Countywide : Simi Valley Editor Wayne Lee to Leave

Wayne Lee, 54, editor and publisher of the Simi Valley Enterprise for 16 years, announced Friday that he will leave the paper to return to the Kansas daily where he broke in as a cub reporter 29 years ago.

John Bowman, 55, former editor of the Ventura County Star-Free Press, will succeed Lee as editor and publisher of the 16,562-circulation Enterprise, said Peter LaDow, president and chief executive officer of John P. Scripps Newspapers, the California-based subsidiary of E.W. Scripps and owner of the Star-Free Press.

E.W. Scripps announced in September an agreement with the Kansas-based Harris Enterprises to take over full ownership of the Enterprise, the Moorpark Mirror and the Camarillo Daily News. Scripps already owned 50% of the Enterprise and the Mirror.

Bowman was editor of the 49,877-circulation Star-Free Press for nearly five years before being appointed LaDow’s special assistant last month. He will assume control of the Enterprise on Oct. 31, one day after the sale of the paper is scheduled to become final.

“I’d hoped to have John working with me for a year or so,” LaDow said. “But this opening developed and he just felt (the Enterprise staff) are top-quality people.”

Lee takes over as editor and publisher of the Hutchinson News effective Jan. 1. The paper is owned by Harris Enterprises and is the flagship paper of the chain.