Newsmakers

Staff changes, additions at Texas Newspapers.

Steve Riley
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON – Steve Riley, who has led award-winning investigations and projects at the Houston Chronicle since November 2017, has been named the newspaper’s top editor.
New York-based Hearst, the Chronicle’s parent company, announced May 16 that Riley will lead the paper as executive editor. He had served as interim editor since Oct. 30 after former executive editor Nancy Barnes resigned to become senior vice president for news at National Public Radio.
Among the investigative projects Riley has led at the Chronicle are “Abuse of Faith,” which revealed widespread sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches; “Broken Trust,” which exposed mismanagement in the Texas Permanent School Fund, the largest school endowment in the country; and “The Track,” a deep examination of the rampant sex trade in an area of Houston known as the Bissonnet Track.
Before joining the Chronicle, he spent more than 30 years at The News & Observer in Raleigh, NC. There, he served as senior editor for investigations, deputy managing editor, metro editor, sports editor, government editor and reporter.
Riley is a graduate of the University of Mississippi. He began his career in Mississippi as a reporter for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, The Sun in Gulfport and the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo. Over the years, his investigative teams have won more than a dozen national awards.

Ryan J. Rusak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth – Ryan J. Rusak, a Fort Worth resident with more than 20 years of Texas journalism experience, is the new opinion editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Rusak spent 19 years with The Dallas Morning News after his graduation from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. He held several positions during his tenure with The News, including political editor from 2007 to 2017. 
Colleen McCain Nelson, opinion editor for McClatchy, the Star-Telegram’s parent company, announced the appointment. 
Rusak replaced Michael Ryan, who accepted a position on the opinion team with the Kansas City Star, also owned by McClatchy.

Nick Castillo
San Marcos Daily Record
San Marcos – Nick Castillo, sports editor for the San Marcos Daily Record, has been named interim managing editor. 
The sports vacancy left by Castillo is filled by Drew King, who joined the staff one year ago.
Publisher Lance Winter announced the changes.
Castillo joined the Daily Record three years ago. He came to San Marcos from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a bachelor of journalism degree. Castillo previously worked for the San Antonio Express-News and The Dallas Morning News. As a student, he spent three years working for The Daily Texan. 
King joined the Daily Record nearly a year ago. He also came to San Marcos from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a bachelor of journalism degree. He worked at The Daily Texan for two years, including a year as a senior sports reporter. He’s had bylines featured in The Dallas Morning News and Women’s Hoops Word. He interned for KRWR 92.1 FM ‘The Team’ in Tyler. 

Michelle Stroud
The Fort Bend Herald
ROSENBERG – Michelle Stroud is the new circulation director for the Fort Bend Herald.
She replaced Ron Depuy. 
As circulation director, Stroud oversees the delivery of the Herald to homes and businesses six days a week. She said customer satisfaction is her No. 1 goal.
A native of Dallas, Stroud has been a resident of Rosenberg since childhood. She said she looks forward to developing good working relationships with staff and subscribers.

Megan Hempel
Corsicana Daily Sun
CORSICANA – Megan Hempel has joined the Corsicana Daily Sun as assistant editor.
She was previously assistant editor of the Freestone County Times.
The appointment was announced by Jake Mienk, publisher, and Michael Kormos, editor of the Daily Sun.
Hempel is the second generation of her family to work in the newspaper industry. She has spent 17 years in the business, seven professionally, and has worked in all aspects of community newspaper work from sales through editorial.
She has won awards in the Texas Better Newspaper Contest for her work in advertising.

QUINTEN BOYD
News-Telegram
SULPHUR SPRINGS – Veteran East Texas sports journalist Quinten Boyd has joined the staff of the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram as sports editor.
Interim publisher Don Moore announced the appointment.
For the past 10 years, Boyd has worked at the Cherokeean Herald in Rusk, where he served as editor and sports editor. He also provided the play-by-play voice for high school sports and did public address announcing in Rusk, Jacksonville, Alto, Wells and New Summerfield.
While serving as sports editor at the Cherokeean, Boyd created the newspaper’s annual football magazine, overseeing the magazine’s first six editions.
A native of Naples, Boyd is a 2007 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches and covered collegiate sports at Texas Christian University and the University of North Texas.

John Pacheco
Dripping Springs Century-News
DRIPPING SPRINGS – Dripping Springs Century-News editor John Pacheco has been promoted to executive editor.
Publisher Lance Winter announced the promotion, noting that in the last year, the Century-News has launched a new website while continuing to play a pivotal role in publishing special products such as the Dripping Springs Chamber Directory and spring and fall Visitors Guides for the Dripping Springs Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The Century-News has added online content to supplement the printed edition, and the newspaper has increased presence on social media.
Pacheco has lived in Dripping Springs for more than 25 years. After retiring from his business career, Pacheco said he sought the position with the newspaper in 2016 to have a platform from which to interact with the community and “shine the spotlight on the good people do locally.”

Shelli Parker
Athens Daily Review
ATHENS – Shelli Parker, a professional photographer, has joined the staff of the Athens Daily Review as a staff photographer and reporter.
Editor Paul Bryant announced the appointment.
A native of Fort Worth, Parker said she has studied photography since she was a teen. She has studied with several top photographers in a variety of studio settings. In addition, she has run her own photography business for 20 years.
Bryant said Parker’s addition to the staff will help the newspaper increase use of multi-media components in both print and digital formats.

Amber Lollar
The Henderson News
HENDERSON – Amber Lollar recently joined the marketing department staff of the Henderson Daily News.
Publisher Dan Moore made the announcement, noting that Lollar is a longtime Rusk County resident. 
She returned to the newspaper industry after 10 years in a management role within private corrections. 

Garrett McGinley
Gonzales Inquirer
GONZALES – Garrett McGinley, a December 2018 graduate of Texas State University in San Marcos, has joined the staff of the Gonzales Inquirer as news reporter.
He will cover city, county and school events for the newspaper.
While attending Texas State, he wrote for the school newspaper, the University Star, and for the San Antonio Current.
McGinely’s appointment was announced by Publisher Terry Fitzwater.

Amy Gonzales
Silsbee Bee
SILSBEE – Amy Gonzales has joined the staff of The Silsbee Bee as advertising representative.
Publisher Danny Renee announced the appointment.
Originally from Beaumont and raised in Kountze, Gonzales has experience in utility billing with the City of Kountze and as a physical therapy technician.
She says she looks forward to building business relationships and helping customers create effective advertising.

Sara Gabel
The Hereford Brand
HEREFORD – Sara Gabel has joined the staff of The Hereford Brand as news reporter.
She comes from the Brand’s sister newspaper, The County-Star News in Shamrock. The appointment was announced by Jeff Blackmon, owner and publisher of both newspapers.
Originally from Dumas, Gabel has an associate degree with plans to complete a bachelor of science in education next spring. She and her husband recently relocated to Adrian.

Madie Wilson
County Star-News
SHAMROCK – Madie Wilson is the new reporter for The County Star News, covering events in Wheeler County.
The appointment was announced by Publisher Jeff Blackmon.
Wilson comes to Shamrock from the Red River Sun in Childress. She relocated to Shamrock ahead of her upcoming wedding. The newlyweds plan to make their home in Shamrock.
Wilson will take on the duties of Sara Gabel, who accepted a position at the Hereford Brand newspaper after her husband accepted a new position in Vega.
“It is really great to be able to have people like Sara and Madie working at our newspapers … they really care about doing a good job covering communities in the Panhandle,” Blackmon said.

Paul Gaudette
The Dublin Citizen
DUBLIN – Longtime staff writer Paul Gaudette has been promoted to managing editor of the Dublin Citizen.
The promotion was announced by Brett Wesner, owner of the Citizen.
Gaudette joined the Citizen staff in 2008 as staff writer, working with former publisher Mac Mckinnon.
A Dublin native, Gaudette is a 2007 graduate of Tarleton State University.
In addition to his work at the paper, he is active in the community. He serves on the Chamber of Commerce board of directors and the Dublin Public Library Board.