You have asked, and we have listened. It may have taken a lot longer than anyone wanted, but beginning Oct. 24, obituaries will move back to the A section of The Democrat.

In fact, they will be anchored on page 5A every day &8212; leaving no guesswork for our readers.

Moving obituaries to a more prominent place &8212; and a permanent location &8212; was the first thing we told consultant Ed Henninger we wanted to do with a redesign.

And our commitment to that move illustrates that the redesign debuting next Monday is not just a new look for The Democrat; it&8217;s a new way of looking at how to present the information we provide you every day.

We have kept one thing in mind as we have worked for most of this year on the redesign for The Democrat: our readers.

The design itself will be more accessible, with a larger typeface

And while our look will be a bit different, we will be even more reader-friendly in terms of organization and interaction.

All of us at The Democrat believe we are stewards of your hometown newspaper, and your input is important to us.

That&8217;s why we are adding more features to allow you to share your news with us and with your fellow readers.

Our new features include:

4Who&8217;s News: Featured on the front page of both the news and sports sections, &8220;Who&8217;s News&8221; will be a chance for readers to share good news about their achievements.

What kind of news are we looking for? Maybe you were chosen to sing a solo for the church choir, or your daughter just got into an Ivy League school.

Or maybe your grandson won a tennis tournament or kicked the game-winning field goal Friday night.

Those good news items are certainly worth sharing, and we welcome your submissions for this new feature. Each news item will run with a photo of the person featured.

Getting the information to us is easy. You can e-mail it, mail it, or drop it by the office. If you drop it off at our office, we have a simple form to fill out, and we can take your photo right here.

Anyone interested in submitting a news item for &8220;Who&8217;s News&8221; can e-mail information to Julie Finley at

julie.finley@natchezdemocrat.com

. Sports news items can be e-mailed to sports editor

Adam Daigle

at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com

.

Items can also be dropped at The Democrat office at 503 N. Canal St. or mailed to P.O. Box 1447, Natchez, MS 39120.

4Your Take: Readers can also submit their own photos for a new feature called &8220;Your Take.&8221;

Maybe you have a big family reunion, or you snapped just the right picture of a sunset over the Mississippi River. We want to see &8220;Your Take&8221; of the Miss-Lou.

Photos can be dropped off at the office or e-mailed to visual editor

Ben Hillyer

at

ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com

.

We hope you&8217;ll take some time this week to begin submitting &8220;Your Take&8221; and &8220;Who&8217;s News&8221; items. We look forward, as always, to sharing your good news with our readers.

A week from Monday, we&8217;ll all wake up to a new Democrat. But we will continue to bring you the same great coverage of the Miss-Lou in your hometown newspaper.

Kerry Whipple

Bean is editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3541 or by e-mail at

kerry.bean@natchezdemocrat.com

.