His son Robert N. Townsley (died April 17, 1994) replaced him as publisher, with Schneider continuing as editor. In October 1968, Townsley was replaced by William Kreeger, who had the title "general manager" until March 1970 when he was named publisher. Janet Goode became editor in January 1970 and served until October of that year when she was replaced by John Nichols. Nichols served until August 1971 when Joe Falter became editor. Falter served until he retired in 1994. Thomas Barr served as Western Star editor from 1994 until 2008. In 1990, Fred Gibson became publisher and served until the paper's sale in 1998. Under both Falter and Barr, through 2007 the paper earned many first or second place honors in General Excellence in the Ohio Newspaper Association Hooper Awards, and in 2007 the paper earned third place nationwide in the Best Non-Daily contest by the national Suburban Newspapers of America.