People and Papers

New Louisville call center to handle customer complaints

Gannett Co. Inc., parent company of The Courier-Journal,will open a 240-job customer service call center in the newspaper's building, the state announced.

Gannett plans to refurbish 14,732 square feet of space that was vacated in 2004 when The Courier-Journal began using new printing presses.

Rob Althaus, Gannett vice president of circulation, said the new operation will serve up to 33 Gannett-owned newspapers and calls.

Employees will handle calls about late or missing newspapers, vacation stops and other circulation issues.

Gannett is consolidating its newspaper customer-service departments into three regional

centers. The first was in South Carolina; the Louisville center will be the second. Althaus said the third likely will be in the Central or Mountain time zone.

Recently, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved Gannett for $3.25 million intax incentives for up to 10 years as part of the expansion.

Althaus said Gannett will start hiring in late March or early April. Hiring will be done as the company adds newspapers to the call center in phases.

Dillard named editor of Union County Advocate

Union County Advocate General Manager Paula Smith recently announced that Carrie Dillard, a reporter for the newspaper, has been promoted to the position of editor of the over 5,200 circulation weekly.

Dillard came on board the Advocate staff in August to fill in for then-editor Leigh Ann Tipton, who was on disability leave and later opted to accept a job closer to her Daviess County home and new daughter.

A 2000 graduate of Gallatin County High School in southeastern Illinois, Dillard attended Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg for two years before transferring with her associate degree to the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

She may be one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person ever appointed editor of a 5,000+ weekly in the state of Kentucky.

Steve Austin, publisher of The Gleaner, the Advocate's sister publication in Henderson, welcomed Dillard aboard as editor of the Union County paper.

"We expect big things of Carrie and know that she will continue to improve her skills. We have every confidence in her abilities, and we feel she will be a real asset to The Advocate as well as to the people of Union County," Austin said.

Manning joins staff of Sentinel-Echo

Dean Manning has joined the staff of The Sentinel-Echo where he will cover the police, courts, London City Council and other happenings in London and Laurel County.

Manning, who spent the last year and a half covering Laurel County for the Times-Tribune, said the move was made to spend more time with his family.

Before working at the Times-Tribune, Manning spent a year and a half covering Laurel County working for the Laurel News Journal.

Manning has been a journalist since graduating from the University of North Alabama in 2002. He moved to Laurel County in August 2003 and lives in the Keavy area with his wife, Sharon.

Kentucky native named publisher of Ind. paper

Kentucky native Brad Toy will be taking the position of publisher at the Frankfort Daily Times, a daily newspaper in Frankfort, Ind., 40 miles north of Indianapolis.

Toy was most recently the advertising director of The Morehead News Group. He has a wife, Sandy, and a son, Zachary.

Toy is the son of Eddie and Claudette Toy of Mount Sterling.

The Frankfort Times has a circulation of 8,000.

Jobe Publishing welcomes new columnist

Carol Perkins will be taking on the role of columnist for Jobe Publishing.

Perkins received her degree from Eastern Kentucky University before earning a double Masters in English and psychology from Western Kentucky University.

Perkins and her husband, Guy, have two children, Carla and Jon, who have both moved out of state.

Perkins retired after 28 years of teaching English at Metcalfe County High School.

Perkin's column is called "Let's Talk About" and will cover lots of ground.

"I was taught that you write about what you know and I know a little bit about everything," she says.

Changes announced at Glasgow Daily Times

James Brown and Lisa Simpson Strange recently accepted promotions at the Glasgow Daily Times.

Brown, who has been the newspaper's sports editor since 2003, will move to the news side, helping coach reporters, assign stories, shoot photographs and assist with the production of the paper.

Strange will handle the same daily duties but will specialize in coordinating new ventures the Daily Times plans to launch this year.

Taking Brown's spot as sports editor will be John Kerr, who previously worked in Zanesville, Ohio.

Holt takes on new job at Bowling Green paper

Misty Holt is the new assistant advertising director at the Daily News in Bowling Green.

Holt attended Arkansas State University.

She has worked in newspaper advertising sales for 10 years and began her career at the Manchester Enterprise in Manchester.

Holt has worked at the Daily News since January 2000. Holt and her husband Eric, have one child, Taylor.

Monica Magee Glisson named executive editor

Monica Magee Glisson, editor of The Advance Yeoman, has been promoted to executive editor for Kentucky Publishing Inc. and Indiana Newspaper Group, which includes 12 newspapers and four special publications.

A lifelong Ballard County resident, Glisson began her career with the company as a reporter in April 2001. She soon was promoted to editor of The Advance Yeoman.

Last year, Glisson was asked to head up the editorial side of KPI's special publications, which then included Tourism, Paducah Business Journal and Farmers Quarterly. This year the company added Healthcare Quarterly to its specials.

In October, Glisson was named executive editor by KPI/ING owners, Greg and Teresa LeNeave.

Cristian Ritchie named editor of Herald

Luke Keith Jr., publisher of the Hazard Herald, announced the appointment of Cristian "Cris" Ritchie as editor of the newspaper.

Ritchie, who has been with the paper for over a year, is a graduate of Cordia High School and the University of Kentucky.

Ritchie's wife, Sabrina Estep, is employed at Hazard Nursing Home.

Keith said with the efforts of the paper's new editor along with the work of Lucinda Cornett and Nancy Ashworth, he is confident the Herald will "continue to be the trusted news source it has been for generations.

Long-time editor in Glasgow retires

After almost three decades at the Glasgow Daily Times, Connie Pickett has resigned her post as news editor and retired.

In her farewell column, Pickett said her experiences will stay with her for a lifetime.

"There were so many people and each had their own story to tell. Each one making their mark on the community and memories for me that I will cherish forever," Pickett wrote.

During her tenure, Pickett says she always tried to be a fair and complete reporter.

"As a journalist I covered stories about death, destruction and other life-altering news. Whether today or 30 years ago, much of the news covered by journalists seems to center around some type of tragedy," she wrote. "I always tried to do my best to cover my assignment as fairly and straightforward as I could. I am a firm believer that any journalist’s biggest responsibility is to be fair to all sides."

Dan Barry named new ad director for Commonwealth Journal

Dan Barry, who have worked extensively with small-town newspapers across the eastern United States, has been named as advertising director for the Commonwealth Journal.

Barry formerly served as advertising director for the Battle Creek Enquirer. Battle Creek, Mich.

Barry and wife, Kristine, are parents of three boys: Daniel Eammon, 9; Micheal Christian, 7, and Liam Joseph Patrick, 6.

Barry graduated in 1994 from Siena College, Loudonville, New York, with a bachelor of arts degree in English and marketing. He began his career as a sales assistant at the Journal News in New York.

"I am excited to have the experience Dan brings to the table here at the Commonwealth Journal. I look forward to sharing some of his ideas with the readers and advertisers throughout our market," Commonwealth Journal Publisher Jack McNeely said.

Grant County News moves its headquarters to back to Dry Ridge

After nearly 100 years of being located in Williamstown, the Grant County News is moving back to Dry Ridge.

"The Grant County News is moving to better position ourselves for future growth - of not the newspaper but the community," Ken Stone, publisher of the paper, said.

The Grant County News through the years has been owned by several individuals and newspaper chains. Landmark Community Newspapers Inc., with headquarters in Shelbyville, purchased the Grant County News in the mid-80s.

Stone, who has been the publisher since 1988, said it was a hard decision to leave Williamstown.

"The Grant County News has been in that community since 1908, but it is a county-wide publication," he said. "We needed a better presence in the community and had an opportunity to save one of the most historical sites around."

Click Here to go back