ARIZONA CAPITOL TIMES EDITORS:

Gary Grado
Executive Editor
ggrado@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7111
@geegra on Twitter
Gary has been a journalist since 1994 and worked at two other newspapers in the Valley before joining the Arizona Capitol Times in 2010. Gary, a Valley resident since 1988, spent 13 years at the Pulitzer Prize-winning East Valley Tribune, where he covered courts, public safety and municipal government. He won third place for Best News Story in the 2008 Arizona Newspapers Association Better Newspapers Contest for a story about a jailhouse interview with a mass murderer, and he has won multiple first-place awards for investigative stories at the Capitol Times. At the Chandler Independent, he covered municipal government for three years. Gary is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, a die-hard Denver Broncos fan and avid runner.

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Kerry Fehr-Snyder
Yellow Sheet Report Editor
kfehrsnyder@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7126
Kerry Fehr-Snyder is an award-winning journalist with more than 35 years of experience covering news in the Phoenix metro area. She began reporting news and writing features in the Southeast Valley for the Arizona Republic before getting promoted to the business section of the Phoenix Gazette to create a new technology beat. She was selected as one of eight journalists nationwide for the yearlong Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT. There, she audited courses in astronomy, biotechnology and creative writing at MIT and Harvard while attending science seminars twice a week. She also got a first-hand lesson in physics by sculling on the muddy Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After the fellowship ended, she returned to the Republic to cover science, including public health and medical research. Then, she was hired as the managing editor of the four-person Arizona Science Desk at KJZZ, the NPR member station in Phoenix. She also edited general news and features for the station before joining the Arizona Capitol Times to edit the daily subscription-only Yellow Sheet Report. Kerry is married to a public school teacher and has two adult children. For fun, she can be found playing with her two adorable rescue dogs or working out at her gym. She also is an avid reader and jigsaw puzzle player.

Don Harris
Copy Editor
dharris@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7136
Don joined Arizona Capitol Times as copy editor/reporter in 2001, capping a journalism career that began in Chicago. Immediately prior to his service with the Capitol Times, for nearly nine years Don was a public information officer for state of Arizona agencies, first with the Department of Commerce and then the Department of Insurance. Don also covered politics, organized labor and general assignments at The Arizona Republic for 19 years, periodically serving as an assistant city editor. At The Republic, Don covered the Arizona House of Representatives for 10 years, as well as five national political conventions and most major political races. Political figures he covered extensively include Barry Goldwater, Bruce Babbitt, Burton Barr, Evan Mecham, and Rose Mofford. He received several journalism awards in Arizona and Chicago. Don, his wife and their three children moved to Arizona from Chicago in 1973, after having been a reporter for the Chicago Today/Chicago American for a number of years.

Jakob Thorington
House Reporter
jthorington@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7133
@ja_Kobe_ on Twitter

Jakob is the state house reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times. He grew up near Seattle and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media production from Washington State University in 2020. While in college, Jakob wrote for the student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen. After graduating, he reported for the Upper Valley Standard Journal and the Post Register in eastern Idaho, covering local news, education and government.

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Kiera Riley
Courts & Education Reporter
kriley@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7132
@kiera_riley on Twitter

Kiera covers the courts and education for the Arizona Capitol Times. She earned her bachelors from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in 2022. During her time in school, Kiera worked as a reporter and managing editor for State Press Magazine, a business and social justice reporter for Cronkite News and a politics intern for the Arizona Republic. Before joining the Capitol Times, she worked as a freelance news reporter for the Phoenix New Times. Kiera is a 2022 Hearst Journalism Awards finalist and received Article of the Year for a feature story covering how a dubbed version of Star Wars assisted in Indigenous language learning and preservation.

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Hannah Elsmore
Senate Reporter
helsmore@azcapitoltimes.com
602-889-7114
@hannah_elsmore on Twitter

Hannah is the Senate reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times. She attended Northern Arizona University and studied Journalism on the writing and editing track and obtained her degree in May of 2023. Her journalism career began when she was hired as a Culture Reporter for NAU’s student newspaper, the Lumberjack. Taking interest in cultural coverage, she then worked as the lead Features editor, where she managed a team of writers while simultaneously taking on long-term pieces of her own. She wrote stories encompassing a range of topics such as flooding, local music, policy reform and tourism. Closing out her college journalism career, she worked as the Managing Editor for the newspaper, mentoring writers and editors while guiding the team’s transition to a digital news model.

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Reagan Priest
Executive Branch Reporter
rpriest@stateaffairs.com
602-889-7114
@reaganspriest on Twitter

Reagan covers the governor’s office, state agencies and the Corporation Commission for the Arizona Capitol Times. She previously covered state politics for local outlets the Arizona Republic and the Copper Courier. Reagan’s work has won her the Correspondents’ Award from the Society of Professional Journalists Washington, D.C. Chapter. She has a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Arizona State University. Reagan is originally from Idaho and currently lives in Phoenix with her cat Cleo.

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