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Ruthell Howard, who worked as a copy editor here in the late 80s, died Sunday of cardiopulmonary arrest.

She left us in 1990 to work on the copy desk of the Washington Post.

I didn't know Ruthell well -- I think she worked with Allen at the Winston-Salem Chronicle -- but I remember her as a tenacious copy editor and a gentle soul.

The Post's obituary confirms that: In the sometimes-anonymous copy desk position, which requires mediation between strong-willed reporters attached to their words and readers who demand accuracy, clarity and context, she was known as a polite but meticulous editor, her colleagues said.

Update: Allen's remembrance.

Cedric Bryant is interviewed by Bryan Murley at Innovation in College Media about what students need to get hired. Cedric, who is in charge of recruiting at Gannett, attended A&T and started here as a reporter. More, in writing, when he had hair.

Cedric is a good man. I knew he was a recruiter -- and I'm sure he's good at it -- but I always thought it was a bit of a loss because he was a fine reporter and a splendid writer.

Mark Sutter, who as much as anyone has helped shape our news report over the past decade, will become the editor of the Business Journal.

It doesn't come as a surprise. Nearly 18 years ago, Mark came here as a business reporter and later was business editor. If I were the publisher of the Biz Journal, I'd hire Mark. A short list of his accomplishments here:

* He was metro editor/Greensboro editor for seven years, smoothly steering our local news coverage through tremendous change, including a couple staff realignments and redesigns
* He has had a hand in every big news story in the Triad since the 90's
* He developed dozens of reporters and editors, many of whom have gone on to bigger jobs at bigger papers
* He was the author of our Town Square plan that has guided much of our recent innovation

When he left, he was i helping develop some new ventures for us and was in the middle of a updating Lex's Public Square white paper. We'll miss that, but I plan to continue to plumb his thinking on things, even as he is a competitor now.

We've hired Jayme Elrod as a designer on our night desk. Jayme was the lead designer at the newspaper in Grand Junction, Colo. Her name may be familiar because this is her second go-round here. She left us as part of the layoffs, and we're delighted to be able to get her back. She has a great eye for design.

Breea Willingham was a reporter here about 10 years ago. She now teaches journalism at St, Bonaventure University. She published this piece in USA Today today.

People often ask me how I managed to get out of the neighborhood and not follow a similar destructive path. I don't really know. My brothers and I grew up in the same house, raised by the same mother. With little money, we all had temptations to go down the wrong path. I think my brothers, like many black people, fall into a self-defeatist mode and believe all they can be is a victim. The hopelessness and despair in the black community are ever present in the media, so is it any wonder so many young black men feel they can't get out? I know Josh wants a better life. But he, like many black men, feels stuck.

Worth a read. She shares some of the response, too, at her blog.

Juan Santos, who covered Alamance County and the Guilford County commissioners while he worked here in the late 1980s, passed away Sunday. Cancer. Juan moved to Raleigh and served for years as communication director with the state Department of Labor, but while he was here, he was a crackerjack investigative reporter.

He and I didn't have any interaction while he worked with the state, but my guess is that he told it like it was in a way that reporters covering the department weren't familiar with. He'll be missed.

Editor & Publisher writes about the new Media General Washington bureau that includes former N&R reporter Amy Dominello. I'm not sure why it took them until today to announce Amy's hiring as we announced it two months ago, but whatever.

Interesting to see how it works.

As reported by PhillyMag.com, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN longs to be back writing for a newspaper. His column in the Philadelphia Inquirer bit the dust last year.

"I’ve been a journalist for 15 years," he says. "Newspapers are my foundation. That's what it's all about. Having a newspaper column makes me feel credible and good about what I do. It's what made me feel whole." (Via Romenesko.)

He used to work on our High Point office...maybe he'd like to write for us!

Pat Yack, my predecessor in this job who left to be editor of the Jacksonville Times-Union, resigned from that job today. (Via Romenesko.)

I haven't talked with Pat yet so I don't know anything more than this story, but its looks bad. I hope I'm wrong.

Pat was here for nearly five years and had an impact on many of us. He helped me get this job, and I consider him a friend. I'm not worried about him, though. He's a smart, inventive leader who will succeed in whatever he does next.

I don't even remember this guy, but some of our folks do. And as he made SI and Romenesko, I suppose he qualifies as an alum in the news.

Ned Cline, former managing editor of the News & Record, has been named by Gov. Easley to a panel to review of policies concerning the retention of e-mail messages.

Ned retired in 1998, I think, after a career as political reporter for us and the Charlotte Observer, editorial writer and editor -- he was M.E. when I was hired in 1985. Since then, he's written books about Joseph Bryan and former state Sen. Marshall Rauch.

I hope the governor knows what he is doing.

Short story here.

Tim Thornton, a former higher education reporter here and now at the Roanoke Times, won the Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment from the Southern Environmental Law Center for his series about mountaintop removal coal mining, "Moving the Mountains."

Tim's series was an in-depth investigation into the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in Southwest Virginia. Janisse Ray, a Reed judge, says: "This is a thorough investigation into the greatest tragedy of the American landscape today. I read it greedily, filled with equal parts of bottomless sadness and amazement at the people who, despite the odds, have found the courage and enlightenment to fight it. Very impressive."

Thanks for the tip, Jeri.

When Meredith Barkley was a reporter here, he was one of the more vocal conservatives in the newsroom. (Yes, I know it goes against the conventional perception of newspaper staffs.)

So some of us were surprised to see him in this new Hillary Clinton ad. (He is in the blue pinstriped shirt beside David.)

Love conquers all, even politics. Meredith explains: My wife is a big Hillary supporter. She was invited to meet with her in W-S last week and ask her a question. I figured I'd just sit back and watch it all and maybe get to meet a presidential candidate. But heck, first thing I knew I was in an ad!