Gomes, former roving reporter, promoted to East Peoria editor

Beginning Feb. 24, Gomes, 23, will assume the responsibility of covering East Peoria.

As editor, she will oversee the content of the newspaper, design pages and more.

As roving reporter for TimesNewspapers, Gomes has covered East Peoria, Peoria, Morton, Chillicothe and Washington.

“I’m very excited about becoming the editor of the Times-Courier,” she said. “After three months as the roving reporter, I have learned a great deal about the city and look forward to focusing all of my time on the community.”

A Farmington High School graduate, Gomes attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where she majored in news-editorial journalism.

“Although I always enjoyed writing, I had no idea what I wanted to major in,” she said. “Then, I enrolled in an Intro to Journalism course and knew right away that was what I was supposed to do; it felt natural to me.”

While in college, Gomes wrote for The Daily Illini and Buzz Magazine. She also interned at UI Alumni Magazine and the Peoria Journal Star.

After graduating in May 2009, Gomes went back to the Journal Star, where she interned during the summer and fall. While there, she covered general assignments and the police beat.

“When I heard about the position opening up with TimesNewspapers, I jumped on the opportunity,” Gomes said. “It was a great feeling to land a job in my field of study. I felt like all my hard work had finally paid off.”

In her free time, Gomes said she loves spending time with her family and her boyfriend, who all live in the area.

“I have wonderful people in my life who have supported me throughout my career,” she said. “I am so grateful for them.”

When she has the time, Gomes said she enjoys working out and playing volleyball and softball.
“I played three sports in high school,” she said. “Athletics have always been a huge part of my life.”

Gomes said she is looking forward to the challenge of being an editor.

“It’s an honor to become the editor of a paper that is so well-known and long-standing in the community.”

Gomes is taking over for Jeanette Kendall, who was promoted to executive editor.