From Staff Reports

Tribune general manager Jim Ward is pleased to announce the appointment of Karen Hall as editor, effective March 25.

She wants to make the Marshall County Tribune the best paper possible, and make it truly an asset for the community. With more jobs coming to Marshall County, the Lewisburg square coming to life again, and the schools making progress under their new director, the county seems to be moving into a better future. Hall wants the Tribune right there, covering every bit of the good news.

She has been with the Tribune since November 2007. She was on the school board beat all through the rise and fall of Dr. Stan Curtis, as well as Roy Dukes' time as director, and the selection of Jackie Abernathy as our current director of schools.

Gradually Hall worked her way into reporting courts and crime, and her weekly crime reports have been a feature - sometimes the most-read one - of the paper since 2009. Courts and crime are her favorite beat, but also the one which generates the most controversy.

The first really big, long-running story that Hall worked on was in 2008 when Waste Management bought an option on land south of Cornersville as a proposed site for a new landfill.

Hall moved from the school board beat to covering Lewisburg city government in 2012, and thus covered both the arrival and departure of former city manager Tommy Engram.

Hall was born in Michigan. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1968, traveled to England, and lived there for three and a half years. She married an Englishman shortly after arriving in London, and together they moved to Spain. Later she met her second husband, Major Peter Hall, also an Englishman, in Spain, and they remained there until 1991. During their time in Spain, the Halls played polo, had a pack of hounds, and organized many different equestrian events.

In 1991 they moved to Marshall County, to a farm south of Cornersville, attracted by the beautiful riding country and the availability of two packs of foxhounds and a pack of bassets. The Halls' children, who had been educated in Spain and in England, both graduated from Cornersville High School.

Hall was introduced to cattle farming when she moved to America, and made the switch to registered Beefmaster cattle after the major died in 2001. She has won two national championships with her bulls, as well as numerous other awards. Hall and her partner Micky Tate have traveled all over showing and selling their cattle, and met lots of wonderful people in the process.

When she's at home, her favorite things to do are look at her cattle, cook, read, and watch movies.