Bylines   

In the Trenches: Stephanie Townsend , a reporter for the El Paso Times in Texas, files suit against the newspaper demanding she be returned to her beat covering the local electric company. Townsend, now covering free trade issues and banking, claims she was "good-old-boyed" after asking tough questions of El Paso Electric President David Wiggs at a news conference. Times Publisher and Editor Tom Fenton says Wiggs complained; Townsend alleges the two men then made a "deal" to remove her. Fenton says that charge is "ludicrous" but wouldn't comment further; El Paso Electric spokesman Alan Bunnell maintains that while he "monitors every reporter very carefully," neither he nor Wiggs had complained about Townsend... Woody Paige resigns as executive sports editor of the Denver Post after an assistant accuses him of sexual harassment. Carrie Ludicke says that Paige called her a "cunt" during a heated argument in his office, a charge which Paige has denied. Ludicke has said the argument was over a phone message she had taken for him that he considered confidential but which Ludicke passed along through a colleague. Paige continues to write his sports column; Ludicke, who plans to return to school, left with a cash settlement of between $25,000 and $30,000. Says Post Executive M.E. Neil Westergaard , "Profanity was used by both parties, but nobody knows for sure what was said." Paige could not be reached... Domer Ringuette , publisher of the weekly Chicopee, Massachusetts, Herald until he left town abruptly last fall, has turned up in Las Vegas. Now working at a casino, Ringuette says he was in debt and didn't want to deal with the paperwork of selling the newspaper. Besides, he says, "I always wanted to be a poker dealer.".. As part of an effort to get his staff to "think more creatively," M.E. William Sutton Jr. of the Gary, Indiana, Post-Tribune launches a redesign, reorganizes beats, takes a desk in the newsroom and eliminates the position of metro editor, relying instead on "strong teamwork." The former Philadelphia Inquirer deputy city editor also changes his title to "newsroom manager," explaining in an internal memo that "managing editors manage 'editors'... A newsroom manager works with a 'newsroom of newspeople.' " Although other positions also were renamed – Chief Photographer James Trotman , for example, becomes "photo image manager" – reporters remain reporters.

Magazines: Ellen Fair , who worked her way from researcher to managing editor during 14 years at Esquire, becomes M.E. at another Hearst magazine, Harper's Bazaar. She replaces Betty Klarnet , M.E. since 1975, who leaves the magazine. New Harper's Editor Elizabeth Tilberis , meanwhile, begins "building her own team," according to a spokesman. Six staffers have already been laid off to make room... Deputy Editor Cliff Hopkinson leaves U.S. News & World Report to join Condé Nast Traveler as M.E. He replaces his wife, Chris Garrett , who becomes a personnel director for the parent company... Playboy hires Kevin Buckley as its executive editor. Buckley, who has worked for Newsweek, Lear's and Geo, recently completed a book on Panama. He succeeds Barry

Golson , now at TV Guide... Joe Klein leaves New York magazine for Newsweek, where he'll write a weekly political column. "I've been very happy at New York," he says, "but this is a chance for a national platform and to write more on foreign issues."

Newspapers: Jerry Nachman resigns as editor of the New York Post to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and write a thriller for Random House that involves "columnists, TV journalists, cops, mass murderers and shrinks." He says he would have preferred a sabbatical, "but editors can never take them because your successor becomes a lame duck." Executive Editor Lou Colasuonno , who joined the paper in 1968 as a copy boy, replaces him... The Rockland Journal-News in New York names Caesar Andrews as executive editor. He leaves parent Gannett Co.'s corporate news staff... L. Gordon Crovitz , assistant editorial page editor at the Wall Street Journal, moves to Hong Kong to become editor of Dow Jones' Far Eastern Economic Review. He succeeds Philip Bowring , who has been asked to join Dow Jones Asia as associate editor and columnist... Mark Yemma , formerly an assistant editor at the Orange County Register, joins the Los Angeles Times as an Orange County business editor. The Times also promotes reporter Elaine Woo to edit coverage of education and religion; Drex Heikes leaves the Valley edition to become an editor in the D.C. bureau; and Roberta Barron leaves the Houston Chronicle for the Times national copy desk... Howard Tyner , formerly deputy M.E. at the Chicago Tribune, now oversees the features department as an associate editor. He succeeds Koky Dishon , who joins a newly created team of senior editors that includes Associate M.E. John Twohey and Creative Director Tony Majeri . Metro Editor Ann Marie Lipinski adds Tyner's duties as deputy M.E. to her responsibilities... The St. Petersburg Times names Eileen Shanahan as its D.C.-based economics reporter, a new position. Before serving as executive editor of Governing magazine, she was a New York Times reporter and assistant M.E. of the Washington Star... The Louisville Courier-Journal taps Stephen Ford , a 22-year veteran of the newspaper, as M.E. He replaces Irene Nolan , who leaves the paper... The Aspen Times hires Loren Jenkins , a veteran of UPI, Newsweek and the Washington Post, as editor and publisher. Jenkins won a Pulitzer in 1983 for his coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon... Mark Trahant , editor and publisher of the short-lived Navaho Nation Today, joins the Salt Lake Tribune as news editor... The Baltimore Sun promotes political correspondent Paul West to Washington bureau chief. He replaces Frank Starr , who took a buyout offer... Michael Chihak , formerly world editor at USA Today, becomes executive editor of the Californian in Salinas...

J. Lowe Davis leaves the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, to edit the daily explanatory and investigative "Insights" section at the Albuquerque Tribune. Asked why she made the move, Davis says, "Have you ever been to Albuquerque? When I visited last December, they could hardly get me back on the plane" to return east and finish packing.

Heart of Texas: The Houston Post hires Editor Gerald Garcia , formerly president of the defunct Knoxville Journal. He replaces Charles Cooper , now corporate editorial director at parent company MediaNews Group. The Post also hires Executive Business Editor Philip Schoch , formerly at the defunct Dallas Times Herald... The Roanoke, Virginia, Times & News names Bob Mann , another former Times Herald staffer, as city editor. He succeeds Jane White , who left a year ago for the Phoenix Gazette... The Dallas Morning News hires reporter Sylvia Martinez from the Austin American-Statesman, country music critic Michael Corcoran , formerly a freelancer, and pop music critic Manny Mendoza from the Milwaukee Journal.

AP: Thomas Wagner , formerly editor of AP's foreign desk in New York, becomes news editor in New Delhi. Also, the New York Observer reports that former hostage and one-time AP Beirut bureau chief Terry Anderson will receive about $1 million from Crown Publishers for his memoirs.

Network News: Consumer affairs reporter Betty Furness departs from NBC and its flagship station, New York's WNBC, to "try sitting down and see if I like it." Furness, 76, has been with WNBC since 1976 and the "Today" show since 1978, when she was hired to host briefly with

Barbara Walters and kept on as a reporter. Furness says she "didn't get the impression" that her age was a factor in NBC's decision not to renew her contract, but adds, "Who would say they were wrong if it was? Seventy-six is pushing it." Instead, she says the network told her they want to do more "hard-hitting, man-on-the-street reporting, which is not my bag. I'm not the type to grab someone by the lapels and say, 'Stop your dirty tricks.' " During her tenure, Furness broke such stories as the tendency of certain sports cars to accelerate unexpectedly and led a crusade to resize bedsheets so they'd fit better... Bill Seamans retires after 29 years with ABC News. Seamans has been Tel Aviv bureau chief since 1972 and also spent 10 years at CBS. Producer Jacques Grenier succeeds him.

CBS News: CBS launches its overnight news service, "Up to the Minute," replacing the canceled "Nightwatch," and hires Monica Gayle of San Diego's KNSD as an anchor. In New York, the network promotes Deputy Foreign Editor Allen Alter to replace Al Ortiz , now London bureau chief, as editor; Marcy McGinnis , formerly the New York-based executive producer of CBS's satellite news service, NewsNet, becomes director of NewsNet in Europe and deputy London chief. CBS News also hires Bill Lagattuta , formerly at KNBC in Los Angeles and Cinny Kennard , formerly of WFFA in Dallas, as reporters in Los Angeles; Roberta Baskin , formerly chief correspondent for "Now It Can Be Told," as a reporter from Washington; and Ellen Fleysher , formerly a reporter at WNBC, as a "Street Stories" producer.

Local TV Feeds: Reporter Kevin McCarty leaves KCRA in Sacramento, where he covered the environment, to become a reporter at WMAQ in Chicago. "WMAQ has a reputation as an investigative shop, and as much as I loved environmental reporting, I was looking forward to getting back to hard news," says McCarty. A longtime West Coast resident, he was greeted during his first week on the job in mid-March by eight inches of snow... KHOU in Houston hires sports reporter Pam Oliver , who leaves WTVT in Tampa... WXIA in Atlanta hires anchor Karl Brown , formerly at KTTV in Los Angeles.

Cable/Satellite: Conus Communications promotes Steve Johnson from M.E. to director of news for Satellite News Cooperative and the All News Channel, both based in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Johnson joined Conus last year after leaving KXLY in Spokane... Angus Yates , who had been a senior producer for the troubled Monitor Channel, joins the Discovery Channel as a producer of documentaries.

In Memoriam: Manuel de Dios Unanue , 49, a journalistic crusader against drug lords, was gunned down in a New York City restaurant... Sportswriter Gene Ward of the New York Daily News died at 78... Barbara Frum , longtime host of the Canadian Broadcast Corp.'s nightly news show, "The Journal," died of leukemia at 54.