Last week, our colleague Dennis expressed to us his desire to step away from ErieBlogs. Since August of 2005, he’s posted nearly every single day which is a quite an amazing feat and his contributions have helped this site grow. We support his decision and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

ErieBlogs will continue to publish daily. In the last few days, we’ve made some changes to the site that we think are important.

First, blog comments are now published immediately. We want to foster discourse and give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings. We’ve been fairly criticized in the past for not posting comments and that will change. We won’t condone personal attacks, hate speech of any kind and abusive comments.

We hope to make “News and Events” content more concise, topical, and entertaining for our readers, serve as a resource for local blogs, and spur discussion. Along these lines, we’ve started a weekly open thread where anyone can bring up a topic or share their thoughts. Look above this blog post for a quick link to that open thread.

ErieBlogs will continue to provide our readers and the blogging community:

• The area’s best Job Board where employers can post jobs, internships and volunteer opportunities for free.
• A Blog Browser which allows you to interact with local bloggers and view their most recent postings.
• Everything Erie Wiki offering everybody the opportunity to contribute information about our beloved hometown of Erie
• Government Contacter giving you instant access to local government officials in the Erie area.

In addition, ErieBlogs is in the midst of a complete redesign and relaunch that will happen next month. This will include:

• New and improved comment system
• Easier access to local bloggers and their content
• A forum for discussion related to Erie, Pennsylvania
• New look and more

We appreciate your patience and thank you for reading our site every day. We will continue to strive to promote Erie and all the Erie bloggers in a positive manner and deliver relevant news and events to the area.

If you have suggestions as to how we can improve, or you would like to submit your event or news, please contact us using our online form.

Mike & Richard