School board reporter Linda Smith Hancharick named managing editor of West Milford Messenger

Chester — Linda Smith Hancharick, the veteran reporter and writer for The Warwick Advertiser and The Chronicle in Chester, has been named managing editor of The West Milford (N.J.) Messenger, Straus News publisher and president Jeanne H. Straus announced this week. In her work as a freelance journalist for the past 15 years, Smith has covered the Town of Warwick, the Village of Warwick, the Warwick Valley and Chester school boards, plus a variety of spot news stories and issues. But for as many stories as she has written about taxes, educating children or development, Smith was equally versatile in telling stories that revealed the fabric of the community and that celebrated people’s accomplishments large and small. The Messenger, The Warwick Advertiser and The Chronicle are three of the nine Straus News papers that deliver local news and advertising to more than 80,000 readers each week in southern Orange County in New York, northern New Jersey and Pike County, Pa. The newspapers also are available online at www.thechroniclenewspaper.com. Smith was born and raised in East Newark, N.J. She graduated from Rutgers University (Newark) with a degree in English and concentration in journalism. Prior to writing for Straus newspapers, Smith worked for Berkley Publishing in New York City and as a technical writer and editor for E.F. Hutton and United Parcel Service. “It has been interesting covering the Chester School Board over the past five years,” Smith said. “I have had the honor of meeting some very dedicated people and writing about issues that affect many. I will miss that.” Smith and her husband, Mike Hancharick, have lived in Warwick for 20 years. Their two children, Kyle and Kathryn Hancharick, are both students at John S. Burke Catholic High School in Goshen.