I’m calling it quits.
After 14 years in Jefferson County, I’m planning to explore new challenges within the journalism field.
Friday, June 11, will be my last official day with the papers.
The papers, by the way, are in good hands. Publisher and President David Lewis was hired to make sure they remain good products that are profitable and, thus, open for business for a long time to come. I’m confident that will happen. Although change makes everyone nervous, it’s also necessary from time to time, and it creates energy needed to produce quality products.
For those new to the area, our five Sentinel and Transcript News-papers were not always under the same ownership. The Lakewood and Arvada Sentinels were merged with the Golden, Wheat Ridge and Jefferson County Transcripts back in 1998. The Jefferson County Transcript went away and was replaced with the Bear Creek Sentinel a few years ago.
After years of reporting and editing (and rack delivering, light bulb changing, toilet plunging and refrigerator cleaning), I officially became the executive editor of the papers in January 2000, which seems like yesterday. Luckily, we’ve had a good staff that cares about what goes out the door. We’re not perfect, but we try hard.
I’m going to spend the next few weeks helping to put out newspapers and working on the other projects we’ve got rolling around here. And I suspect I’ll have the opportunity to talk to a few people that I’ve gotten to know over the years.
Over the next few weeks, my wife suggested I write about my top 100 Jeffco highlights. In addition to being a wonderful wife and mom, she’s a bit of a comedian.
I might touch on a few strong memories that I will take with me into the future.