A few months back, we surveyed our readers to get your feedback on how we were doing as a newspaper, including both what we were doing well and what we could do to get better. Two messages that came through loud and clear were that readers wanted to see more “good news” feature stories and more coverage of outlying communities.

Last week we started a new feature that we hope will bolster our coverage in both those categories. We call it “Grant County Neighbors,” and the idea is to bring you features on local folks from all over our county, especially those who might not ordinarily be in the newspaper. Our goal is to bring you a new installment every week.

We believe that everybody has a story to tell, and by bringing you stories about ordinary people from every corner of Grant County, we hope to give all our readers a greater sense of community. Do you have a Grant County neighbor you’d like us to profile? Email your suggestions to editor@bmeagle.com.  

In case you missed it, you can read last week’s Grant County neighbors feature on Kelly Collins on our website. You’ll also find other good reads from last week’s paper, including an in-depth Q&A with the top candidates for Oregon governor, plus stories on local elections, Cycle Oregon and the Crockett Knob Fire, among others.

Among the stories we’re pursuing for this week’s edition are reports about Grant County’s economically dependent relationship with the Forest Service, the newly reopened Austin House and a pivotal prep football matchup between a strong Prairie City team and reigning state champs Wheeler County.

As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you!