Mendenhall named Newton Daily News Editor

The Newton Daily News announced Thursday that news editor Mike Mendenhall has been named the newspaper’s new editor-in-chief. He succeeds Abigail Pelzer who is taking on the position of publisher for the Marshalltown Times-Republican.

A Des Moines native, Mendenhall graduated from East High School and completed his bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication at the University of Iowa.

The 32-year-old began his journalism career as a crime/courts reporter for the Newton Daily News in 2011. For the last four years, Mendenhall has been news editor for the company’s three weekly newspapers — the Jasper County Tribune, Prairie City News and Monroe Legacy.

“Mike’s history with the company, his commitment to professionalism and knowledge of Jasper County are great assets for this position,” publisher Dan Goetz said. “Under his leadership, we’re looking forward to a seamless transition in providing quality news to our readers.”

An accomplished journalist, Mendenhall has earned numerous state awards for his work. Among his honors, he’s been recognized with the Young Iowa Journalist Award and The Harrison “Skip” Weber Investigative Reporting Award.

Mendenhall said the chance to work in a community with the resilience and values of Newton is one that doesn’t come around often in journalism.

“I’m honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue my news career with this company which has given me so much,” Mendenhall said. “The Newton Daily News has a talented team of journalists, graphic artists and professional staff that I’m blessed to work with every day. The Newton Daily News will continue to provide high-quality local journalism that’s essential a healthy and growing community.”

Pelzer will serve as the successor of long-time Times-Republican Publisher Mike Schlesinger. She will assume management of all operations as the publisher of the Times-Republican and Marshalltown Newspaper, LLC., which includes the seven-day publication of the T-R, six weeklies and two shoppers. Pelzer is the former managing editor of the Times-Republican and has served as editor of the Newton Daily News since July 2014.

“It has been a pleasure to serve as editor of the Newton Daily News alongside some incredible people both in and outside of the newsroom,” Pelzer said. “This opportunity has helped prepare me for the next step in my career. I’ll be forever grateful for this experience in Newton.”

The public is invited to a reception for Pelzer and Mendenhall from 10:30 a.m. to noon May 4 at Uncle Nancy’s Coffee House in Newton. Mendenhall officially assumes his position as editor May 7.