Thanks for 30+ years of your support & friendship
My, how time flies. Has it really been that long? It seems like just yesterday that we launched our little neighborhood town crier in what we then called Warner Wrangler— Warner because we delivered to only a few hundred homes on both sides of Warner Road, Wrangler because most of those streets were what we knew as horse property.
Yes, time has indeed sped by. And while there admittedly have been a few bumps in the road in terms of growth, we have nothing but great memories of the people we’ve met, the friends we’ve made in city government and schools, the businesses we’ve helped to be successful. And, of course, the readers who tell us quite regularly: “We love your little newspaper.”
There is no single person, myself included, who can take credit for the ways in which we seem to have become enshrined among readers who evidently value an approach to newspapering that focuses on the best our community has to offer. We don’t overlook what some might call “real news,” but we don’t look for those kind of stories under the rocks, either. And so at this start of a new year, we want you to meet—and know a bit more about—a few of the people on our staff who love where they live and work, and who want to help keep it a valued hometown for themselves and those who follow.
To do that, we’ve been able to attract journalists, some experienced, some excitedly pursuing new life opportunities, who look at our little world with the same enthusiasm we do. That brings us to introducing you to the folks who produce the content you look forward to arriving in your driveway every other week throughout the year. And to sharing with you some of the reasons we feel they bring the same qualities to their work with us as they do to the conduct of their own lives.
Andrew Lwowski is a lifetime Tempe resident, having attended Waggoner Elementary, Kyrene Middle School and Corona del Sol. He graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism with a degree in sports journalism.
Janie Magruder, also a longtime Tempe resident, wrote for The Arizona Republic for many years, covering with true journalistic style and professionalism the stories that came along during her career. Next to Janie am I, and I’ll simply say that newspapering has been part of my life since age 10, when I somehow discovered the science of gelatin in a cake pan which, when touched by paper with special ink, allowed even a schoolkid to publish his own neighborhood newspaper. There’s more, of course, but let’s just say I seem to have printer’s ink flowing in the same veins today, along with the passion I had those many years ago. So upward and onward.
There’s also Mark Moorhead, one of the most talented film writers in our country, starting in his early days with the Phoenix New Times and a regular in our Tempe offices for how long? At least half of the 30-plus years we’ve been in publication.
Another contributor whose name and face have become familiar to regular Wrangler News readers is Alex Zener, who joined us while he was still playing varsity volleyball on Corona’s Aztec team. Alex writes about high school sports with a familiarity that never seems to have left him, thanks of course to the relationships he has so successfully built with coaches who want to ensure that their players receive deserved recognition for their successes on the playing field. And what better way to do that, they apparently realize, is in the pages of their hometown paper.
And finally Barbi Walker-Walsh, also a Tempe resident and NYU journalism graduate, who writes with the kind of insight that only her many years of exploring our local byways can provide. So there you have it: A bit of Wrangler News history and a small get-acquainted opportunity with our current staff and the commitment they have to local news coverage. And how and why they have it.
We hope that our efforts these past years not only represent our determination to be your reliable source of news and information, but to let you know it’s coming from people who know—and love—their home town as much as you do. Best wishes from all of us for a happy 2024
