Comings and goings here at LJWorld.com

I’m very excited today to introduce you to Alex Parker, our new digital editor here at LJWorld.com.

Alex will replace Whitney Mathews, who you’ll all remember left LJWorld.com and The World Company just before July 4 this year. It’s taken us a little longer than we would have liked to replace Whitney, but it was important to us to have the right fit. Alex is the right fit.

Some of you may recognize Alex’s names from his previous time at the World Company. He was our education reporter — coincidentally one of his clearest memories is reporting on the USD 497 decision to build new stadiums at its high schools — and then a reporter and web producer for our websites. One of the works I’ll most remember from his time here was the multimedia story he did on a Fort Riley unit’s preparation to deploy to Iraq.

Alex left us in 2009 and has worked for the Chi-Town-Daily News and the Chicago Reader before returning to Lawrence just this week. I’m really excited to be putting the LJWorld.com community in his hands.

With LJWorld.com in good hands, I feel like it’s an appropriate time to announce news of my own. A few weeks ago, I let The World Company know I’d be leaving to take a new role at [Public Radio International in Minneapolis, Minn][4]. My last day is next Tuesday.

I’ve spent the past five years working here — and I’ve lived here for more than eight — and I cannot tell you all how thankful I am for all of the support and wisdom I’ve gained from working with the community here — both virtually on LJWorld.com and our other websites as well as in person in Lawrence. Leaving will be bittersweet for me; I’m sad to leave my friends and colleagues in Lawrence, as well as the community we have here, but I’m excited for the new opportunity.

So, thanks again, for being a fantastic community. And don’t be surprised if you still see me lurking in the comments occasionally. There’s a great community here and I just don’t want to totally get away.

•Jonathan

[1]: /staff/alex_parker/