Tehachapi News

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A veteran journalist with a background in business development and education has joined the Tehachapi News as general manager. Peter DeArmond, 54, took the reins this week from GM Vicky Thrasher, who is leaving the News to work as manager of new products and audience development at Valley Direct, Inc.

“I'm excited to be coming here,” said DeArmond. “I'll be moving to Tehachapi to settle here and I'm planning to be part of the community. I have a lot of friends here and I already know it's a great place to live.”

DeArmond began his journalism career as a 20-year-old reporter for the The Bakersfield Californian, and over the next 16 years held positions ranging from features editor, columnist, assistant managing editor and editorial page editor. He left The Californian to become editor and publisher of the Kern Valley Sun, where he founded a popular community event called the Shades of Summer Festival.

When he left the Sun, DeArmond worked in a variety of positions at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, including a three-year stint on the state-funded Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team. Since 2001, he has been a director at the Weill Institute of Bakersfield College, overseeing business development, training and performance improvement programs there.

Why come back to the newspaper business?

“The printer's ink, the digital DNA, whatever you call it, never has left my blood,” DeArmond said. “I've had interesting experiences while running through different career paths, but journalism is my first love, and I'm eager to come back to it.”

DeArmond and his wife, Chris, have two grown children. Their son, Michael, is a computer network specialist and their daughter, Suzanne, is a high school math teacher.