Mark Russell | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Three of our familiar voices — sports columnist Geoff Calkins, food and dining reporter Jennifer Biggs and The 9:01 columnist Chris Herrington — this week decided to leave The Commercial Appeal to pursue other journalism opportunities in Memphis.

Calkins, who has written an award-winning CA column for 22 years, is an icon in Memphis journalism. He has been an ambassador for The CA, often speaking at community gatherings.

Biggs, who joined The CA in 2000 and became food and dining reporter in 2006, was also a great ambassador, hosting a series of community events.

Herrington wrote the digital daily column for the past two years but also wrote about the Grizzlies, music, food and other topics. He joined The CA nearly five years ago.

Sports commentary, coverage of Memphis’ dynamic food and dining scene and The 9:01 column are critical parts of The CA’s mix of content. The departures of Calkins, Herrington and Biggs are a major blow, but we’ll find great journalists to rebuild our local team.

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Despite the exits, The CA newsroom is still home to some of this region’s best journalists, covering, among other areas, music, government, education, commercial real estate, logistics, the Grizzlies, Tigers basketball and football and high school sports.

The folks in our newsroom are committed to Memphis and to writing with authority and context — about the issues and topics that are important to this area.

And we’re committed to growing our news team.

Since the start of this year, we’ve hired several staffers. Among them:

Evan Barnes, a former Los Angeles Daily News high school sports reporter, is covering Tigers football and trending sports topics. He started in January.

Nicole Harris, a former digital producer at WLOX News in Biloxi, Miss., is a digital producer. A University of Memphis graduate, she also started in January.

Dann Miller, formerly the top digital editor at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, took a similar role as a digital strategist. He started in March.

Erin Kosnac Munz, a former top editor at the Hattiesburg American in Mississippi, is a content strategist in charge of business, suburbs and entertainment. She started in April.

The CA has been around for 177 years and our No. 1 goal is ensuring we remain relevant to readers for many years to come.

Our business has changed over the years. Our people have changed. Yet our commitment to Memphis remains strong.

Mark Russell is executive editor of The Commercial Appeal.