Newsmakers

Staff changes, additions at Texas newspapers.

DINA ARÉVALO
Mid-Valley Town Crier
WESLACO – Seasoned Rio Grande Valley journalist Dina Arévalo is the new editor of the Mid-Valley Town Crier.
Arévalo graduated from Baylor University in 2004 and landed a job that same year at KRGV-TV as an associate producer and editor. 
She went on to work for the Valley Morning Star as a photojournalist from 2008 to 2013.
In 2014, she became editor of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, serving in a dual capacity as the editor of its sister weekly paper, the South Padre Parade. 
She covered local governments, school districts and crime during her time in the Laguna Madre area, as well as the energy industry and environmental news about local refuges and habitats.
During her time there, Arévalo reported on the first government entity to oppose the liquefied natural gas terminals for proposed construction at the Port of Brownsville, and has extensively reported on the subject since 2015. 
Her other coverage included breaking and in-depth reporting on the city of Port Isabel’s various legal issues involving former city employees, failed or delayed projects and a federal housing discrimination lawsuit. 
Areval’s appointment as editor was announced by Stephan Wingert, publisher of The Monitor and Mid-Valley Town Crier. 
He said Areval will continue staff efforts to provide extensive coverage of the Weslaco, Donna and Mercedes area, as well as Progreso and the Delta Lake communities.

MELISSA McCAGHREN
The Slatonite
SLATON – Melissa McCaghren is the new general manager of the Slatonite.
Publisher Bill Crist announced the appointment.
“Her career at community newspapers began at two other papers within our group and she did an outstanding job at the Brenham Banner-Press,” Crist said.
McCaghren is a 2001 graduate of West Texas A&M University, where she earned a degree in mass communication/print media. She is an award-winning photographer, having received 10 individual and 14 overall Texas Press Association awards for photography during her time at the Brenham Banner-Press, including honors first-place honors in sports and news photography.
She enjoys participating in community activities. She recently demonstrated leather tooling at the Texas Independence Day celebration at Washington-on-the-Brazos and juggled at Local History Day in Brenham.

MAX RUDOLPH
The Gatesville Messenger
GATESVILLE – Long time Central Texas College professor Max Rudolph joined the staff of The Gatesville Messenger as a reporter, rounding out the news team of editor Kaley Branch and reporter Ryan Coggins.
Rudolph, a native of Hamilton, joined the staff earlier this year. He retired from CTC in November, 2018, with a 47-year career in radio/television and higher education.
Rudolph was the chairman of the radio/television broadcasting department and also served as the general manager of the college-owned radio and TV stations, KNCT/KNCT FM.
He is a graduate of CTC with an associate degree and earned his bachelors and masters degrees from American Technological University, now Texas A&M Central Texas. In addition to his broadcasting career at CTC, he worked at radio stations in Albuquerque, NM, Commerce and Hamilton. 
Rudolph has ties to Gatesville as a former owner and operator of the Gatesville radio station, KRYL. His family moved to Gatesville in the early 1990s when he purchased KRYL. Both his children are graduates of Gatesville High School.
Rudolph was news director at the Commerce radio station and played a major role in local news coverage while at the Hamilton and Gatesville stations.

TAMMY VINSON
News-Telegram
SULPHUR SPRINGS – Tammy Vinson has joined the staff of the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram as a reporter.
The Sulphur Springs native and SSHS alumni is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in communications. She also earned a master’s degree in educational technology and leadership at Texas A&M University, Commerce. She worked in public relations and media communications and taught secondary English at schools in the Dallas area before venturing into journalism at her hometown newspaper.
Vinson will cover crime, court proceedings, county government and health care in addition to writing features and a weekly column, according to Managing Editor Jillian Smith, who announced the appointment.

BOBBY HORECKA
Yoakum Herald-Times, Shiner Gazette
YOAKUM – Bobby Horecka, a veteran newsman, college writing instructor and author, has joined the staff of the Yoakum Herald-Times and the Shiner Gazette.
He will serve as the Lavaca County reporter, focusing on coverage of communities outside the county seat, General Manager Kristie Bludau said.
Both Horecka and his wife Jennifer have close family ties to the area.
Horecka comes from Victoria, where he taught as an adjunct writing instructor at Victoria College while completing a master’s of fine arts degree in creative writing at the University of Houston/Victoria. As part of the requirements for the master’s degree, he wrote a book, “Long Gone & Lost: True Fictions and Other Lies,” which is under contract for publication by Madville Publishing, Lake Dallas, and is scheduled for release in early 2020.
Prior to his return to school, Horecka spent 25 years in journalism, working for newspapers across Texas as a writer, photographer, editor and publisher. He earned dozens of regional, state and national press accolades. His first book, Winds of Change, 2008, a pictorial history, was written while he was a staffer with Texas Farm Bureau’s publications in Waco during the organization’s 75th anniversary.
His first experience in the newspaper industry was with Kaspar Wire Works in Shiner making newspaper racks.

AURORA SAIN
Fort Stockton Pioneer
FORT STOCKTON – Aurora Sain has joined the staff of the Fort Stockton Pioneer as a reporter.
She is from Sacramento, Calf., where she worked at various newspapers. She began her career in Gardnerville, Nevada, after graduating from the University of Nevada in Reno.

ELSA CAVAZOS
Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN – Elsa Cavazos has succeeded Raul Garcia as police and crime reporter at the Valley Morning Star. She will also handle coverage of La Feria, Santa Rose and Rio Hondo.
Editor Lisa Seiser announced the appointment.
Cavazos graduated in December 2017 from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a minor in communication studies.
During college, she interned at the Tyler Morning Telegraph. She has written for other local newspapers as a freelancer.