On Friday, January 19 the North West Star farewelled senior journalist Samantha Walton – for now.
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Sam already has had two stints with the Star and now she’s off to have her baby and will be back again after her maternity leave ends in January next year.
From the word go, I’ve been impressed with Sam’s attitude and her willingness to get involved in things locally.
A New South Wales country girl (but we won’t hold that against her!) she lost her heart to a local lad ensuring that North West Queensland would become a permanent home.
She came up after a short stint at the Dubbo newspaper and after a year learning her craft at the Star she took the job of journalist at our sister paper the North Queensland Register, based in Cloncurry but covering a large territory of rural northern Queensland.
She fell pregnant this year and with the long distances becoming tiring, she applied to return to the North West Star as senior journalist to replace Chris Burns when he left for Peru in October.
I took Sammy back in a heartbeat and in her three months back she fitted in back at the paper like a comfortable glove.
We’ll miss Sammy smiling face around the traps and her ability to ferret news from unlikely places.
But we wish her and her fiance Eddie well as they set off on a new adventure in this wonderful part of the world.
I am sure they will both be wonderful parents.
You’ll be missed, Sam, and can’t wait to have you back next January.
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The North West Star is launching a new campaign to get more of your local news in the paper. Called “Send us your news”, the campaign takes advantage of the newly redesigned website for people to contribute their special stories, milestone events and photographs.
It is now even easier than ever to share your new with us online.
Simply go to the “community” tab on the homepage menu on our website and then select “send us your news” and send us your story and photos - Derek Barry