Goodbye and farewell

I’m sad to say that after 14 years, I will be leaving The Power County Press and The Aberdeen Times. This is likely my last “Moore or Less” column. I have mixed feelings as I write this. I am certainly excited to have a change, but sad to not be able to maintain the level of connectedness to the community that I have.
Fortunately I will have a new community, one that I am very familiar with. I accepted a position at Idaho State University as the assistant director of annual giving. I have two degrees from Idaho State, and I enjoyed my time there. I’m excited to return.
I’m a first generation college graduate. Of my seven siblings, five have graduated from ISU, and two are still attending. I believe that a local, state-run higher education can do a lot of good in the world, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
As I look back on my time here, I feel that I have made the community a better place. It certainly made me a better person. Over the years, I have conducted thousands of interviews, taken tens of thousands of pictures, and sold and designed advertising. I have come to know and appreciate many of you.
I used to write these columns every week. As I have become more involved, I haven’t been able to keep up with writing them. However, it has been a great privilege to share my thoughts on occasion, and I have appreciated it when you have shared yours.
I firmly believe in the mission of community journalism. It is a time of change, when flashy new social media trends have really disrupted the news community. And people do not want to pay for local news – if they do pay for news, it is of a variety that upholds their political ideology, not one that focuses on geographical proximity.
In other words, we are paying more attention to splashy national headlines than local events. But we are in this together, and there are advantages to sitting down and reading on paper what is happening here and now rather than digital opinion of things far away.
When I started, I was a newlywed with no children. That has changed, and now we have a passel. We have been happy to raise our children here. We will continue living here. I hope to remain active in the community, and will see you all around.