News runs in new editor's blood

Nevada Appeal business reporter Jim Scripps is taking over as editor of the Appeal's sister paper in Truckee, Calif.

Scripps, who wrote the Appeal's Sunday business feature and a weekly Internet column, begins work at the Sierra Sun today.

He is taking over for interim editor Sally Taylor, who will return to the Appeal.

Scripps, a 27-year-old Reno resident, has been a reporter in Carson City for nearly three years, covering the police beat and later business.

He says a newspaper should be responsive to its community.

"A newspaper, particularly in a small town, should be a bulletin board for the issues and events that the community really cares about," Scripps said. "I want The Sierra Sun to be a place where readers feel they can freely express their ideas and concerns."

Scripps has been involved with newspapers since his adolescence, when he worked on his high school newspaper before going on to study journalism and history at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

"I just love being around newspaper people," Scripps says. "They're so interesting -- kind of weird, but always smart. Journalists are one of my favorite types of people."

It will be the people he misses most when he leaves the Appeal.

"I will miss the people here," he said. "That's why I worked here for so long."

Scripps won't be the only new face at the Sun.

Jody Poe, 31, will start Monday as the new publisher of the newspaper. Poe is coming to Truckee from the Nebraska Fence Post, where she was general manager.

The Sierra Sun was founded in 1869 and has a circulation of 7,000.