MediaNews Group Inc. names new publisher at daily newspaper in Farmington, NM

New publisher named at Farmington, NM, newspaper

FARMINGTON, N.M. — A longtime newspaper publisher will take over as publisher Monday at The Daily Times, in the northwestern New Mexico city of Farmington.

MediaNews Group Inc. named John Elchert, a newspaper publisher since 1994, to succeed Sammy Lopez, who left The Daily Times on Dec. 31. Heartland Publications hired Lopez as publisher of three daily newspapers in Ohio and West Virginia.

Elchert most recently was publisher of The Times Observer in Warren, Pa., for nearly five years. Before that, he was publisher at The Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Mich., and The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, Ohio.

Elchert, a graduate of the University of Toledo in Ohio, also has experience in newspaper advertising and circulation.

MediaNews Group, based in Denver, operates 54 daily newspapers in 11 states, including newspapers in Farmington, Carlsbad, Alamogordo, Deming and Las Cruces.

Information from: The Daily Times, www.daily-times.com