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Newsmakers

Staff changes at Texas newspapers.

DEBBIE KEITH
Galveston County Daily News
GALVESTON – The Daily News recently announced the promotion of Debbie Keith to advertising director.
Keith will handle day-to-day management of the newspaper’s display and classified advertising staffs, develop and negotiate major and national accounts and focus on new product development in both print and digital publications, said Leonard Woolsey, president and publisher of The Daily News.
She also will oversee the creative services department, which produces Coast Monthly, as well as more than a half-dozen other magazine titles.
“I am thrilled to have Debbie take this key role for us at The Daily News,” Woolsey said. 
“Debbie is not only a talented, hard-working professional, but highly regarded by both our staff and clients.”
Keith came to work for The Daily News in September 1993 as a classified sales representative. 
By November 2007, she had worked her way through the ranks to become retail advertising manager, the post she held until her promotion.
“I love this newspaper, the staff and clients,” Keith said. “I am excited to work alongside everyone to help create the best community newspaper for Galveston County.”
She and her husband, Tim, live in Dickinson.

JEN GUADARRAMA
San Angelo Standard-Times
SAN ANGELO – Jen Guadarrama, 37, is the newly appointed news director of the Standard-Times.
She succeeds Michael Kelly, who retired. As news director, she will be in charge of all newsroom operations.
She comes to San Angelo from Corpus Christi, where she has been a senior editor in charge of breaking news and daily news coverage for the Caller-Times, leading the paper’s Happening Now initiative. 
Before joining the Caller-Times in 2013, Guadarrama worked for the Del Rio News-Herald, where she was a staff reporter and copy editor before being promoted to managing editor in 2011.
She played a key role in a major investigative project by the Caller-Times on the correlation between domestic violence and homicides. The project, “Behind Broken Doors,” won the 2016 Community Service Award from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and continues to drive efforts among law enforcement and community agencies to address the problem.
An emphasis on breaking news — “getting news to readers when they need it” — will be part of her focus, she said.
The Standard-Times’ emphasis on covering issues involving water and the energy industry are familiar territory, she noted. She has experience from west and south Texas and the coast in watching the oil and gas industry, and her family owns a small ranch near San Saba, giving her first-hand background on water issues.
Standard-Times president Jeff DeLoach said he was pleased to welcome a West Texan to the newsroom post, noting that Guadarrama’s experience in both small and mid-size markets, along with her regional roots, will serve the newsroom and the community well.

JANNICE GRIFFIN
Quanah Tribune-Chief
QUANAH – Jannice Griffin, long time resident of Quanah, has begun her second tenure as editor of the Quanah Tribune-Chief. 
Griffin first served as editor from 1980 until 1991. For 27 years, she taught English, reading and art at Quanah ISD. Following her retirement from teaching in 2016, she rejoined the Quanah Tribune-Chief staff part time. She also writes a popular column, “Echoes.”
As editor, she joins staff member LaCresha Jackson in providing local coverage for Quanah and Hardeman County. Payton McCormick will continue his role as regional editor of the Quanah Tribune-Chief.
Griffin is a graduate of Quanah High School and continued her education at Abilene Christian University, where she earned a bachelor of science in elementary education, along with several teaching certifications. She and her late husband of 45 years, Charles, were also owners of Rock Hill Arms and Mercantile, and she owns J’s Jumping Jackrabbit, an original candy bouquet business. 
Their children include Russell Griffin, tax-assessor for Quanah ISD, and Cheri McVay, a resident of Fayetteville, Tenn., where she is a teacher.

CHRIS FROST
The Sealy News
SEALY – Chris Frost is the new managing editor of the Sealy News.
He came to Sealy from Lamar, Colorado, where he started his tenure as the city editor of the Lamar Ledger and was eventually promoted to publisher. 
Previously, Frost worked as the editor of the Anaheim Independent, Cypress Event News and Buena Park Independent in California. His Golden State adventure began in Compton at The Bulletin Weekly, where he was recognized by the California state legislature for his city and feature reporting skills. During his tenure at KVAY Radio, he received the 2011 Community Health Champion Award from the Colorado Community Health Network. 
Frost and his wife of 18 years, Janis, have two sons, Travis, an engineer with the Lamar Fire Department, and Colin, a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force serving in Okinawa, Japan. 

KIMBERLY RUBIO
Unvalde Leader-News
UVALDE – Kimberly Rubio has been named assistant editor of the Uvalde Leader-News. 
Rubio joined the editorial team as a staff writer in July of 2012, after previously working as Uvalde Leader-News receptionist beginning in December of 2010. 
From 2012 until June of 2013, Rubio covered the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. During the summer of 2013, she took on the city, crime and court beats as well as a variety of feature stories. 
Earlier this month, she won first place in the semiweekly division for news writing and feature writing when the South Texas Press Association announced awards at the 91st annual convention and newspaper contest. She also placed second in the journalist of the year category, which encompasses semiweekly and weekly publications in South Texas. 
As assistant editor, Rubio will continue her present reporting duties in tandem with editing assignments from managing editor Meghann Garcia. 
“Kimberly has developed into a talented reporter with a nose for where to find and how to develop both breaking news and feature stories. She is a poster child for how far one can go with a love for reading married with a tremendous work ethic,” said Leader-News publisher Craig Garnett. “I feel confident that the new editing role will help her to grow as a journalist.” 
Rubio is a 2007 graduate of Uvalde High School.

DELANIE TRIGG
Muenster Enterprise
MUENSTER – Delania Trigg has been named the editor of the Muenster Enterprise and the Lindsay Letter, according to publisher Austin Lewter.
Her duties include covering news and local events for both the Enterprise and the Letter. She replaces long-time writer Janet Felderhoff, who announced her retirement last month.
Trigg will share the weekly production duties with fellow Enterprise staff members Janie Hartman, Linda Flusche and Delaney Pierce.
Trigg is a native of Era. A resident of Lindsay, she is the mother of three adult children, Dylan Robertson, Trevor Trigg and Kirsten Trigg. She worked her way from reporter to managing editor at the Gainesville Daily Register. Prior to her decade at the Register, Trigg also worked at the Sanger News. She is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University, where she earned a degree in English.

Lauren Corbell
The Paris News
PARIS – Lauren Corbell has been named managing editor of The Paris News, Publisher J.D. Davidson announced.
She succeeds Anna Rae Gwarjanski, who is moving to Minot, N.D. with her fiancé, who is serving in the U.S. Air Force.
Corbell has been city editor for The Paris News since November 2016 and a staff writer and designer since 2013. 
➤ NEWSMAKERS, PAGE 10

She worked in The Paris News' advertising department for three years before that.
Noting she had trained under both Gwarjanski and previous managing editor Connie Beard, Corbell said she looks forward to leading newsroom in providing community coverage for readers of The Paris News.

APRIL TOWERY
The Sealy News
SEALY – April Towery has joined The Sealy News as a reporter covering education, sports and general assignments. 
Towery, 40, studied journalism at Texas A&M University, where she wrote for and edited numerous sections of the student newspaper, The Battalion. 
She went on to cover executions for The Huntsville Item and served as a graphic designer and copy editor for The Daily
Herald in McDonough, Ga., before a promotion to municipal government reporter and, later, managing editor. 
Most recently, she has worked for The Madisonville Meteor and Community Impact Newspaper in Katy. 
She has been recognized by her peers with numerous awards from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and Texas Press Association. 

ADAMS
LUFKIN – After 25 years with The Lufkin News, Andy Adams is stepping down as editor to join the Lufkin Independent School District. 
Adams first worked for the Lufkin News as a sports stringer while attending Lufkin High School, taking calls, designing pages, and eventually covering and photographing Lufkin Panther games.  He graduated from LHS in 1988.
He attended Angelina College, where he wrote for The Pacer before enrolling at the University of Texas at Arlington as a journalism major. While at UT Arlington, he worked as a sports writer and later the sports editor of The Shorthorn newspaper. 
Adams briefly worked in the sports department of The Dallas Morning News and served for about two years as the sports editor of the Lewisville News before joining the Lufkin News in 1996 as a city and county reporter. He later became the sports editor and then city editor; he became the managing editor in May 2005 and was promoted to editor in February 2007. 
Adams has won multiple awards from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and the North & East Texas Press Association. He was part of the team that won the 1996 Gov. James M. Cox Public Service Award for a series of news stories, editorials and public opinion polls about the Angelina County commissioners giving themselves 26 percent raises, which were later rescinded. 
Adams said he’s especially proud of an award he won this year, the APME Star Photojournalist of the Year. 
Among the major local stories he covered were hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Lufkin High School state soccer championship in 2015 and the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, when debris from the craft was scattered across East Texas. 
Adams will become the Lufkin High School yearbook adviser, as well as the district webmaster and photographer. His wife, Sheila, is the district’s director of communications. They have two sons attending Lufkin ISD schools.