First, let me wish everyone a Happy New Year and my best wishes for a prosperous 2018.
As you may or may not know, I have only written one other column for this publication and that was basically to introduce myself, flaunt my credentials, establish some lines of communication…and get on with it. If you have a burning desire, you can read that one here:
https://sonorannews.com/2017/08/15/cut-to-the-chase/
I suppose, after being here for a year, I should stop referring to myself as the new guy, but given the years everyone else has put in with the Sonoran News, it still seems applicable. So, I’m going to continue to focus on one major thing.
Progress.
With that in mind, I would like to thank the administrators, teachers, coaches, fans and students at CCUSD for providing me a continuous stream of news and photos that I know our local residents and readers have enjoyed.
As it should be.
The same goes for the parks and recreation, Arizona Game and fish, local councils, businesses, charitable organizations and many other sources. I have reached out to Paradise Community College and Scottsdale Community College and we have some journalism students preparing to make contributions. As I said before, I can make myself available to speak or take Q&A at most convenient times for interested parties.
With our staff size and print dates (first and third Wednesdays of each month), it may always require a joint effort to get the news of interest to the communities we serve, keeping in mind that we also post daily online. As I said, I have seen a lot of progress since arriving here and I will do my very best to see that we grow in that direction.
In the meantime, have a safe, healthy and happy 2018.
And the beat goes on.
Tom Owens is a former reporter, columnist, photojournalist, editor, publisher, author and cartoonist. He is a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. Contact him at: [email protected]
