The Maine Trust for Local News is expanding its coverage of York County, adding a new reporting position to cover the southernmost area.

The news organization, which is nonprofit-owned and publishes most of Maine’s daily newspapers including the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, has also hired a newsletter writer to launch a flagship morning newsletter.

Isabelle Oss, originally from Colorado, has been hired to cover Kittery, York, Berwick, North Berwick, South Berwick and Ogunquit. Oss recently finished her master’s degree in journalism at Boston University, where she participated in the Statehouse Program in partnership with The New Bedford Light. She also studied anthropology at Colorado State University.

Oss joins Sydney Richelieu, who reports on Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach, and Abigail Driscoll, assigned to cover Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Sanford, Arundel and Wells, to build up coverage in York County. All three report to news editor Alex McCann. 

The organization is also celebrating the upcoming retirement of Robert Lowell after decades of dedicated work covering southern Maine. Lowell joined the American Journal in 2000 and most recently covered Gorham, Buxton and Standish. He was recognized last year as the recipient of the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award.

Lowell will be succeeded by Madeleine Kaptein, a Middlebury College graduate and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Middlebury Campus. Kaptein reports to community editor Nick McCrea.

“We continue to see an appetite for strong local news coverage in York County that builds on the Press Herald’s legacy of trusted journalism that reflects its community,” Managing Editor Julia Arenstam said. “Izzy and Madeleine are two great writers committed to that mission, and I fully expect they will become an essential resource in their towns.”

Oss and Kaptein will contribute to weekly email newsletters for their communities as part of the Maine Trust’s continued efforts to reach audiences throughout the state.

Krissy Waite, of Turner, has been hired for a new position as a newsletter writer on the digital team. Waite is tasked with helping the Maine Trust launch a new flagship morning newsletter to serve audiences across central, western and southern Maine.

Waite is an experienced journalist who worked as a staff writer for the Marin Independent Journal in California and as a freelance fact-checker. She also has previous experience in Maine journalism as a business intern at the Portland Press Herald and a news intern at the Sun Journal.

“It’s really good to be back home,” Waite said, “and I’m so excited to have the opportunity to elevate the stories Mainers care about most as the daily newsletter writer.”