A lot of people have been asking me what changes are in store with the purchase of the Grand Forks Gazette by Black Press. So far, you probably haven't seen any changes, and as far as our main product, the Gazette, is concerned, you likely won't.

We've been assured by Black Press that it's going to be "business as usual" for our core product.

Although we were sad to see the closure of our sister papers, the Nelson Daily News and the Weekender, we are glad that we will be able to continue to deliver news, opinion, sports, arts and features to you for many, many years to come.

However, you will be seeing some changes to our other two publications starting this week. On Friday, you will receive the first edition of the Advertiser, which will replace the Weekender, which, in the Boundary, replaced the Boundary Bulletin a few years ago. As this is a new product, I can't comment specifically on how it will evolve. However, I can tell you that you will continue to receive two parts, a regional edition and a Boundary edition, just as you did with the Weekender, and that it will continue to be delivered to your door at no cost. I can also tell you that it will continue to be full of local advertising and great bargains.

Big changes are also planned online. Sometime in the next week we will be going live with our new website.

The new site will be located at the same address as the old one, www.grandforksgazette.ca. When the site goes live you will be switched over automatically. Popular features such as the poll and commenting will still be available. However, to comment you will have to re-register. Your old log in won't work. You'll find news from across the province submitted by Black Press papers, of which there are more than 70, and other web only content. For example, although you can't find syndicated comic strips in the Gazette, you will be able to read them online. You'll also find that local content will be updated much more often. Once we get the hang of things, we'll also start posting videos of local interviews and events. If you are part of a local non-profit group, you can go to bclocalevents.com to submit your local events, if you want to make sure they will be there to be viewed when the new site goes live. Stay tuned for the new website at www.grandforksgazette.ca.