Jenine Kubista, another Owatonna native, has been in the newspaper business for 34 years, the last four at the Steele County Times.
A graphics and ad designer on the production side of things, Kubista loves to travel and read. If she gets close to a state capitol, she’s definitely going to take a photo – and maybe, the tour.
Despite her frequent travels, she has yet to visit the Grand Canyon or take a drive up the West Coast – but they’re on the itinerary.
Howard Lestrud has logged nearly 60 years in journalism. He started his career at the Austin Daily Herald on the sports desk. He began his newspaper career full time at the Albert Lea Tribune as farm page editor and then became sports editor of the Tribune.
Lestrud landed the sports editor job at the Winona Daily News and eventually went on to the Forest Lake Times where he worked for former Gov. Eimer L. Andersen until he retired.
Alex Malm is a staff writer with the Steele County Times, joining the staff in the spring of 2024 following the closure of Southwest News Media newspaper, his former employer in the southwest suburbs.
Malm began his career in journalism covering the 2016 Presidential election as a contributor for the Boston Herald as a college student. He traveled the country covering the election, including the first inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Sherrie Pechan has worked for the Steele County Times since January 2020, acting as an “essential employee” during the COVID days. She handles communication through phone and email; subscriptions; billing and customer service.
Pechan was born in Missouri, grew up in Illinois and made her way to Minnesota for work after college. She liked it enough to stay for the next 57 years.
Her family owned and operated Antler Lodge in Big Fork, Minn., for several years. Pechan retired from Mayo Clinic before coming to work for the Times.
Wyonne Priebe has been continuing her long and successful sales career that started many years ago with one of the nation’s top insurance providers, Federated Insurance, based in Owatonna. She joined the Steele County Times as a marketing specialist in 2021 and has immersed herself in the newspaper industry ever since.
