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<p><strong>From staff reports</strong></p>
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<p>Journalist Tony Kukulich has joined The Island News staff as a reporter.</p>
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<p>Kukulich and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Beaufort County in July from the Bay Area in California, where he spent six years as a photographer and reporter for the Brentwood Press, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 40,000 prior to the COVID 19 pandemic. For about half that time, Kukulich was a part-time stringer until he was hired as a full-time staff photographer and reporter in early 2018.</p>
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<p>“My wife and I are very glad to be here in the Lowcountry, and I’m looking forward to working for The Island News,” Kukulich said. “Local papers and local reporting are critical to the life of a community and I’m glad to be a part of that.”</p>
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<p>As a reporter, Kukulich covered breaking news, public safety, environmental issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as general assignments and features. As a photographer, Kukulich covered a broad range of assignments from breaking news to sports to advertising shoots.</p>
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<p>His work at the Press earned him a number of awards from both the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the National Newspaper Association.</p>
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<p>Since moving to the Lowcountry, Kukulich has completed reporting and photo assignments in the Island Packet, the Bluffton Sun and Hilton Head Monthly and has continued to write occasionally for two California newspapers – the Brentwood Press and The Independent (Livermore, Calif.).</p>
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<p>Prior to becoming a journalist in 2015, Kukulich had a successful career in finance. After attending the University of Delaware, he worked for J.P. Morgan &amp; Chase Co., The Bank of New York, First USA Bank/Bank One, Metris Companies and Advanta National Bank.</p>
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<p><em>Tony</em> Kukulich can be reached at Tony.TheIslandNews@gmail.com.</p>
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