Editorial: Good morning to you all

Hawke's Bay Today enters a new phase today - it shifts to mornings, which means you will now get your news earlier in the day.

The move is exciting for us and you, the reader, as Hawke's Bay Today will now be first with the local news. Much preparation has gone into this change and we have taken the opportunity to give the paper a spruce up.

As the new editor of Hawke's Bay Today, I plan to uphold the high standards set by my predecessor Antony Phillips and to build on the solid foundation we have in this region.

I must say that as a newcomer to the area I am blown away. What a wonderful place to live.You all have been so friendly to me, the surroundings are beautiful and even the weather has been good (much better than in Auckland).

I am a 44-year-old married father of three girls with nearly 25 years' experience as a journalist. This is my first editorship and I can't wait to get stuck in. I have a background in morning newspapers both in New Zealand and overseas and I am looking forward to this new challenge. I have spent the last 10 years working at the New Zealand Herald in Auckland, where I was chief reporter for six years. I plan to use the knowledge and experience I have gained over the years to make your Hawke's Bay Today even better.

We will continue providing you all with the local news, sport and opinion you want, but there is also so much more in your new morning paper, including a roundup of news, a snapshot of our daily-updated website www.hbtoday.co.nz and some very entertaining and opinionated columnists.

We will also strive to give you fresh information, human stories and insightful features about issues you care about. We will keep local officials in public office accountable and tell you how the decisions they make are affecting your lives. We will also unashamedly celebrate Hawke's Bay successes. If a local person or organisation has achieved something of note, we will tell you about it.

This is your newspaper so please let us know what is happening in your community. If we believe something needs to be highlighted, exposed or celebrated we will do so. We will be bold, truthful, colourful, informative and entertaining, but what we don't ever want to be is boring.