New kids on the block
The Vindicator is the oldest news source and the paper of record in Liberty County. It was established in 1887 by Thomas Jefferson Chambers. However, there have been many changes at the paper throughout the years.
A new team has been assembled to help Publisher Jennifer Richardson guide the ship. Russell Payne, formerly the Advertising Director, is now the Managing Editor for The Vindicator. Club News Editor/ Correspondent Bonita Davis is the Advertising/ Marketing Director.
Payne hails from Dayton and is a fourth-generation Dayton resident. He is a proud former Dayton Bronco and grandson of inaugural Dayton Sports Hall of Fame member Barney Clifton Payne, who led Dayton to the 1941 Regional Championship. He is also the son of two former longtime Dayton educators, Barney Ray and Gloria Payne.
He attended Lee College and the University of Houston along the way, where he was winner of the Texas State Historical Association’s C.M. Caldwell Memorial Award for Excellence in Historical Research, Undergraduate Division, as well as Lee College Student of the Year.
Payne spent five years working in radio and the local Texas music scene. Prior to that he had been in the newspaper business, and actually began his career at The Vindicator for the late, longtime Publisher Ernie Zieschang. He has worked in a number of positions from sales to editorial along the way with stops at the Diboll Free Press, Kaufman Herald, El Campo Leader-News, and a number of area newspapers.
Payne is enthusiastic about the opportunity to write the story of Liberty County and its citizens and provide great content through the newspaper. He is grateful to Jennifer Richards for believing in him and giving him the chance to be a part of this team which he is confident will produce a quality paper.
Davis is a fifth-generation Hardin resident whose blood pumps blue and gold. She is the daughter of the late James Leslie and Ruth Davis of Hardin. James L. Davis was a veteran and 32-year Houston Police Officer who retired and then served the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. He was also a bailiff at the Liberty County Courthouse. He was the grandson of Darby Davis, who was born a slave, but attended Prairie View and became a teacher, returned to Liberty County and taught Teachers’ Institute on the banks of the Trinity River to those who could not afford to attend college. He was also the grandson of Jim Freeman. Bonita is sister to Gary Davis who was a part of the 1975 Hornet team who won District. Gary Davis was courted by many colleges, attended Texas A & I in Kingsville (Now Texas A & M) and helped them win the NAIA National Championship. This team toured Europe and Germany. Davis has three living siblings, Venus Booker, Donneshea Cook, and Morika Davis and one deceased Jacqueline Davis. Her children are Chance and Savannah Ardoin. Her late mother, Ruth Davis, was an LVN who became a special education teacher in both Liberty and Dayton.
Bonita Davis is a retired teacher with certifications and 30 college hours each in English and Speech Communications, a certification in Elementary Education, an ESL Endorsement, and a Master’s in Business Management Public Administration. She is a member of Leadership Southeast Texas and holds a number of awards and honors from teaching, academia, Lions and her community service. She is excited to be back at home working with the schools, community and businesses locally after serving the last three years as Texas Lions District Governor of 7 counties. Davis is grateful to God, Granite Publications and her publisher for this opportunity.