Active new look,
active new section

By Nadine Kam
Features Editor

Dear readers,

Welcome to the new Today features section. We've had fun the past few years with the grand experiment that encompassed the Local Moco; You, Me and We; Body & Soul; Do It!; and Home Zone sections, but in the long run, enough of you told us you could never remember which day went with what subject, to convince us to return to the familiar and true.

So instead of delivering a feature section with five different names, we're simplifying, returning to the Today name that had been a Star-Bulletin tradition since the early '70s. The only one of those names we're keeping is Do It!, for the weekend entertainment section that runs every Thursday.

What this name change means for you is getting stories as quick as we can get 'em in the paper. We shall hoard stories no more as we did in past attempts to wait for an appropriately "themed" day.

At the Star-Bulletin, we are hoping through Today, to illuminate the human experience as we live it today, as an optimistic, though somewhat befuddled society charging toward the next millennium. No matter what our interests, gender, political views or religion, I suspect we all are trying to get the most out of life, enjoy our families, enjoy our leisure, and maybe gain a little recognition for good deeds, even as we cope with daily land mines and chores.

So what do we have in store for you? For starters, a slightly updated look. Today, we also begin the Peanuts Christmas Countdown, which will replace Bizarro for the next month.

Tomorrow we introduce a new women's column dubbed The Goddess Speaks to address the concerns, lives, responsibilities and foibles that are our obsessions. We'll invite dialog and responses from men and women via another new feature, The Chatter Box.

Also new tomorrow will be a weekly Tuesday feature geared toward those who want to reconnect with the great outdoors. Out There will focus on outdoor recreation and stories may range from exploration of hiking trails to radio-control plane hobbyists.

As for the rest ... well, you'll have to visit again.