Welp. The news is out my friends.

I am beyond thrilled to be the next managing editor of The Covington News. 

Honestly, even writing this is still quite surreal. It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m not sure when it will.

Before I get all Jimmy Fallon-esque and hand out my thank you notes, I want to briefly explain why this role interested me. 

When I first got to The News, I was excited to learn more about a community that I regularly visited growing up. After spending the last ten months learning more about the people that make this community what it is, I can proudly say that this is no longer a community that I’m a visitor in. Newton County to me is now a little slice of home.

That’s why when this opportunity came about, I was immediately intrigued. There’s so much happening here in Newton County.

There is a booming industrial sector that is set to gain major innovations from places like Archer and Absolics. There’s an ever-growing film and movie scene that’s dominating the county. There’s an ever growing emphasis and focus on student education and student success at the school-level. There’s a robust athletic scene that seems to only keep improving.

On the other side of the coin, there’s a major legal case going on involving now-suspended chairman Marcello Banes and commissioner-elect Stephanie Lindsey. There’s controversy regarding the Rivian project and when – or possibly if – the project will ever pan out. There also seems to be a more prevalent force of violent crime that’s happening through the county as of late.

And somewhere in the messy middle, there’s discourse about how the city of Covington should handle future big downtown events like July 4. There’s discussion on how schools can be made safer as a proactive response, rather than a reactive one. There’s a debate on who should be in office into 2025 and beyond, with an election set to happen in a few months. 

The News is in need of someone that can navigate the good, the bad and everything in-between that’s going on in Newton County in all aspects of the community. And that is why the job intrigued me so much, because it’s a job I know I can do.

In the not so distant future I will have a column or two explaining my overall vision and where we plan on taking this next evolution of our product here at The News.

Some of those plans in this vision may involve some changes. Some that people may like, some that people maybe won’t like. 

But one thing won’t change in this new chapter, and that is the commitment to deliver the best quality product possible. That means our news stories, sports stories, feature stories, our online product, our social media and any new avenue of media that we may pursue in the future.

And now that I have that out of the way, time to embrace my inner Jimmy Fallon and write some thank you notes.

Thank you first to my family and my support system. You are the ones that kept me going when I doubted myself, when I was insecure about myself, when I didn’t believe in myself. You believed in me before anyone else ever did. This was not possible without you.

Thank you to Patrick Graham. A big thank you to our proprietor and publisher Patrick Graham for trusting me to be the next newsroom leader. It is a giant honor that is not lost on me and I am appreciative of this major opportunity.

Thank you to the staff at The News. A huge thank you to the staff here at The News. First to Garrett, my fellow editorial partner and sports editor. You are an absolute rockstar and there is no one else I’d rather have working alongside me at the sports editor role than you.

Next to Lee Ann and Cynthia, who have been incredible to work with. Both of you had every right to be skeptical of this 22-year-old, freshly graduated college kid coming into his first real office setting when I first got to the office. But you both have embraced me as part of this work family from the minute I’ve gotten here and I’m truly thankful for that.

To Kaison, the youthful face that runs the place. Even though I’m not much older than you, you remind me a lot of me at 18. Young. Ambitious. Wise beyond your years. While your future (probably) won’t be in newspapers, you’re going to be amazing wherever you wind up.

And last but not least to the many correspondents. Guinevere Grant, Marco Bartkowiak, Chip Matthews, Jet Rawls, DJ Moore, Cooper Huau, Anthony Banks, Michael Bandoo and so many more. While working on a per- assignment role, these are some of the unsung heroes of the paper. You all have made this paper better one way or another and I’m thrilled to continue working with you all.

This is the real Dream Team right here.

Thank you to everyone who helped get me here. There’s lots of people who helped me get to this point. My teachers throughout school, my college professors, David Leach and the Monticello Drugs family, Kathy Mudd and The Monticello News family. You all have helped me tremendously to get to this point in my life.

Thank you to the many great people in the community I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far. There are so many people I’ve met in the last 10 months, that I can’t name them all… this column is already dragging anyways. But just know if I’ve met you and spent extensive time with you, then this applies to you.

Thank you to you! The readers! Perhaps the biggest thank you goes to you! You, the readers, are the ones that make this possible. Thank you so much for your continued support of The News and everything we have to offer. I can’t wait to lead things to the next level and make the product better for you.

Evan Newton is the managing editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.