Neice Bell returns to New Braunfels as publisher

Neice Bell, one-time publisher of the Herald-Zeitung has returned to New Braunfels, Texas, to oversee the newspaper.  The announcement was made by Southern Newspapers Inc. President Dolph Tillotson.

"I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running," said Bell, who has been a publisher with Southern since 2006. "People still are going to see the same great paper, but it's going to be even better."

Bell started her career in 1979 when she was a typesetter for the Kerrville (Texas) Daily Times. She moved to the advertising department and later became the advertising director.

After a stint as publisher of four weekly papers in the Boerne area beginning in the mid 1990s, she moved to New Braunfels in 2004 to become the marketing director. From there, she became publisher at the Seguin Gazette in 2006 and returned to the Herald-Zeitung as publisher in 2012. After three years in New Braunfels, she moved to Lufkin to be the publisher of that newspaper before spending the past two-plus years back at Kerrville as publisher. When she returned to Kerrville, the Daily Times was an SNI property.

The Seguin and Lufkin papers also are Southern publications.

"When I found out the publisher position was opening in New Braunfels, something drove me to want to come back," Bell said. "I wanted to come back because I enjoyed being here before and because New Braunfels is a great city."

Bell said the newspaper will continue to stress local coverage, but some changes will be in the works.

"We plan to make the Herald-Zeitung the best paper in the state of Texas," she said. 

Bell temporarily will split time between Kerrville and New Braunfels until her replacement is hired at the Daily Times. She and her husband, Jeff, a U.S. Air Force veteran, then will relocate to New Braunfels.

Their two children and one grandchild already live in New Braunfels.

"I think Neice is the best we got," Tillotson said. "She has been successful here, Seguin, Lufkin and Kerrville, and she will be successful again in New Braunfels."