Editor Westerhold retires

Editor's note: Aug. 1 marked the beginning of executive editor Matt Westerhold's retirement. Westerhold penned the following letter to Register staff members this past March — he elected to publish it in the newspaper now to coincide with his retirement — in which he shares thoughts on his decision to step down from his role and reminisces on the successes of the newspaper during his long tenure as editor. Dear Register family: After consulting with my family, friends and my doctors, I have made the decision to retire effective Aug. 1, 2025, after more than 30 years as a journalist, 25 of that at the Sandusky Register as a reporter and editor, and as an executive editor for Ogden NW Ohio Newspapers for the last few years. I had been considering this decision for some time and originally planned to retire in February next year. But, given past and more recent staff reductions and the added stress this creates, and the toll it's taken on my health, moving up the date of my retirement is the best decision for me and my family. I plan to spend the remaining weeks ahead working with community members and our leadership teams. I want to introduce as many of the many sources I have cultivated over three decades to our team leaders. I will work with our news and advertising teams — as I always have — to make sure the goodwill and advertising revenue opportunities we've created together with them over these many years can be sustained and expanded in the future. It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement. Working with you has been a dream come true for me since I started at the paper in October 1994. Our team brought down corrupt public officials, including sending both a sheriff and sheriff's lead detective to prison for crimes we uncovered and reported about. Our reporting led to the criminal conviction of a county prosecutor who was removed from office by order of the governor after we exposed his wrongdoing, and there are more than a dozen now former police officers who were forced to resign because we exposed their wrongdoing. We helped three people falsely accused of a murder clear their names by exposing the corrupt practices local law enforcement officers had engaged in manufacturing false evidence against them. We also helped wrongfully convicted people clear their names and get released from prison. More recently, we helped the family of a murdered woman, Amanda Dean, finally get justice after police refused for six years to investigate her disappearance. In 2021, we exposed Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's false prosecution on falsification charges against a female Put-in-Bay police officer for reporting about sexual misconduct in the police department. Together we produced more than 200 political debates and dozens of community forums, generating serious revenue for our newspaper through sponsorships and through election advertising by candidates and tax districts. Our digital public affairs talk program, "Between the Lines," which was started in 2008, has been an enormous success in rallying community members to work together for the common good. Also in 2008, our "Chasing the President" series successfully convinced Republican presidential nominee John McCain to visit and speak to our community from the gazebo in Washington Park, just blocks from the Register building, the exact site we asked him to visit. And, in 2012, we convinced President Barack Obama to speak about his re-election bid from that very same gazebo. If only Ohio was still a swing state. In 2023, the Register was one of just two media companies to passionately follow and report the story about the fight for healthcare and survivorship benefits for terminally ill war-injured U.S. military combat veterans and their families. We followed that story for years, and in August that year, the Register was credited with helping sway wavering Republicans in the U.S. Senate through its fair, balanced and informed reporting and its editorial stand to support our veterans and approve the PACT Act. I hope we continue to advocate for veterans and demand that the nation keep its sacred promise to them. I am grateful to each and every one who has been on this journey with me at any point during the last 30 years. I am beyond thankful for you and for the opportunity to have worked with you and been in service to our community.