MILTON KENT SIGNS OFF: The Baltimore SUN's MILTON KENT writes his final media column for the newspaper after six- and-a-half years. Kent writes, "The reason for the end is simple: Far too often these days, the hypocrisy of this industry has clouded over the good that gets done to the point where writing these weekly columns has become more chore than fun." More Kent: "While it would be easy to focus on the celebrities and the executives, the real stars of this industry are people who are never seen and hardly ever mentioned" (Baltimore SUN, 12/15). EXECS: The contract of Russell Corp. CEO JACK WARD has been extended for the next five years, but the company did not reveal details of his salary. Reports showed that last year Ward earned a base salary of $675,000, plus a bonus of $474,279 (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 12/13)....HTS named MICHELE WHITE as Senior Advertising Manager. Previously, White was Senior Marketing Manager at TBS (HTS)....Small World Media named CHRIS GARRITY as VP/Advertising Sales (Small World Media). ...The DAILY RACING FORM's John Piesen reports that LESLIE SHANTZ has been named to succeed CHARLES COLGAN as COO of the National Steeplechase Association. Shantz, a clothes designer, is a sponsor of the U.S. Equestrian Team (DRF, 12/15)....The CBA Sun Kings named DOUG PACE as Dir of Media Relations, replacing MICHAEL THOMPSON. Pace had worked for the NASCAR Raybestos Northwest Series since '98 (HERALD- REPUBLIC, 12/12)....Olympia Entertainment and Comerica Park named the following: FRANK FITZPATRICK as Technology Supervisor; MARY JO BORN as Office Manager of Concessions; ANDREW VANDEWEGNE as Portable Refreshment Cart Manager; and NANCY DEVOE as Suites Manager (DETROIT NEWS, 12/12).