Gig Harbor Now editorial staff members keep their fingers on the pulse of the community, planning, writing and editing stories of the greatest interest to readers. Extensive journalism experience and regional knowledge enable them to produce news people can use and enjoy.
Vince Dice became the editor of Gig Harbor Now on March 1, 2022. A graduate of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Dice worked in the newspaper industry for more than 20 years, primarily in neighboring Kitsap County. Dice lives in Bremerton with his wife, Angela; son, Dean; and dog, Luna. When not laboring in front of a laptop, Dice enjoys coaching his son’s youth basketball team; reading everything from nonfiction to science fiction; and watching his alma mater’s top-ranked Zags basketball team.
Ed Friedrich is a longtime local journalist and Gig Harbor resident. He worked 35 years at the Kitsap Sun as a sportswriter, copy editor, page designer, news reporter, news editor and rubber band shooter. A South Kitsap native, Ed first moved to Gig Harbor while a student at the University of Puget Sound in the late 1970s and has witnessed a new community grow from old roots during the ensuing half century. He is a creek freak, weather geek, scanner addict, and digs kayaking and saltwater swimming at his Key Peninsula cabin.
Dennis Browne is a longtime local interior designer, husband and father of two great sons in Gig Harbor. Dennis grew up in Manchester, often fishing or bicycling with the Seattle skyline as his backdrop. After his high school and college basketball career ended, he found the love of sports never would. He moved to Gig Harbor after college, found a beautiful girl and never left. He is a outdoor loving, river running, sunset man and Supersonic fan, who loves to play tennis and shoot hoops with his sons, from their home overlooking a local park. He is a member of the National Sports Media Association and is ready to provide a deserved, fresh take on current and former athletes, from the vibrant Gig Harbor sports scene.
Christina T Henry is a freelance journalist reporting on local news from the Kitsap Peninsula and beyond. Chris lives in Port Orchard and formerly wrote for the Kitsap Sun. Her beats have included education, local government and that quirky and capricious grab-bag we call community news. She enjoys our beautiful PNW trails, open water swimming and cycling.
Ted Kenney is a third-generation Gig Harbor Peninsula resident who grew up in Rosedale and attended Gig Harbor High School the year it opened. He has worked as a news reporter, software marketer and restaurant owner. He loves reading, especially Raymond Chandler novels and good non-fiction.
Julie Ammann is a freelance writer, photographer, and producer. Following her degree in architecture from the University of Washington, Julie discovered the power of storytelling. Her early career in national TV news (The Christian Science Monitor’s World Monitor TV, PBS NewsHour) and documentaries (PBS Frontline) would inform the journalist and creative storyteller she is today. Julie lives in Gig Harbor with her family, in a house of filmmakers and photographers. She doesn’t like scary movies, and she’s named after Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music). Her favorite film director and inspiration is Jane Campion.
Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two, longtime journalist, and Instagram influencer in the family and travel niche. Her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was recently named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen moved to Gig Harbor from California in 2021 with their two young kids, Clara and Wyatt. When they’re not adventuring, Tonya stays busy navigating how umbrellas are unacceptable life choices now, giant house spiders exist but only in September and the reality that salted parking lots are absolutely not weird at all. Find her on Instagram and Facebook for all the kid-friendly places in and around Gig Harbor.
Marsha Hart is a journalist who holds degrees in Communication and Psychology from East Tennessee State University. She moved to the area after working for several weekly and daily newspapers, including the Sacramento Bee. She has worked as a reporter and editor covering news, sports, real estate, and features. She enjoys a good book, a scenic hike, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
Carolyn Bick hails from … well, just about all over the place. Starting at a small paper in Wareham, Massachusetts, Carolyn moved on to freelancing in 2016, and found herself in the Pacific Northwest in 2018. During the course of her career, she has worked for local, national, and international publications, and won several journalism awards for her work.
Greg Spadoni of Olalla has had more access to local history than most life-long residents. During 25 years in road construction working for the Spadoni Brothers, his first cousins, twice removed, he traveled to every corner of the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsulas, taking note of many abandoned buildings, overgrown farms, and roads that no longer had a destination. Through his current association with the Harbor History Museum in Gig Harbor as the unofficial Chief (and only) Assistant to Linda McCowen, the Museum’s primary photo archive volunteer, he regularly studies the area’s largest collection of visual history. Combined with the print history available at the Museum and online, he has uncovered countless stories of long-forgotten local people and events.
Christopher Phillips, a Gig Harbor community member since 1981 and former managing editor of The Peninsula Gateway, is a retired journalist and communications executive who worked for Russell Investments, the Port of Tacoma, and the Washington State Investment Board. His column, In the Margins, explores our community’s people, places and experiences, some of which might not otherwise come to our attention. Suggestions are welcome to [email protected].
Mary Williams is amazed that she can once again call herself a freelance journalist. After a circuitous and eclectic career path she is excited to be writing for Gig Harbor Now. After a short stint in Pierce County government (Executive Administrator for the 1980 Board of Freeholders) she spent more than 30 years in higher education in both Washington and California. Her previous experience in journalism came In the late 1980s when for four years she developed first person stories about local athletes for the News Tribune and its Neighbors section. Post-retirement, her time has been spent working with area nonprofits, traveling, and hanging out with her four brilliant (if Gramy does say so herself) granddaughters.
