We here at The Valley Times-News have been working hard these past few months to bring our readers the best local coverage possible. Unfortunately, for the past few months we have been working without a full staff, while at the same time making updates to our systems and designs.

Thankfully, we recently welcomed two new members to the newsroom, Rashad Milligan and Chris Heaney. Both have hit the ground running and are doing everything they can to get up to speed.

Now that we have filled out our staff, I’d like to revisit a question we have asked before: What sort of coverage do our readers want to see moving forward?

Let’s be clear, The Valley Times-News will remain, first-and-foremost, a community newspaper. The front page will only focus on local coverage, outside of the occasional national/world story with wide-reaching impact.

The sports section will cover local teams first, followed by the occasional college and national team.

It’s everything else that we want to hear about.

Do our readers want to see more stories focused on our communities? Shawmut, River View, Huguley and Langdale already receive coverage. Would people be interested in hearing about the activities in Fredonia, Five Points, Waverly, etc.?

Are people satisfied with the number of stories in the paper? Would they prefer to see more photos?

While we guarantee a focus on local sports above all else, is this what everyone wants? Does anyone want to see more from Point University or the state colleges? Should we include more information about sports on a national level?

While we have every intention of keeping The Valley Times-News locally focused, we also want it to be a paper that caters to those who engage with the product.

If anyone would like to comment, either to make a suggestion or criticize what they’ve seen, email their responses to news@valleytimes-news.com.

While we cannot promise every suggestion will be implemented, we can at least promise to consider them.