Three new faces join news staff

The Yakima Herald-Republic recently hired an assistant city editor and a copy editor, and brought in a summer intern.

Scott Mayes started Monday as the new assistant city editor. He brings 10 years of experience working in daily newspapers in California and Texas.

The 36-year-old Mayes comes to Yakima from Amarillo, Texas, where he served as the city editor for the Amarillo Globe-News. Prior to that, Mayes had stints at three different newspapers throughout California.

He began his journalism career as an education/business reporter for McClatchy newspapers in Fresno, Calif. He also has been a sports reporter, as well as the editor at The Bakersfield Californian and the Visalia Times-Delta.

Mayes will help plan local coverage, including city, county and state government.

Mayes and his wife, Julie, moved to the area with their two sons, Matthew, 13, and Micah, 7. He looks forward to exploring the various outdoor activities available in the Pacific Northwest including fishing -- although he says it would be more for relaxation than to catch fish.

Jobetta Hedelman recently joined the newsroom staff as a copy editor. Her primary focus will be to build the quantity, quality and timeliness of content on the Herald-Republic's Web site, www.yakimaherald.com. Additionally, she will contribute to the production of the printed newspaper.

Hedelman, 27, recently received her master's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, where she also received her bachelor's degree in communication studies. She worked for the campus newspaper, the Oregon Daily Emerald. She also worked as a copy editing intern last summer with the McClatchy-Tribune news service in Washington, D.C.

The native of Klamath Falls, Ore., is happy to remain in this part of the country and within a day's drive of her family and friends in Oregon. She enjoys reading, writing, listening to music and visiting museums.

Jean Guerrero began serving as an intern in the newsroom late last month. Guerrero, 20, hails from San Diego and will contribute content for both the online and print editions through mid-August.

At the end of the summer, she will enter her junior year at the University of Southern California, where she is majoring in journalism with a minor in neuroscience. She also has worked for the campus newspaper.

Guerrero speaks three languages -- her native English, Spanish and French.