The Peninsula Gateway is a weekly community newspaper covering the Gig Harbor and Key peninsulas. Owned by the McClatchy Company, the Gateway’s print product appears each Wednesday. The Gateway’s Web site and blog are available 24 hours a day with news, sports, lifestyles and opinions that affect Gig Harbor residents.

While many of the items published in this blog are news events, the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Peninsula Gateway, Olympic Cascade Publishing or The McClatchy Company.

Meet our bloggers:

Brian McLean, editor

Brian McLean has been the editor of the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor since March 2007, his second stint at the paper. He previously worked as the sports editor from June 2003 through November 2005, spending most of his time at Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools.

In between, Brian worked as a sports reporter for The Olympian, covering 16 South Sound high schools as well as occasional stories and columns about the Seattle Mariners. Brian also has professional experience with The Associated Press, the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review and the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles. He has been awarded first-place excellence in journalism certificates and plaques by the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Newspaper Association and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.

Brian graduated from the prestigious Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University in 2003. He lives with his wife, Stacie, at Palmer Lake on the Key Peninsula. They have one son, Mason, who will turn 1 this May.

Questions, comments or story ideas can be e-mailed to brian.mclean@gateline.com.

Marques Hunter, Sports editor

Marques Hunter has worked at The Peninsula Gateway in a variety of capacities since September 2006. After covering city politics, Marques has been covering the peninsula sports scene since February 2008. He’s an active person who loves to compete — as much in his reporting and writing skills as he is when it comes to athletics.

Marques received his education in the Puget Sound region, earning a degree from the University of Washington-Tacoma after he graduated from Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. He also attended Pierce College in Steilacoom.

“The best part of my job is I get to listen to other people’s stories and craft a piece of writing that encapsulates it,” he says. For sports tips, e-mail marques.hunter@gateline.com.

Lee Giles III, photographer

Lee Giles III began work as a freelance photographer for The Peninsula Gateway and The Puyallup Herald in August 2003. Two years later, he was hired as the Gateway staff photographer. Since then, Lee has been honored by many industry organizations, including the Society of Professional Journalists, the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the National Newspaper Association.

Lee started his photography career when he shot for both the yearbook and school newspaper at both Truman Junior High and Wilson High schools in north Tacoma. He has also worked freelance spot news in reporting and photography for the Tacoma News Tribune. Lee served in the U.S. Marine Corps at Twentynine Palms, Calif., from 1985-89 as an infantryman who operated the Light Armored Vehicle. He is certified in Washington as both an EMT and a paramedic, and he’s also a certified fixed-wing pilot with an instrument rating and hundreds of hours of flight time.

Lee’s additional newspaper experience includes freelance work for the Tacoma Weekly, KIRO-TV, The Seattle Times and The Associated Press. He is the father of 18-year-old twins, a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. He also has a 14-year-old step-son. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, near Point Defiance.

For news tips for photo opportunities, e-mail lee.giles@gateline.com.

Susan Schell, Lifestyles coordinator/reporter

Susan Schell has worked at five different newspapers, including The Peninsula Gateway, in three different states. She has won awards from the Better Newspaper Publishers Association, the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and the Society of Professional Journalists in the categories of Feature Writing, Personalities, Spot News Coverage, Comprehensive Coverage, Lifestyle Coverage and Photo Essay. She was also part of The Puyallup Herald news team that won SPJ’s General Excellence award for 2007.

Schell loves to cover exciting stories and events on-the-spot. Her favorite comprehensive assignments were the restoration of the St. George Reef Lighthouse and the “Biscuit” fire, a mammoth forest fire that swept through the Kalmiopsis wilderness in southern Oregon and northern California and became the nation’s No. 1 fire. She spent many hours in the smoke-filled wilderness and the fire camps wearing full fire gear and carrying a backpack.

Covering the St. George Reef Lighthouse involved being helicoptered out to the lighthouse, which sits on a rocky reef in the middle of the ocean off northern California, and spending the night in the lighthouse with no electricity or facilities.

Schell enjoys art and music, and outdoor activities, such as hiking and camping.

For feature story ideas, e-mail susan.schell@gateline.com.

Nate Hulings, reporter

Nate Hulings has worked at The Peninsula Gateway since May 2009. Hulings covers politics and general news on both the Gig Harbor and the Key peninsulas. He also reports on the Peninsula School District, two fire districts, Pierce County government, state politics and breaking news.

Hulings graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pacific Lutheran University in May 2009 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication with a journalism emphasis.

Although The Peninsula Gateway is Hulings’ first job out of college, he is no stranger to working in the newspaper business. He first entered the media market as a sports clerk for The News Tribune from 2007-08, and he was a summer intern for The Puyallup Herald after he received one of two scholarships offered by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. In spring 2009, Hulings was the multimedia intern for The Seattle Times, which included shooting and producing video for the Web.

Hulings won several awards during his college career through the Society of Professional Journalists, including a national first-place award for online opinion and commentary.

When he’s not reporting, Hulings enjoys taking in the sights and sounds of the Pacific Northwest, including taking weekend trips to the beach and eastern Washington. He’s also a big fan of classic rock, and he often goes to concerts with his dad.

For news tips, e-mail nate.hulings@gateline.com.