Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Earlier in September, Davenport Lions Club secretary Jim Reinbold extended an invitation to have me come speak and answer questions about my experience as editor of The Times thus far at the Lions’ Sept. 21 meeting. I gladly accepted on the draw of sharing some thoughts and receiving free food and beer as an exchange, and thought I’d share some of those thoughts in this week’s paper as well.
After enjoying a meal of Salisbury steaks and mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans with bacon and upside-down pineapple cake with a light wheat beer to wash it down, acting Lions president Jeff Barkdull turned the floor to myself to speak for about 15-20 minutes.
I first shared about how I became editor of The Times. After graduating from Eastern Washington University in 2020 with a degree in journalism, I worked at Free Press Publishing for seven months covering Airway Heights, Medical Lake, Fairchild Air Force Base and Reardan for the Cheney Free Press and The Times. When Jamie Henneman resigned her position at the end of 2020, I took the job with The Times full-time.
I told the Lions my emphases of running the paper, which include highlighting community events and stories, local government happenings and area business stories. I also have a stress on education coverage, concerning what’s going on in local schools. My greatest wealth of experience remains in sports, where I was trained extensively in college, and I try to bring that to my coverage of east Lincoln County preps athletics.
The Lions were also curious to know some of the biggest local stories since I became editor.
Those include (but aren’t limited to) the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, ongoing contract negotiations between Lincoln County and Teamsters 690 (which represents the Sheriff’s Office’s commissioned and non-commissioned officers), criminal charges being filed against Sheriff Wade Magers, area firework bans over Independence Day, Davenport superintendent Jim Kowalkowski announcing his retirement, the Lincoln County Fair and Pioneer Days returning and the drought conditions yielding a poor wheat harvest.
A personal favorite, as I shared with the Lions, was the hunt for fallen rocket pieces in several Lincoln County fields after a SpaceX rocket exploded over the Pacific Northwest in April. We still haven’t heard if any of those pieces were recovered during harvest, but if you have a tip, let me know.
The Lions also wanted to know ways the community could assist or get involved in the newspaper. I talked about The Times ongoing need for an office specialist to hold regular office hours, interact with the community and sell local advertising. I also encourage people to share stories with me via email at dteditor@centurytel.net.
Community engagement helps the local newspaper and vice versa, so always reach out if you have a tip, story idea or just want to chat about current events. If you don’t have my cell phone number, ask a local who might or email me at the above address for the digits. I’ve greatly enjoyed my eight and a half months as editor thus for, and look forward to the future and where this paper can continue to grow in serving the community.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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