies joined the Copperas Cove Leader-Press as managing editor. Davies came from Augusta, Ga., where she was an editorial assistant for the military newspaper on Fort Gordon.

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Joey Dean, a junior news-editorial major in the Division of Journalism at Texas A&M University-Commerce, is editor-in-chief of the college’s The East Texan. Dean has worked for The Paris News and this academic year received the News’ scholarship at A&M-Commerce.

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Doug Dodson left the Houston Chronicle as education reporter to come back to the Williamson County Sun as sports editor. Dodson headed the sports section from August 1999 to August 2001. Dodson also has worked at the Huntsville Item, The Facts in Clute, Clear Lake Citizen and Alvin Sun.

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Alexa Duke has been promoted to news editor at the Henderson Daily News. She joined the Daily News staff as a general assignments reporter and society editor in 2003.

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Jim Fredricks has been named publisher of The Courier in Conroe. Previously, he served as the editor and general manager of the Courier for 10 years. He came to the Courier from the Denton Record-Chronicle, where he had been a reporter, copy editor and city editor.

Fredericks replaced Robb Reeves who left Houston Community Newspapers to move to Wichita, Kan., where he purchased three weekly newspapers.

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Brad Hagstrom joined the Corpus Christi Caller-Times as vice president of advertising, leading a staff of 70. He brings 21 years of experience and has led advertising staffs at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Austin American-Statesman.

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Jessica Hawley, a reporter for The Bandera Bulletin, married Dennis Jerome on Aug. 26. They had a honeymoon on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

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The Hill Country News in Cedar Park welcomed new editor Scott McDonald, and new staff writer Ashley Richards.

McDonald comes from The Dallas Morning News. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Richards comes from San Marcos where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Texas State University and worked at The University Star.

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Houston Community Newspapers announced two staff changes.

Clayton Harris is the new regional director for the North group of HCN and will manage and oversee all administrative duties for The Courier in Conroe, Cleveland Advocate and several of the group’s other publications.

Lane Smith joined HCN as manager of online development. Smith most recently worked for the Houston Chronicle as lead designer and production supervisor for advertising and marketing projects for the online division.

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The Jewett Messenger announced three staff changes.

Kristy Vandegriff joined the staff. She has worked in childcare management for 15 years and was a stay at home mom for two years.

Jeff Zientek will cover football. He works full time at, the TDC Gurney Unit near Palestine as an access to courts coordinator.

Mitchell Pate, a senior at Buffalo High School, will cover volleyball games as well as take pictures for football and volleyball.

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Rachel Levine has joined The Madisonville Meteor staff as city reporter, replacing Chris Perez, who returned to San Antonio. Levine attended Texas A&M University and Sam Houston State University to pursue a journalism degree.

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The Llano News added two new staff members — sports writer Chuck Licata and photographer Tom Suarez. Licata was most recently the editor/sports editor at the free paper Llano Buzz. Suarez also worked at the Buzz.

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Kenda Nelson, editor of the Refugio County Press, received a School Bell Award for Outstanding Media Coverage of Education News from District 3 of the Texas Retired Teachers Association, which includes all newspapers in the district from Refugio to Wharton. Nelson also won the local club’s School Bell Award.

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Enrique Rangel, whose journalism career spans 24 years, has been named to oversee the new Austin news bureau for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and Amarillo Globe-News, both owned by Morris Communications. He spent nine years in Mexico reporting for The Dallas Morning News.

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Andrea See joined the newsroom of the Aransas Pass Progress and Ingleside Index. She replaced reporter Carol Munroe. Also John Morgan joined the staff as ad salesman.

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Mac Shadix joined The Buffalo Press as a photojournalist. He has worked for the Brownsville Herald, The Bay City Tribune, The Bryan Eagle and the Nacogdoches Sentinel.

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Jennifer Tavlian joined The Kaufman Herald after working last year as a marketing communication graduate intern with the Denver Broncos. In 2005, she graduated from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications.

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Jeff Tucker joined the Nueces County Record-Star as its new managing editor. Tucker has 10 years of experience and most recently was the crime reporter for two years at The Derrick in Oil City, Pa.

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The Taylor Daily Press hired two new staff members.

Melissa Kanz joined as a general assignment reporter and Scott Joiner is the new sports reporter.

Kanz graduated from Texas State University with a degree in public relations in May.

Joiner grew up in Houston and spent the past five years in Arlington before coming to Taylor.

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Two new reporters joined the staff of The Community News in Aledo.

Daniel Brannigan and Lindsay Marshall were hired after Jenny Clawson moved to Denver with her husband.

Brannigan worked at a Nantucket, Mass., weekly and for the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., before moving to Texas in July.

Marshall received her master’s in journalism from the University of North Texas in December 2004.

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Victory Publishing welcomed several new faces to The River Cities Daily Tribune in Marble Falls and its other publications.

Managing editor Thomas Edwards assumed management duties. His wife Florence Edwards took over as production manager.

Other new staff members include Kristen McLaughlin, Chris Porter as news editor, and Seth Green. In the production department new staffers are Austin Fletcher, Michael Covington, Lonnie Brown, Shawn Groves, James Rutherford and Lori Dennis.

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Jennigale Webb, a senior at La Grange High School, joined the Fayette County Record as a part-time columnist and reporter.

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Paul Whitworth completed 30 years as publisher and editor of the Raymondville Chronicle and Willacy County News, which he bought in 1976. He began his newspaper career at the Temple Daily Telegram in 1961. He also was assistant retail advertising manager at the Houston Post.

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Mitch Word became sports editor of the Levelland & Hockley County News-Press to replace Jennifer Moore Adkins. Word began his newspaper career with the News-Press in 1987. Most recently he was sports editor of the Brownfield News.

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Larry Zelisko has been promoted to assistant managing editor for enterprise/projects for the Abilene Reporter-News, where has spent his entire career, starting in 1979.