I&8217;ve got a vested interest in Shelby County &8212; and it started long before I cut my journalistic teeth covering presidential visits to Oak Mountain State Park and giant cabbages in Wilsonville.

I held an appreciation for Shelby County and its people well before my internship began at the Reporter some years ago.

There&8217;s a running joke in the newsroom that I&8217;m related in some way to just about everyone in the county. And it&8217;s half right.

My mother and father were both raised here. They used to eat ice cream under the giant Oak in front of Shelby County High School.

I&8217;ve sipped punch and hugged necks in Shelby County churches, celebrating 50th wedding anniversaries with both sets of grandparents.

I&8217;ve got one uncle that&8217;s practiced law here and another that&8217;s put out fires.

I&8217;m liable to run into cousins in just about any part of the county.

When I came home from college, I got married and moved to Alabaster where my wife and I are raising our two sons.

Around a week ago, my stakes in this county were raised a little higher still.

Shelby County conjures up for me a great deal of personal stories, but at the heart of my new responsibilities as managing editor are the most important ones … yours.

This is an exciting time to be around the newsroom of the Shelby County Reporter.

We&8217;ve undergone a handful of staffing changes in recent weeks, resulting in what I believe to be one of the most talented and energetic news teams assembled here in some time.

More changes will come. Some of them will be so subtle you might not notice, others we hope you will, like our renewed commitment to serving our readers or the new ways we&8217;re telling your stories both in the newspaper and online.

Most importantly, we&8217;d love to hear from you.

Whether it&8217;s sharing a news tip or feature idea or simply something you feel we could do better &8212; don&8217;t hesitate to give us a call, drop by or send us an e-mail