Steve and I are meeting an increasing number of nice, helpful people in our new communities of Crescent City, Brookings and surrounding area.And we’re fortunate to be working with some equally helpful, quality people staffing The Triplicate and The Pilot.One of those staffers is Jeremy Ruark, who’s actually been employed by Country Media for a decade.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Before joining Country Media, Jeremy had worked for, among other media organizations, KGW-TV in Portland and KVAL-TV in Eugene. He’s also served as corporate radio news director for a Central Oregon radio group.His first management assignment for us was as editor and publisher of our weekly Seaside Signal, then later as editor for eight years of our weekly newspaper in Lincoln City. Not long ago, we again promoted Jeremy, this time to editor and publisher of our two weekly newspapers in St. Helens and Clatskanie in Columbia County, Oregon.A day or so after assuming ownership of The Pilot and The Triplicate on July 1, we asked Jeremy to spend a month in Brookings helping us staff the news side. Jeremy says he wants to remain at The Pilot as our long-term editor.We couldn’t be happier! Despite being a much-seasoned newsman with several decades of experience, Jeremy is not one to retire in place while boring you with tales of his successes in years past. Rather, whatever his current job, it has always brought out his best work.One of Jeremy’s key strengths is his insistence on building meaningful, trusting relationships with readers and news sources alike. He truly wants to do best by everyone, with no regard for social status or office.Another of his strengths, stemming from his work in broadcasting, is his insistence on using digital media … up-to-the-minute reporting via the newspaper’s website and social media (that will materialize as we enhance our digital sites).He’s the perfect fit for our company’s mission in Curry and Del Norte counties.So please join us in welcoming Jeremy as The Pilot’s new editor!Meantime, we say thank you and good fortune to three other staff members, who stayed on after we assumed ownership of these two publications but are now departing:Michael Zogg, The Triplicate’s energetic sports editor, just told us he has accepted his first job with a daily newspaper. Mike has done yeoman’s work over the past three weeks, and all of us have benefited from his team approach to newsgathering.And we’re saying goodbye as well to former Pilot and Triplicate group publisher Kim Fowler, who’s also advancing in her career, by assuming responsibility for a daily newspaper in the Midwest.Finally, Matthey Hochkammer spent two weeks with us at The Pilot before returning to Virginia, where earlier he had arranged for a teaching job.Next week, I’ll be announcing the addition of two new reporters, one in Crescent City and the other in Brookings.And by the time you read this, we’re expecting our new websites for both publications to be live. Happy reading!Two really large steps forward. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });