The Daily Inter Lake’s newsroom management team is undergoing a major transition for the first time in many years.

On Friday, Assistant Managing Editor Scott Crandell retired after 26 years here. Crandell joined the newsroom in October 1990 and has served as news editor since 1991.

“There is no one who knows more about local news than Scott Crandell,” Managing Editor Frank Miele said. “He has guided and trained more than 75 reporters and photographers in our newsroom over the years, and left a broad legacy. Although he labored behind the scenes, there is no doubt he will be missed by both our staff and our readers.”

[Elsewhere on this page, Features Editor Lynnette Hintze pays tribute to Crandell in her biweekly column.]

As part of the transition, former Whitefish Pilot Editor and General Manager Matt Baldwin has been named regional editor for the Daily Inter Lake.

Baldwin was with the Pilot for more than seven years, beginning in 2009. The newspaper won the Montana Newspaper Association’s Thomas Dimsdale award in 2015, recognizing it as the best weekly in the state among all circulation sizes. Both the Pilot and Daily Inter Lake are part of Hagadone Montana Publishing.

“We are happy to welcome Matt to our Kalispell operation, where he will help oversee the Inter Lake newsroom,” said Miele. “We also intend to take advantage of Matt’s background as a weekly editor by having him provide more direction to our six weekly newspapers in Northwest Montana as well.”

Baldwin will continue as general manager of the Pilot.

Prior to joining the Pilot, Baldwin made stops at Helena’s Independent Record, The Greenville News in South Carolina and the Asheville Citizen Times in North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of Montana Journalism School and has lived in the Flathead Valley since 2004. Baldwin resides in Whitefish with his wife, Sadie, and two young daughters, Isla and Samantha.

Before he joined the Inter Lake, Crandell worked at the Great Falls Tribune, Hungry Horse News and Denver Post. He is a graduate of the University of Montana and the University of Colorado.