Newsmakers

Additions, promotions at Texas newspapers.

Nora Rollins, Colorado County Citizen
COLUMBUS – Nora Rollins has assumed duties as general manager of the Colorado County Citizen. The announcement was made by Daniel Philhower, vice president of operations for Granite Publications.
Rollins was office, sales and advertising manager for The Banner Press Newspaper from 1991 to 2017. Her family has owned a local construction company since 1977 and also owned a local restaurant for a number of years.
Rollins is active with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Historical Preservation Trust, the Pilot Club and church activities. She said she is happy to be back in the newspaper business.

Tressa Alley, Colorado County Citizen
COLUMBUS – Tressa Alley has joined the staff of the Colorado County Citizen as bookkeeper. A native of Columbus, she graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor of business administration in accounting.
Her experience includes working with AJ Strauss Company in Eagle Lake and LHTX by Leigh Hajovsky.
Alley said she has not worked for a newspaper previously and looks forward to “a new adventure.”

Alesia Woolridge, Colorado County Citizen
COLUMBUS – Veteran Colorado County journalist Alesia Woolridge has returned to the Colorado County Citizen as managing editor. She has been coordinating coverage for the newspaper since late July. 
The appointment was announced by Daniel Philhower, vice president of operations for Granite Publications.
Woolridge joined Nora Rollins, the new general manager, and Tressa Alley, the new bookkeeper, in leading the newspaper. 
An Eagle Lake native, Woolridge began her journalism career as an editorial assistant at the Eagle Lake headlight in 2009 following jobs in the healthcare field and as a psychology assistant for the State of Texas. She served as managing editor of the Headlight from 2014 to 2015 and as managing editor of the Citizen in 2016 and 2017.

Crystal Henry, The Boerne Star
BOERNE – Crystal Henry has joined the staff of The Boerne Star as general assignment reporter and staff writer, covering city, county and school district news. Managing editor Keith Dome announced the appointment.
A West Texas native, Henry is an honors graduate of the University of Florida. She has more than 13 years experience as a writer, editor, marketer and public relations specialist with Tower Publications and with her own business.
Since relocating to San Antonio in 2013, she has written for San Antonio Magazine, Rio Magazine and Helotes Magazine and has been editorial director for “Life at the Dominion.”

Kendall McCullough, The Post Dispatch
POST – Kendall McCullough is the new editor of The Post Dispatch. Publisher Chris Blackburn announced the appointment.
As editor/manager of the Post Dispatch, McCullough will help cover Post and Garza County as a writer and photographer. Originally from Lubbock, he graduated from Lubbock Christian University and attended graduate school at Baylor University. 

Ethan Nickel, Olney Enterprise
OLNEY – Ethan Nickel is the new editor of the Olney Enterprise. 
Nickel recently graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a minor in math and science. 
He was sports editor at The Southwestern newspaper, covering all SWOSU athletics, including the women’s basketball team, which was national champion runner-up this past season.
Since graduating from college, Nickel has been working as an intern for the Enterprise, covering sports and writing opinion articles.

Michelle Wulfson, The Huntsville Item
HUNTSVILLE – Michelle Wulfson was recently named lifestyles editor of the Huntsville Item.
Editor Joseph Brown announced the appointment. “She has extensive reporting knowledge in fashion, events and profile features, which is something that we will be expanding with The Item and Huntsville Living magazine,” Brown said.
A 2015 graduate of the Dan Rather School of Mass Communications at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Wulfson has covered education, community events and festivals throughout the state. She has experience in both print and broadcast media.
She started her career with The Houstonian, the student newspaper at Sam Houston State. She worked for two years as a freelance writer and photographer for The Eagle in Bryan and most recently served as a production assistant at KAGS News, working behind the scenes of live broadcasts.

Jamie Swinnerton, The Woodlands Villager
THE WOODLANDS – Jamie Swinnerton has joined the staff at The Woodlands Villager as a reporter.
The Denver, Colorado native graduated from Ithaca College in upstate New York in 2015 as a journalism major and with a minor in politics. 
After a tenure in freelancing and radio news, Swinnerton settled into a zone editor position at the Ithaca Times in Ithaca, New York. She joined The Villager staff after an 18-month stint as the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly in Tompkins County, New York.
At the Villager, Swinnerton is focused on covering education and community news with an interest in local politics.