Newsroom

Joe Soprano - Executive Editor


PHONE: 570-991-6393
E-MAIL: jsoprano@timesleader.com

Joe Soprano is the Times Leader Media Group's executive editor. He has worked at the paper in various positions since 1989. Through his career at the Times Leader, his work has appeared in sports, news and features sections. He writes the "Cycling Scene" blog and column throughout the summer months. Joe is a 1988 graduate of the Penn State University, where he worked with the football program for four seasons, and a 1984 graduate of Bishop Hoban High School.


Bill O’Boyle - Columnist


PHONE: 570-991-6118
E-MAIL: boboyle@timesleader.com

Bill O'Boyle is the Times Leader Media Group's news columnist/staff writer. His popular "Beyond the Byline" column on Sundays and occasional "Feet to the Fire"commentaries are fixtures on our pages. Bill has written for the Times Leader since April 2007, covering everything from Wilkes-Barre City to presidential races and local, state and national politics to breaking news to the repair of the Wyoming Monument. A native of Plymouth now residing in Plains Township, O'Boyle volunteers with Victory Sports for adults with mental and physical challenges, the Hope Center Free Clinic of Wyoming Valley and he serves as a judge in the annual Plymouth Kielbasa Festival contest. A child of the sixties, O'Boyle often visits the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, New York, and his radio is locked into the music of that time.


Jennifer Learn-Andes - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6388
E-MAIL: jandes@timesleader.com

Jennifer Learn-Andes is the Times Leader Media Group reporter covering Luzerne County government. Jennifer started working at the Times Leader as in intern in 1991 while attending Wilkes University. After covering features, the Hazleton Area School District and municipal government, Jennifer has been concentrating on the county beat since 2000. She lives in the Hazleton area and enjoys spending time with family, watching classic films, exploring state parks and hunting for cheap antiques.


Jerry Lynott - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6120
E-MAIL: jlynott@timesleader.com

Jerry Lynott is the Times Leader Media Group's reporter covering Wilkes-Barre. He began working as a night reporter in October 1988 and has covered a variety of beats. He lives on a family farm in Wyoming County with his wife, Jean, and daughter, Sarah.


Mark Guydish - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6112
E-MAIL: mguydish@timesleader.com

Mark Guydish is the Times Leader Media Group's reporter covering education, a beat he has held since 1995. Additionally, he produces graphics and covers religion. He has pitched in as columnist, editorial writer, blogger, general number cruncher and in video and page layout. The seventh of nine children, he is originally from West Hazleton but moved to Wilkes-Barre after marrying arts and entertainment reporter Mary Therese Biebel in 2001. He has cycled across the country, canoed much of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, backpacked for decades and amassed a large array of Lego bricks.


Mary Therese Biebel - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6109
E-MAIL: mbiebel@timesleader.com

Mary Therese Biebel is a Times Leader Media Group arts and entertainment reporter. She enjoys writing about local folks whose accomplishments, challenges or zest for life might make you want to stand up and cheer them on. Mary Therese began working at the Times Leader as an intern in 1983 and has filled roles as diverse as obit clerk, city desk reporter and social editor. She lives in Wilkes-Barre with her husband, Mark; dotes on her nieces and nephews; and enjoys hiking, swimming and cross-country skiing.


John Erzar - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6394
E-MAIL: jerzar@timesleader.com

John Erzar is a Times Leader Media Group reporter covering high school football, baseball and softball, NASCAR and IndyCar racing, and Little League. He is an avid fan of the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Nationals and Cleveland Cavaliers. He enjoys weight training and music, particularly Marillion and Mushroomhead. He also volunteers his time as a coach at the Wyoming/West Wyoming Little League.


Derek Levarse - Reporter


PHONE: 570-991-6396
E-MAIL: dlevarse@timesleader.com

Derek Levarse is the Times Leader Media Group's Penn State football beat reporter. He has covered that beat since 2007, and covered the program for various outlets since the 2003 season, including while serving as a writer and editor for four years at The Daily Collegian in State College. A Pittsburgh native and Penn State alum, Derek also covers Wyoming Valley Conference high school baseball and Freedom Conference college basketball.