Best wishes, Alex Hummel

Longtime Oshkosh Northwestern employee, Alex Hummel, has left the newspaper, effective Feb. 19. While some people may be aware of his departure, many still are not. Still more have expressed surprise in speaking to me about it. I don’t recall the Northwestern publishing anything about his departure online, and those I’ve spoken with about this don’t recall anything being printed in the hard copy version either. Perhaps it will come later, or it might be for some reason nothing will be published about it. But I felt it appropriate to say a few words here.

I first met Alex in the days we were both working in local media – him at the Northwestern, me in local radio – and we’d see each other from time to time at different news events. Later on, as I ran for political office, our professional relationship expanded. In recent years, Alex – along with the newspaper’s executive editor Stew Rieckman – had graced the set of “Eye on Oshkosh” several times, giving his perspective on local news and politics and sharing new online endeavors the newspaper was undertaking. He was always a joy to work with, in any capacity, and I always felt Alex demonstrated a sense of professionalism and fair play, despite how some people feel about the Oshkosh Northwestern or journalists in general.

While we look forward to having Stew and someone else from the paper on the show in the future, Dan and I will miss Alex being a part of it and sharing his perspective. And we wish him the very best in the future, with whatever new ventures he’s pursuing. Good luck, Alex, and, as they say, thanks for the memories.