The time has finally come to say goodbye to 2011 and welcome in 2012.
Though it inevitably always feels as if the year has flown by, for the Capital District these past 12 months will almost surely go down as some of the most momentous in recent memory when it comes to local news.
For the communities we cover, this year rarely lacked for interesting stories. Whether it was hard,-fought local elections, debate over the future of the entire Capital District or simply a heartwarming story about the good works so many groups and individuals are doing to help the less fortunate, 2011 was noteworthy in every way.
That’s, of course, not to mention the story of the year in most places across the country: the slow, sometimes faltering economic recovery and its impact on people from all walks of life. We predict this will continue to be a major issue come 2012, as many municipal governments struggled this year to come up with budgets that wouldn’t put people out of work or reduce services.
You can take a fond stroll down memory lane through our Year in Review coverage, which includes all the highlights of the year, along with the less notable, but equally important, tidbits of local news you may have missed.
For us here at The Spotlight, 2011 has been a year of great change, and of great growth. Many of you who encounter our reporters at town meetings and events have seen some new faces (always feel free to say hello, by the way), and we’ve also strengthened our commitment to local news by investing in a new web platform that not only delivers content to our readers better and faster, but allows them to interact with us and one another in new and exciting ways.
As we mentioned, this is not only a time for reflection but also a time for looking ahead, and we can unequivocally say this coming year holds for us true excitement. We will soon be welcoming a new cohort of public officials into various offices, some of whom have bold new ideas for the Capital District, and following the many big stories of this year that remain unresolved.
But perhaps what’s most exciting about the coming year is also the thing that remains constant: the people who live in our communities. We look forward to learning more about our remarkable residents, telling their stories and hopefully helping make this area a better place along the way.
To all our readers, a Happy New Year.
