LIHU‘E — The Garden Island welcomes new advertising director Casey Quel and new sports writer Paul Curtis to its ‘ohana and congratulates the promotions of both Nathan Eagle to news editor and Michael Levine to government reporter and assistant news
LIHU‘E — The Garden Island welcomes new advertising director Casey Quel and new sports writer Paul Curtis to its ‘ohana and congratulates the promotions of both Nathan Eagle to news editor and Michael Levine to government reporter and assistant news editor.
Quel returns to TGI after working in sales for Kaua‘i People for a year and a half.
Born and raised on the island, Quel attended college in Los Angeles before returning to Hawai‘i to reside on O‘ahu where she worked for both the Star Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.
“I am very excited,” she said this week when asked how she felt about her new position. “Today, The Garden Island is ‘new and improved’ and continues to grow in positive ways. I am happy to be a part of this great team.”
Her goal for the advertising department is not just to sell advertising space, but to evolve into advertising consultants, partnering with business owners to create ad campaigns and promotions that will grow their businesses.
“We have many products and rate packages that can meet any marketing objective as well as all types of budgets,” she said. “I would love the opportunity to present advertisers a proposal on how we can help grow their business in creative and cost effective ways.”
Also returning to TGI is Curtis who was originally employed as a staff writer in 1999 before progressing to business editor. By 2003 he became the paper’s associate editor.
Prior to his return, Curtis worked as an office manager and reservationist for R&R Realty & Rentals, Inc. — a vacation-rental business owned and operated by his brother, Mike Curtis.
“Most of my professional life on Kaua‘i has been in journalism (11 years with Kaua‘i Times, seven years with The Garden Island). I am happy and excited to be back at TGI and look forward to returning to beat reporting,” Curtis said, as he is expected to transition soon to the cops and courts beat. “I am thankful for the opportunity to once again practice my degreed profession in paradise.”
He also added that he loves reconnecting with the sporting community and has enjoyed renewing his paginating skills.
Eagle has been employed with the paper since he moved to Kaua‘i in May 2007. Before that, he resided in southwestern Ohio and worked as a news desk editor at a daily newspaper there before taking a year to travel the country.
“I decided to move for a change in scenery and a change in culture,” he said. “It’s been one of the best decisions of my life as I was rewarded on both fronts.”
Eagle began at TGI as an environmental reporter and changed beats to cover government for a year as he found government decisions “at the root of most environmental concerns.”
“I took advantage of an opportunity to become assistant editor before accepting the news editor promotion soon after the previous editor’s departure,” he said.
When asked how he feels about being the newsroom editor he had nothing but positive things to say.
“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to lead the newsroom in a bright, positive direction that involves holding our elected officials accountable, responding to community members’ concerns and taking tough stances on the issues that matter,” he said.
Levine is also thankful about his new promotion as assistant editor.
“The Garden Island is growing and changing in exciting ways and I’m thrilled to be part of the team that is working hard every day to translate more than 100 years of wonderful tradition into success in a new medium,” he said earlier this week. “Our readers expect and deserve top-notch coverage and we are going to make sure they continue to get that.”
Levine has been with the paper for nearly a year and was previously covering the cops and courts beat prior to making the transition to government.
“This is a critical time for the future of our island and I look forward to being the eyes, ears and voice of Kaua‘i’s citizens and visitors as our county and state governments make decisions on the environment and the economy that will impact us for years to come,” he said when asked how he felt about his new beat. “I relish the important role that the media plays as a check on government power.”
TGI publisher Mark Lewis said he is excited about the recent changes in the newsroom and advertising departments.
“It is my goal to have the most talented people on island working for your local paper,” he said. “Over the past few years we have strived to improve our staff and deliver to the people of Kaua‘i the best newspaper and Web site possible. The promotions and new hires announced today, along with our dedicated staff, move us closer to achieving that goal.”
• Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
