Effective October 1, 2021, I am the full-time editor-owner of the Bluffton and Ada Icons. In following founder Fred Steiner, I know that I have big shoes to fill. Fred took a big leap when he created the Bluffton Icon in 2009 and, in 2012, the Ada Icon. My leap from employee to self-employed is much, much smaller. I’m inheriting some 20,000 monthly viewers of Bluffton area news and some 8,500 monthly viewers of Ada area news.

I’m also resting on the shoulders of Icon tech master and interim owner Ryan Lowry, who is still the wizard who keeps the online magic working.

As the Bluffton Icon and Ada Icon editor, I love being able to share news as it happens. Emergency advisory? It’s up in moments. Advisory cancellation, ditto. Similarly, I can treat the Icons as morning, afternoon and evening editions with rolling deadlines. Midnight is the only true deadline here: that’s the cutoff for our email delivery of the day’s news.

I invite Icon readers to let us know how we’re doing and to provide us with content, requests, and advertising. Who’s us? I’ve also inherited a talented group of contributors as well as an essential group of advertisers. These advertisers make the Icons your free local news source.

Free news is a rare thing these days. Fred designed the Icons so that there is no log-in, no story limit, no credit card required. I’m proud to continue that tradition.

Paula Scott

Bluffton Icon editor-owner