Behind The Scenes, Part Ii Meet More Of The New Faces Who Have Recently Joined The Staff At The Spokesman-Review
In the past six months, The Spokesman-Review has made many new hires to replace journalists who moved on to other newspapers or left the profession. Last month on this page, we introduced you to some of the new people behind the scenes in our newsroom. Today, we introduce the rest of the journalists new to The Spokesman-Review.
Robin Rivers
Duties: Nightside law enforcement and general assignment reporter.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Experience: Worked through college covering police, features and writing obituaries for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph; covered suburban government and economic development for the Kansas City Star; social issues reporter for The Herald & Review in Decatur, Ill. Won the 1996 National Mental Health Association Media Award for a series of stories on people living with schizophrenia.
Personal: Age 26. Born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., raised in Colorado Springs. No mates. No pets. One backpack.
Outside interests: Canoeing, backpacking, painting, generally exploring and escaping from anything remotely urban. Recently took up rock climbing and water sports, much to my mother’s dismay.
Rick House
Duties: Page designer and copy editor on the sports desk.
Education: Eastern Washington University grad with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Experience: Before coming to The Spokesman-Review, began career as a reporter and photographer at The Chronicle in Centralia, Wash. Stayed at The Chronicle for a little more than nine years, moving from reporter to the copy desk, then to page designer and finally to design coordinator.
Personal: Age 36. Born and raised in Spokane, attended Logan Elementary, Shaw Junior High and North Central. Single with an 8-year-old son, a dog, a cat and a cockatiel.
Outside interests: Golf, tennis, motorcycles, computers, travel, and trying to keep up with my 8-year-old son, Lucas.
Jennifer Johnson
Duties: News desk copy editor.
Education: Bachelor’s in journalism with a minor in English from Brigham Young University.
Experience: Assistant news editor at The Idaho Statesman in Boise; copy editor at The Tennessean in Nashville.
Personal: Grew up in Blackfoot, Idaho, home of the world famous Potato Expo and a 30-foot concrete spud complete with butter and sour cream. Rescued my cat, Penelope Pitstop, from certain death at the Boise Humane Society. I have one nephew, Wyatt, who can’t wait to visit me in “Smokane,” and another nephew on the way (I’m pulling for the name Doc.).
Outside interests: Shopping for car stereos (thanks for the welcome wagon, burglars.) Growing tomatoes. Spokane Chiefs fights. Early morning bowling. Collecting dolls that scare my boyfriend.
Angie Gaddy
Duties: Transportation and business reporter for the Valley Voice.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, University of Missouri.
Experience: Covered the 1996 Missouri Legislative session while an undergraduate, then worked for the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting in Columbia, Mo. During school, I interned for The Baltimore Sun and The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City. I lived in Sibiu, Romania, for a year.
Personal: Age 23. Born in Houston. Grew up in Memphis, Tenn., eating barbecue and black-eyed pea sandwiches. I speak Romanian with a southern twang and now want to learn Chinese. Single, but desperately seeking a dog and two cats.
Outside Interests: Travel. Mountain biking. Hiking. Guitar strumming. Reading. And flying lessons.
Laura Shireman
Duties: North Idaho bureau reporter covering Post Falls, Rathdrum, surrounding areas.
Education: Bachelor’s in journalism with a minor in political science from Washington State University
Experience: Interned at The Lewiston Morning Tribune this summer.
Personal: Age 22. Grew up in Puyallup, Wash. The only man in my life is my 2-year-old, fuzzy black dog named Zeus, but he lives with my parents.
Outside interests: Learning how to dance like the locals to twangy country tunes, teaching people how to pronounce my hometown’s name, skiing, snowboarding, reading, swimming, general loafing, convincing my friends in Western Washington that yes, I really do like Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
Bridget Sawicki
Duties: Illustrator and graphic artist.
Education: Bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration with honors from Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla.
Experience: Working with famous illustrator Alan Cober; gross anatomy drawings for Florida State University; art teacher.
Personal: Age 23. Originally from Connecticut, two younger sisters, love the autumn season, my second chakra dwells on the beach, pleasantly sarcastic.
Outside activities: Walks in Riverfront Park, browsing any music store, fascination with the “X Files,” long phone calls, tongue-numbing salsa.
Amy Scribner
Duties: Reporter for the South Side Voice, covering education and public safety.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, minor in Spanish, from Western Washington University.
Experience: Interned at the Wenatchee World this summer.
Personal: Age 22. Born and raised in Spokane, graduated from Mead High School, then decided I needed to get away for a while. After four years on the other side of the mountains, I’m glad to be back.
Outside interests: Reading, running up my long-distance phone bill, Grand Slam tennis events (watching, not participating), James Bond movies.
Pat Sciuchetti
Duties: Public safety, government and lifestyles reporter for the Valley Voice.
Education: Bachelor’s degrees in communications and sociology from the University of Washington.
Experience: Covered education, health and social issues for the Bulletin in Bend, Ore.; covered state government in Olympia for the Seattle Times and the Bremerton Sun as a reporting intern; covered business and general assignment as a reporting intern for the Longview Daily News.
Personal: Age 27. Born in Wilmington, Del. Grew up in New York, Maryland and Washington state. Married.
Outside interests: Traveling, hiking, walking, cooking, racquetball and sleeping in.
Gary Crooks
Duties: Assistant news editor: headline writing and figuring out where everything goes.
Background: Born, Salina, Utah; reared, Las Vegas; educated, Tucson; worked, all over Arizona; moved to Spokane in June.
Experience: Green Valley News, Mesa Tribune, Arizona Daily Star, Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic.
Education: University of Arizona.
Special abilities: Competent in Spanish, fluent in English. Able to leap tall cliches in a single bound. Teaching impressionable kids how to make funny noises.
Vital statistics: Age 40. Bat right, throw left. Two dogs, one wife, one child. Wife, Laura Crooks, is Our Generation editor.
Interests: Wife, son and dogs. Exploring the Northwest. Searching for Mexican food. Learning new words and phrases, such as “ice storm,” “A-Rod,” and “pothole.”
David Gunter
Duties: Business reporting in North Idaho.
Education: Bachelor of science degree in business/communications with honors from Lewis-Clark State College.
Experience: Nine years as feature writer and special projects reporter for the Coeur d’Alene Press and Bonner County Daily Bee. Worked for the past year as city editor at the Coeur d’Alene Press and managing editor of the North Idaho Business Journal. Left a broadcasting career to become an ink-stained wretch.
Personal: Age 43. Four incredibly talented and lovely children. Born in Kentucky, raised in California.
Outside activities: Lifelong musician with insatiable craving for classic rock, lingering in the dusk, hitting the boards in community theater productions, fiction writing and dancing.
Tom Bradford
Duties: News desk copy editor.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley. Graduate studies in writing at San Francisco State University.
Experience: Began my desk career at the Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks, Alaska. Progressed, in transit, to the Journal American, now Eastside Journal, in Bellevue, Wash. Wound up in Los Angeles, first with the Los Angeles Daily News, then the Los Angeles Times. In between these posts, went to Tokyo to work for the Daily Yomiuri.
Personal: California-born and always, save Alaska, a big-city guy. My move to Spokane was largely in reaction to distaste with the urban crush.
Outside interests: A dedicated reader, due, perhaps, to lack of significant hands-on experience. Still dabble in music, though I’ve sold my trusty Strat and dirty-blonde Peavey amp.
Ryan Pitts
Duties: Copy editor and page designer on the copy desk.
Education: Graduated from Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Experience: Worked three years at the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa as reporter, copy editor, assistant city editor and design editor.
Personal: I was born in California and moved often. I’m 24 and have a wife and two sons, age 3 and 1-1/2 months. My wife is from the Spokane area, and we feel most at home in this pocket of the Northwest.
Outside interests: Rediscovering the joys of “Scooby Doo” with my 3-year-old. Building up my tolerance for neck pain while son No. 2 naps comfortably on my chest, followed almost immediately by whining pitifully to my wife.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 11 Photos; Drawing