MISSOURIAN ANNOUNCES NEWSROOM PROMOTIONS

John Ramey, a veteran member of the Southeast Missourian news staff, has been named news editor, and Jeff Breer, a member of the sports department since 1992, has been named sports editor of the Southeast Missourian.

Marc Powers, who covers politics for the newspaper, has been promoted to the copy desk as a copy editor, and Peggy Scott, a Southeast Missourian reporter for the past 10 years, is now in charge of news and features graphics. She will continue to write for the newspaper.

The promotions were brought about by the pending departure of News Editor Jay Eastlick, who has accepted the position of senior reporter at the St. Joseph News-Press in St. Joseph, Mo. Eastlick will leave in mid-April.

The promotions are effective immediately.

Ramey joined the newspaper staff in February 1969 as a reporter, and has performed an assortment of duties during his 27 years with the newspaper. He covered a variety of topics during his years as a reporter.

Ramey has served as a copy editor and page designer since the early 1980s. He became the city editor in 1988, and since has helped direct the news staff while serving as a copy editor and page designer.

As news editor, he will oversee copy-desk operations and be responsible for nightly production of news pages and their content.

Ramey is a native of Cape Girardeau.

As sports editor, Breer oversees the sports department, which he has been doing since November.

He came to the Southeast Missourian sports department after spending four years as a reporter and page designer for the St. Joseph News-Press. Breer grew up in St. Louis and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1982. His assignments at the Southeast Missourian have included high-school and college sports coverage as well as page design.

As copy editor, Powers will edit reporters' stories, design pages and help assure a smooth flow of news-page production.

Powers joined the Southeast Missourian sports department in February 1994. He moved to the news department last June as a crime and court reporter, and began dedicating most of his time to political coverage last October. In 1992 and 1993, he worked as a general assignment reporter for The Daily Statesman in Dexter, a Rust Communications paper, as is the Southeast Missourian.

Powers is a St. Louis native. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1991.

Scott joined the newspaper staff in 1985 as a police and fire reporter. She soon began covering education, and has done so until taking over her new graphics-design duties. She will continue to serve as a general assignment reporter.

Scott, a native of St. Louis, graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1985.

Eastlick started as a reporter at the Southeast Missourian in March 1990. In 1993, he was promoted to the newspaper's copy desk as night editor and a year later was named news editor.