After a month of being the editor of the Suffolk News-Herald, I can say it’s been an interesting one.

I’ve hired a new reporter, Kellie Lagoy, to fill some of the duties I was performing in the newsroom. She’ll be covering the city beat and many other events and issues you previously would have seen me covering. Kellie is already a great addition to our newsroom, and I hope you meet her soon if you haven’t already.

I’ve enjoyed stepping into more of a leadership position with reporter Alex Perry, sports reporter Niqko Marshall and page designer Jen Jaqua, all of whom are valued members of the team that brings this newspaper to you six days a week.

I’ve endured Jen taking a vacation bookended by two holiday weekends, immediately after which came a blizzard that none of us are likely to forget.

I’m hoping that, one day soon, I’ll have a normal week as editor, but something tells me there’s no such thing.

All in all, I am very pleased to be the editor of your hometown newspaper. My predecessor, Res Spears, gave me an excellent foundation and mentorship for nine years, and it would be hard to express how grateful I am for that. I can only hope I can come close to being as good an editor as he was, and I am looking forward to hearing more about the work of the Lord he is doing in the next chapter of his life.

In many ways, nothing will change here at the Suffolk News-Herald. We still plan to bring you all of the important news about your city government, education, public safety and youth sports. We will regularly feature the great things happening in our community and the people who are doing them. We will continue to be an outlet for your opinions on a wide variety of topics. We will continue to be the place you know you can turn if you need to know what’s happening this weekend or what’s on the City Council agenda at its next meeting. We will continue to be the newspaper that announces the significant events in the lives of you and your family, including birth announcements, engagement announcements, wedding announcements and obituaries.

Most importantly, we will continue to be a newspaper that responds to your concerns. So, if you do have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at the number or email address below. This is your newspaper, so send your questions, your concerns, your submissions, your news tips and more. I’ll be happy to receive it all.

Thank you all for being such loyal readers of the Suffolk News-Herald.