Karen Woodmansee has been active in journalism since 1983, beginning as a copy messenger at the Pittsburgh Press, moving up to library assistant, city desk assistant and writer for what was then the largest newspaper in the Steel City. After a Teamster strike closed the newspaper 1992, Karen worked her way west, at the Youngstown (Ohio) Vindicator, the Reno Gazette Journal, the San Bernardino County Sun, and the Nevada Appeal. In December, she started her own newspaper, the Virginia City News.