Merry Christmas!!

2008 has been an eventful year for the Renton Reporter and for the City of Renton. Both are working hard to withstand these tough economic times and both have bright futures.

Renton is at the center of the Puget Sound region and, I like to think, the Renton Reporter is at the heart of telling the story of Renton and its people.

I’ve already written about the big change for us – our front-page nameplate says RentonReporter.com. That change reflects our whole-hearted effort to bringing you the news of Renton every day, online, at rentonreporter.com.

We’ve taken advantage of that new mission in a big way this week, in the face of one of those rare snow and extreme cold events that leaves everyone scrambling for warmth and cover.

On Thursday, for example, we had the news of the 90-minute late school start online at about 5:30 a.m. Then, when conditions worsened and schools closed, we were able to report why that decision was made.

Bus commuters have been kept up-to-date about the challenges Metro Transit is facing – hopefully before they get caught left standing in the cold. We’ve posted alerts about traffic accidents that have caused big backups on our freeways – again hopefully in time so that our readers can find alternative routes.

The Internet is a great tool to keep people informed. In our case, we want to keep you informed about what’s happening in Renton in order to help you get through your day just a little bit easier.

Of course, you’ll also read some great features and news stories – and, of course, keep up with our high school sports teams – at rentonreporter.com.

This year also brings another big change for use, again a reaction to our tough economic times. This is our last Wednesday publication as we move to our once-a-week print publication schedule on Friday, Jan. 2. Next Saturday is our last Saturday publication.

While all this “new media” stuff is, well, a bit new to me, the newspaper isn’t. We will continue to invest our energy to produce a great community newspaper for you.

• Civil
• Smart
• On-topic
• Free of profanity

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