FROM STAFF REPORTS

Fred Guarino has been named the latest staff member of The Lowndes Signal, joining the newspaper as a general assignment reporter.

Guarino is a 1976 graduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.

His career in community journalism spans more than 30 years and began in Cedartown, Ga., where he served as news editor from 1976-1978. He left Cedartown to join the Shelby County Reporter as a reporter, sports editor and editor of affiliated newspapers, The Coosa Press in Coosa County and The Childersburg Star in Childersburg.

Following eight years of service with the Daily Home in Talledega, Guarino returned to Columbiana and the Shelby County Reporter in 1995. Since that time, he served in numerous roles for the Reporter, including reporter, staff writer and sports editor.

The Shelby County Reporter and The Lowndes Signal are part of the Boone Newspapers organization of Tuscaloosa.

“I look forward to meeting and serving the people of Lowndes County,” Guarino said.

Guarino has received numerous awards and recognition for his work, including being named to the National Honor Society of Journalism. A series of articles he authored on Kimberly-Clark’s efforts to eliminate dioxin from the papermaking process earned him an award from the Associated Press.

“We are excited to welcome Fred to The Lowndes Signal,” said publisher Ashley Vansant. “He brings with him a commitment to community and a passion for journalism, tools that will serve Lowndes County its newspaper well.”