You’re holding the first edition of the Yorktown Independent, a new newspaper dedicated to covering everything that’s happening in Yorktown, York County and Poquoson.

The Yorktown Independent is run by the same folks (myself included) who do the Suffolk News-Herald across the water in Suffolk. The News-Herald is a well-established, 146-year-old, five-day-a-week newspaper in Suffolk, and our staff is looking forward to getting to know Yorktown better. The News-Herald and its affiliated publications are owned by Boone Newspapers Inc., an Alabama-based network of community newspapers and magazines mostly in the Southeast.

The Yorktown Independent will initially be published every other week on Wednesdays, although there is a possibility the frequency could increase with excellent support from the community. You can find it at boxes around town, and we welcome suggestions for new distribution locations, which you can email to news@yorktownindependent.com.

The Yorktown Independent did not purchase any other newspapers that have previously operated in the area, but we look forward to stepping into the gap caused by recent closures and providing a community newspaper that represents the entire community.

A little bit about me, the editor. I grew up in Newport News and have visited York County and Yorktown frequently all my life. I still have family members and friends who live all over the Peninsula, including in this paper’s coverage area.

As a 13-year veteran of community journalism so far, I am looking forward to this new challenge. I have enjoyed working with several excellent freelance correspondents so far. If you know any of them already (you’ll see their names on bylines throughout the paper), please feel free to contact them directly. You can also contact me at news@yorktownindependent.com.

That is the best email address to which to send news tips, press release submissions, feedback and more. You can also send letters to the editor, guest columns and more for this opinion page.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Tracy Agnew is editor for the Yorktown Independent. She can be reached at 757.934.9609 or at news@yorktownindependent.com.