Rindi and John: So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu

Frontiersman editorial board

In this business, so immersed in the changes taking place in our community, we are not immune to change, ourselves. Newsrooms, especially newsrooms at smaller newspapers, are places of frequent change. Young reporters arrive, hone their skills and then move on to larger venues. Sometimes the pressure of deadlines and the constant barrage of good and bad news takes its toll and people simply move on to other professions. Most of the time, those changes are part of a slow, constant process. Every once in a while, the wandering stars line up and several people leave at once.

Frontiersman recently has bid a fond farewell to two of our best reporters. Rindi White has joined the staff in another nearby newsroom, and John Davidson has just departed to chase a dream in Chicago. They were each on different paths, but each left a unique legacy behind in our newsroom.

Rindi joined the Frontiersman staff on Oct. 5, 1999. She spent the next five years covering a number of stories and beats, but truly earned her stripes as the Valley's premier reporter on borough and state government, and on utilities. Rindi's ability to turn the intricacies and convolutions of political speak into something the rest of us can understand is unrivaled. We're convinced that nobody has a better grasp of the machinations of borough and state government than Rindi White. In addition to her strong writing ability and tremendous knowledge of her beats, Rindi was also a tremendous worker and the consummate professional. We'll miss her as a friend and co-worker, and we wish her great success and happiness in the future - even if she's working for "the other guys."

John Davidson came to the Frontiersman on a temporary, part-time basis in late July 2004. He'd just stepped off the deck of a commercial fishing boat, and was looking to earn a few dollars before heading off to Chicago - probably at the end of the summer. Somehow, we lucked out, and John signed on as a full-time reporter in October and stayed with us until January. Though his tenure here was short, he produced some hard-hitting stories and brought a flair to our crime and courts beat that we hadn't seen in some time. We knew John would only be here for a short time, but it's still difficult to part with such a talented reporter. Again, we wish him great success and happiness.

Though change always brings stress and uncertainty, we're confident the new reporters will carry on the great tradition of local news coverage that has made Frontiersman the best source of Mat-Su news. We look forward to a new newsroom era.