It’s been a very busy few weeks for me.

I moved into my position at the Rio Rancho Observer at the start of the year. Many of you have stopped by the office to meet me or have called in or emailed you welcome. It is all very much appreciated.

For those of you who didn’t read about me a couple of weeks ago, my family and I moved to Rio Rancho in the fall of 2021 from Iowa. We were tired of the bitterly cold winters and were ready to try something new. I’ve been with the Observer’s parent company during that timeframe, and am now here to serve the community of Rio Rancho.

My community newspaper experience in Iowa spans more than 15 years. I handled a variety of tasks at my old paper, the Ottumwa Courier, and covered many topics and issues as features editor. I developed and was the editor of our string of magazine publications and played an integral role in several awards for the publication. In my time in New Mexico, the special project I worked on for the Observer’s parent company also received an award for Best Website New Mexico Press Association.

I’ve been spending the past couple of weeks meeting with several community leaders and familiarizing myself with some of the issues unique to this lovely city. Moving forward, I hope to make the Observer the first place all Rio Ranchoans turn to when they want their local news.

You may have noticed some changes already. We’ve already made some adjustments to the homepage, www.rrobserver.com, to more prominently display the newest articles. We also have several special projects we are looking to bring on board this year. Kevin Hendricks, another 15-year newspaper veteran, has also joined the Observer as a staff writer.

One of the most frequent questions I’ve gotten in my short time here is about the police reports and where they have gone. Let me assure you, we are working hard on bringing those back and working to figure out the most efficient way for us to get them to you. We know it’s important to you, so it’s important to us. Please have patience as we attempt to sort it all out.

We truly want this to be a community newspaper, so that means we want to hear from you. That can come in the form of news tips, story ideas, letters to the editor and so much more. I look forward to serving this community and the future of the Rio Rancho Observer.