This is a bitter-sweet story of transition for the West Ky Journal. Last week, the long-time publisher and editor, Mary Potter, wrote a farewell story to her role here, There Comes A Time. Mary and her spouse, the late Ivan C. Potter (1947 to 2024) have shared their talents, vision, and commitment to community by publishing here since 2007. Many of you may have appreciated getting editions in your email inboxes, and have commented, supported, and contributed over the past 16 years. Now, as Mary wrote, "There comes a time when the time has come. To step down. To step aside."

So the time has come to introduce the new management for the West Ky Journal. A small group of area citizens who care deeply about our local communities along with civic engagement, we have formed The West Kentucky Citizen Journalism Project.

Like the Potters, who have said they never considered themselves mainstream anything, we are committed to local, independent journalism. Like the Potters, we believe there is as much a place for the citizen journalist as in earlier days of publishing when a degree in journalism was the exception rather than the norm. We come from varying backgrounds in science, healthcare, education, city government, ministry, law, and other disciplines as we add writers, photojournalists, and artists to our ranks.

We understand that we cannot replace what Mary and Ivan built and accomplished here. However, as we start anew, we hope to retain the best of the spirit of what came before, and to build on the solid foundations the Potters set down. There is a tab on the top of the webpage called "Ivan's Rules". It contains a series of posts by Mary written in 2024 about a short document of Ivan's titled "Ivan's Rules for Living in the 21st Century". We keep these on the site to remind us of the values we want to carry forward, and encourage visitors to read them. Mary wrote, "I am excited to see where West Kentucky Journal goes under new management. I pray those of you reading this will give the new folks the kindness and the grace you gave us."

Our initial Editorial Team consists of Jim Gearhart (McCracken Co), Amanda Groves (Marshall Co), Karla Johnston (Calloway Co), Calen Kennedy (IT, Kennedy Network Services) (Graves Co), Leslie McColgin (Graves Co), and Gregory H. Waldrop (Trigg Co). The administrators of the site are Karla Johnston, Calen Kennedy (IT) and Leslie McColgin.

We invite those who are interested to join us as part of the West Ky Citizen Journalism Project as we strive to inform, inspire, and engage with readers through citizen journalism. Our target geographic area includes the western Kentucky counties from Owensboro and Bowling Green to the Mississippi River counties.

We hope readers will feel encouraged to share information and to express opinions. Coverage will focus on local citizens as well as local, state, and national issues affecting our local communities. Stories will aim to provide a more in-depth focus than traditional media offers. Citizen journalism at its best is a force for good, promoting increased civic engagement and truth. Whether you want to contribute as a writer, suggest a topic or event to cover, or be part of the editorial team to help develop this site as a vehicle for community-building, we would love to have you participate. Please contact us at editor@westkyjournal.com to let us know your thoughts or to volunteer.

This site will continue to be independent, non-profit, and with no ads or subscription fees. If you like what you see and have a desire to contribute, we welcome more volunteers to join us in this venture.

We invite readers to sign up for a free account so you can receive email editions of our newsletter as they are published. If you already had an account before, it should still be active. We hope everyone continues to read and share our news and stories as we cover events and issues and try to be "good citizens" in the times ahead. Thank you for joining with us on a new journey!