Columbian business editor Julia Anderson is retiring later this month, ending a long career with the paper. As Publisher Lou Brancaccio told employees today in an email, features editor Elisa Williams set to replace her:

I am very pleased to announce that Features Editor Elisa Williams will take on the responsibilities of business editor as well.

Elisa brings to the table solid management experience (she's been both an assistant metro editor as well as working in her current position) and also a wealth of business experience.

Please join with me in congratulating Elisa. She will take over the position after Business Editor Julia Anderson retires February 26.

We also will begin looking for a business reporter. Elisa will be in charge of that search.

Prior to joining The Columbian in 2003, Williams was a Los Angeles staff writer for Forbes magazine. She's also covered business for The Oregonian, The Orange County Register and The Palm Beach Post.

Williams tells OMC, "I'm thrilled about the opportunity to oversee two sections. It will be a wonderful challenge."

The Columbian in Vancouver today announced that it has emerged from bankruptcy. It's the paper's lead story online.

Bank of America gets ownership of the six-story building constructed for the paper by the publisher's own company, Downtown Vitality Partners. The Columbian moved into the building in early 2008 but decided within the year to return to its previous location in a cost-saving move. The paper went on to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of last year.

Publisher Scott Campbell told employees this morning, "This county deserves to have a locally owned newspaper."

The Campbell family has owned The Columbian since 1921.

The Columbian's website has a cleaner look and new features today, which the paper says are in beta testing. From the FAQ:

The Columbian has updated its Web site in an effort to make the site more stable and make sure that users have a seamless experience while viewing and interacting with content on the site.

The new site also allows a user to personalize their experience with commenting, ratings of stories, a personal wall, and a blog. Users can connect with others on the site and get reminders about events.

Changes have also been made to search, navigation, mobile access, photos, video, and social networking integration, the FAQ explains.

Jeff Mize, 14-year reporter for The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, is taking the job of public information officer for Clark County Public Works, replacing current PIO Jim Gladson. The Columbian plans to refill the position of city reporter, which Mize leaves in a few weeks.

From cities to small towns: Marissa Harshman will be joining The Columbian from The News-Review in Roseburg, where she covered small towns and police, and she'll continue the small town beat in her new position. The Columbian continues to seek a courts reporter to replace Stephanie Rice. She and education reporter Isolde Raftery left in August for new pursuits.

The moves come as The Columbian proposes a restructuring plan to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the year. Publisher Scott Campbell, third-generation family owner, would give his paper $500,000 under the plan and pay back creditors at 60 cents on the dollar. The Columbian continues to try to sell or lease their new building, which they moved operations out of at the end of last year.

The paper filed for bankruptcy in May of this year.

Reporter Isolde Raftery and courts reporter Stephanie Rice are leaving their posts at The Columbian in Vancouver next month.

Raftery, who has been with the Clark County newspaper since February 2007, told OMC she will be attending the University of Oregon's literary nonfiction program. She says the program's director, Lauren Kessler, "has a reputation for being a tough and excellent editor, for meticulously picking apart writing and reporting styles. After five years reporting, I felt as though I needed that kick in the pants." Her last day with the paper is August 5.

Following her six days later will be Rice, who leaves to become a private investigator after 13 years with The Columbian. As a PI, "I'll basically be interviewing people and looking up public records, which are the favorite parts of my newspaper job," she says. She'll be working for Gary Rice (no relation), who owns Protective Security Investigations in Vancouver and assists defense attorneys on indigent felony cases.

Says Raftery, "This is a pretty bittersweet move for me, as I really, really respect my coworkers (reporters like they used to make 'em * salty cynics who don't take boo for an answer), and I'm gonna miss some of my sources something fierce."

"But that's why God invented Facebook," she says.

OMC has learned that both positions at the paper will be filled. The departures appear unrelated to the finances of The Columbian, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in May.

UPDATE (7/29, 3:11pm): Sports reporter Brian Hendrickson also recently left The Columbian. Reporter Brian T. Smith from the Bristol Herald-Courier in Tennessee replaces him next week.