Being new to LaGrange, Troup County, this community and The Daily News, I want to share some thoughts with you.

 

My name is Baker Ellis, and I am the new publisher of the LaGrange Daily News. Here is a little background on me.

 

I grew up in a place very similar to LaGrange.  It is Danville, Kentucky, a small to medium size city but one quite complete. Danville, like LaGrange, is an old town with a deep respect for, and pride in, its history. It is home to the oldest private college in the state, like LaGrange, and has a great sense of community as well.

 

Growing up, I read my hometown newspaper, The Advocate Messenger, daily, and developed a deep appreciation for the impact that a good and honest community daily newspaper can have on a city. After finishing college I found my profession working for just such a newspaper in nearby Alabama.  Now I have opportunity in your city to continue that work.

 

While I am not from here and while I do not yet know you, I have a deep love and appreciation for communities like yours, and am pleased to invest the coming years in my life and profession in LaGrange with its people. I firmly believe all communities like LaGrange deserve a top-level, local daily newspaper to call their own, and promise you we will work hard to be the newspaper this city deserves.

 

I know this newspaper and its website are by far the most read media by this community.  With that strong readership comes a great responsibility to produce excellent community journalism and opinion, and to be a force for positive change here.  We at the Daily News embrace that obligation and will work hard to meet it.

 

I have a steep learning curve ahead of me, and realize that. With your help, which I hope to earn, I plan to traverse that to better serve this community.  My goal is to see that your newspaper will be honest, will work hard with a caring, community attitude.

 

This is your newspaper, and you deserve nothing less than that.

 

My wife, Mary Holland, and I are excited and look forward to becoming acquainted in LaGrange. It is our deeply appreciated opportunity to invest in a community similar to the ones we grew up in. We are leaving our lives of comfort and familiarity to take a step into the unknown, because we really do feel this is an opportunity to be of service.

 

This newspaper has been here for more than 170 years. That is an incredible period of history, and I appreciate the opportunity to help write the next chapter of that history. That is a task I do not take lightly, am sobered by, but it is also stimulating to serve in a role important to this community.

 

I will work hard to merit your support and respect.

 

Baker Ellis is publisher of the LaGrange Daily News and can be reached by email at baker.ellis@lagrangenews.com, or by phone at 706-407-2657.