Pat Hampton
Publisher

pat@calistogatribune.com

From the day she stepped into the Journalism 1 class in high school and after earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism at San Jose State College, publisher Pat Hampton knew she was born to be a newspaper reporter.

Moving  to Calistoga in 1985, she worked on The Weekly Calistogan for nine years under the Brenner family before a new publisher and she parted company in 1998. Four years later, friends and family asked her to start another newspaper for Calistogans who wanted more and better coverage than they were getting at the time. She would still rather be a reporter than a publisher, but somebody had to do it.

Kim Beltran
Editor

Kim was trained to be a reporter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Journalism, and has spent the last 24 years chronicling the Napa Valley’s issues and its residents.

From her days as a news and sports reporter at the Brenner family-owned St. Helena Star, she moved to the editing side of the newspaper business at the then Scripps-owned Napa Valley Register, where she became City Editor in charge of local news coverage.

When former Star co-worker Pat Hampton called her in 2002 asking if she’d like to help start a new Calistoga newspaper, Kim happily accepted the opportunity to return to her small town reporter roots. In 2010, tired of eight years of city council meetings and the stresses of low pay and lots of work, Kim turned in her pica pole and headed East in search of new adventures. 

Ellen Smith,
Advertising

ads@calistogatribune.com

Ellen Smith has been in graphic design all of her working life. For many years she was employed as a junior, and then senior designer at firms specializing in corporate design and advertising. In the mid-80s she formed a design partnership in San Francisco that continued for 20 years. It was during this period that advertising sales also became a necessary part of her career path. Upon the sale of her business and subsequent move to Calistoga, she found a happy home at the Calistoga Tribune. There she was able to continue using the skills she had acquired, but in a new and welcoming environment. Working on design projects with the Tribune’s many fine clients is both interesting and challenging, and for her, extremely rewarding.

Michelle Wing
Staff Writer/Production

michelle@calistogatribune.com

Michelle Wing worked on her high school and college newspapers in Montana, then went off in various other directions before returning to journalism as a staff writer at the Calistoga Tribune shortly after it was established in the summer of 2002. She has an English and history degree from Montana State University, and a master’s degree in Japanese studies from the University of Washington. She is a published poet, essayist and short story writer, and a lover of languages, having studied Japanese, Spanish, and Korean. In addition to news and feature stories, she writes movie reviews and an occasional column, Wingin’ It, for the Tribune.

Yvonne Henry
Photographer

yvonnehwhimsyworks@att.net

Yvonne Henry is fine art photographer who loves mysteries and Calistoga. This partially explains her dedication to the weekly mystery photo which appears in the Calistoga Tribune.

Yvonne is also the Calistoga representative to the Napa County Arts and Culture Commission and a member of the Open Studios Advisory Committee for Arts  Council Napa Valley.

You can see more of her work at http://www.whimsyworks.net

Chick Harrity
Photography Coach

chickh@att.net

Chick Harrity has been a photo-
journalist for over 50 years, 33 of them in Washington, D.C. covering the White House for the Associated Press and US News & World Report magazine.  On April Fools day of 2001 he left US News to move to Calistoga, where he was introduced to Pat Hampton when she was planning to start the Tribune. He foolishly volunteered to help and is now the Photo Coach and occasional contributing photographer. You can see more of his work at http://www.whimsyworks.net

Linda Williamson
Columnist

wordoday@earthlink.net

Linda Williamson's columns on growing up in Indiana are a favorite of Tribune readers. Her insight into childhood, the Midwest, and her love of international travel opens new worlds to her fans. She is funny, sometimes irreverent, and always entertaining. A retired high school journalism teacher, Linda's prose has attracted hundreds of followers in her time with the Tribune.

Jeri Hansen 
Columnist

onebluedelphinium@yahoo.com

Often critical of the politicians that seem to be making matters worse instead of better, worried about the state of the world and the lack of compassion for those who are oppressed and forgotten, Jeri's columns reflect those from a woman of opinion and deep beliefs in the power of goodness and right. She has been a faithful contributor for the past 10 years, drawing both criticism and praise for her viewpoints, but never indecisiveness.

Pad McGinnis
Columnist

Pad2383@yahoo.com

Bringing a youthful, funny and insightful viewpoint of a Millennial to the pages of the newspaper, Pad McGinnis's bi-monthly column "Obfuscations (he named it himself) is a valuable addition to the voices in the Tribune. Whether he is writing about true love, what's in a name or taking a stand for internet freedom, Pad is sure to open new doors to readers.

Noah Hampton-Asmus 
Sports Writer/Photographer

noahdha@gmail.com

From the first edition of the Tribune issued on April 26, 2002, Noah has contributed to the newspaper's success by covering and photographing the sports programs at Calistoga High School. A Rotary Exchange student to Thailand, he returned and took a leave from reporting to enjoy his senior year at CHS before graduating in 2004. At 16, Noah earned a second place in sports photography in the statewide Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Noah is helping out once again while finishing his college degree. We appreciate his style and dedication to giving voice and photos to the local sports teams.