AP Names Schulte As Lincoln, Neb., Correspondent

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Grant Schulte, a state and federal courts reporters at The Des Moines Register, has been named Lincoln, Neb., correspondent for The Associated Press.

The appointment was announced Wednesday by Central Region Editor David Scott and Iowa-Nebraska News Editor Scott McFetridge.

In Lincoln, Schulte will be responsible for the AP's coverage of state government and politics in Nebraska, including the state's Congressional delegation. He will also be responsible for coverage of breaking news in western Nebraska.

"There is no more important mission at the AP than providing our members and customers with outstanding coverage of state government that makes and breaks news," Scott said. "That mission begins and ends with our state Capitol reporters, and we're thrilled to add someone of Grant's talents to our team."

In four years at the Register, Schulte led the paper's coverage of the removal of three Iowa Supreme Court justices following a ruling that legalized gay marriage in Iowa, the trial of a man charged with the killing of Iowa high school football coach Ed Thomas and the aftermath of 2008's floods in eastern Iowa.

Schulte, 28, also reported extensively last year on the trial of Sholom Rubashkin, a kosher slaughterhouse executive in Iowa found guilty of federal financial fraud charges and sentenced to nearly three decades in prison.

A native of Iowa City, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Iowa, Schulte interned at The Oregonian of Portland, Ore., and The Houston Chronicle's bureau in Washington D.C. before beginning his career at The Register.

"Schulte is a strong reporter, and we expect him to immediately strengthen the AP's report in Nebraska," said Tena Haraldson, the AP's chief of bureau for Nebraska and the Dakotas.