On the move: Huntsville’s Turner moving to The Sporting News

 

John Turner, the Hunstville (Ala.) Times sports editor, is heading to The Sporting News.

 

Turner has accepted a position as senior digital editor and will be relocating to Charlotte, N.C.

 

“I couldn’t be more excited for this opportunity, yet at the same time grateful for the chance The Huntsville Times took on me as a young sports editor,” Turner wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to everyone who’s supported me while far from home, pursuing my dream.”

 

Turner has been in Huntsville since May 2010. The section was recently awarded honorable mention in daily and special sections in the 30,000 to 75,000. Turner also placed second in breaking news in the writing contest.

 

A 2008 graduate of Bowling Green, Turner previously was the sports editor of the Kerrville Daily Times in Texas. While there, he finished in the top 10 in column writing in 2009. The Daily Times finished in the Top 10 in special sections in 2010 in the under 15,000 category and in the Top 10 in 2009 in under 20,000.

 

 

 

Newsday: Al Iannazzone was hired to cover the New York Knicks. He covered the NBA for 10 years at The Record in Bergen County, N.J. A graduate of Montclair State University with a degree in business management, he replaces Alan Hahn, who joined MSG Network as a studio analyst.

 

 

Baltimore Sun: Kevin Van Valkenburg has left the newspaper for ESPN the Magazine.

 

The News-Journal, Wilmington, Del.:  Laura Ignarski resigned as assistant sports editor in order to finish nursing school.  In her place, The News Journal has hired Tyler Batiste, copy desk chief for the Halifax Media Group papers in Houma, La.  He starts March 19

 

 

Kansas City Star: The Star shuffled its college beats this past month. Longtime Missouri beat writer Mike DeArmond retired after 40 years at The Star, a career in which he also covered the Royals, numerous Olympics and just about everything under the sun. Succeeding DeArmond on the Missouri beat is Terez Paylor, who had previously covered high schools and the Royals for the paper. Also promoted to major-college beat coverage is Rustin Dodd, a former high schools and backup Royals writer who will take over the Kansas Beat. Dodd succeeds Brady McCollough, who left late last year for an enterprise job with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Blair Kerkohff, who held down the KU beat this winter while The Star plotted its next move.

 

The Oklahoman: Travis Haney has left the newspaper after seven months on the Oklahoma football beat for a position as national football columnist for ESPN.

 

In his farewell blog post, Haney wrote to readers, “I'm genuinely sorry for my brief stay. I had intended for it to be longer. I felt sure it would be. But an exceptional opportunity, one I was not seeking, came along and I simply had to take it. My apologies for not being able to get to know more of you, for leaving just as we were getting started …

 

“I had never been to Norman, OK before I interviewed here. I wound up living a block from Owen Field. I've loved being here, getting to know the city's heartbeat. I would have been happy here for years and years; I know that I leave here with an infinite amount of respect for the tradition and history of the program and the efforts that are made to sustain and grow it.”

 

Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star: Has hired Matthew Schubert as Sports Online Editor. Schubert worked the past six years as a sports reporter and columnist at the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles, Wash. His main responsibility will be to maintain and enhance the Journal Star's Husker Extra web site. Schubert is

a 2004 graduate of Arizona State.

 

Tulsa World: Dave Sittler retired from his full-time job as a columnist, but plans to still work part time for the paper and remain on the Tulsa Sports Animal radio show. He has been at the Tulsa World since 1999. He began at the Lincoln Journal-Star in 1971, moved to the Omaha World-Herald in 1978 and stayed until 1985. He worked for the Tribune in Tulsa from 1985 to 1992, then spent seven years at The Oklahoman before joining the Tulsa World.

 

 

South Florida Sun Sentinel: The South Florida Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hired Izzy Gould as beat writer covering the Miami Dolphins. Gould previously covered University of Alabama athletics for the Mobile Register and AL.com.

 

 

San Francisco Chronicle: Gerry Spratt has joined the San Francisco Chronicle as Deputy Sports Editor. He comes to The Chronicle from fellow Hearst property SeattlePI.com, the online-only operation that resulted from the closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He will be responsible for running The Chronicle's baseball and college coverage, among other things. Jake Leonard has been appointed Assistant Sports Editor at the Chronicle. Leonard spent six years working on The Chronicle's copy desk, covering preps and writing about hockey. He will be responsible for running The Chronicle's NFL coverage, among over things.

 

Send items to Josh Barnett at barnetj@phillynews.com or your region chair.