Heading into our 50th year in print, the staff of The Fountain Hills Times would like to thank all our readers and advertisers for sticking with us for so long. And whether you’re a subscriber or someone who picks up the local paper from time to time, we couldn’t have done this without you.

Next week, the community will be officially introduced to Fountain Hills Times Independent. We’ll have a new look, but the staff will remain the same and the stories will boast the same down-the-middle, local focus everyone has come to expect.

We would like to thank everyone once again for being patient with us as we make this transition. There are a lot of plates spinning in the background, and that’s on top of the usual work we put in to bring you the news each week. There will continue to be some growing pains as we make final adjustments, but we aim to make this transition as seamless (and as quickly) as possible.

Time to reiterate a few points. For starters, our deadlines have changed. The advertising deadline is now 3 p.m. Wednesdays and the editorial deadline to have stories/opinions considered for publication is noon Thursday.

We also recently announced a change to delivery. Those who are used to receiving their paper on the driveway each week will now receive it in the mail.

As for the look of the paper, next week’s edition will be in the new 12”x11” format and sport our new name, Fountain Hills Times Independent. The newsstand price will also move in line with other Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, publications at $2 an issue.

Finally, if you’re the type of person who likes to keep up with your local news online, you’ll notice yet another change in the way we will handle reporting moving forward. In brief, we’re working to bring the news to you faster than ever before. As stories are made ready throughout the week, we will post them to fhtimes.com more quickly. They will also appear on social media, such as our Facebook page, more quickly.

This has no impact on what will appear in the paper. The paper will still be filled with all the latest news impacting our readers, we’ll just make that reporting available more quickly online than we have in the past. Be sure to sign up for our 4:30 newsletter at fhtimes.com to get the latest local news throughout the week.