Do you like what you see?

You may be surprised to see what looks like a brand-new newspaper on your doorstep, but we assure you, it’s still the Redmond Reporter — just new and improved.

The Redmond Reporter has undergone a major redesign, beginning with this issue. Now there’s a fresh look and feel to your community newspaper, complete with new typography, front-to-back organization and new icons directing you to the Web or asking for your feedback and more.

Even the Redmond Reporter flag will wave high and proud on the front page in its new two-tone magenta/maroon.

We are getting rid of our split ends, trimming up our look and hope to keep your focus and interest growing.

So what does this mean for you?

Besides a change in the physical layout of our pages, what you’ll notice is more consistency week to week. You can expect regular coverage of our business and arts, which will include business profiles and faces in the arts and entertainment scene. And of course, we will continue to have hard-hitting editorials and thoughtful columns written by local residents.

What makes a community newspaper truly engaging is the feedback from its readers. We invite you to write letters to the editor and send us information and pictures about events in Redmond. So sit back, read and enjoy. And if you like or dislike any of the new or old features, please let us know.

In addition, we are now phasing out e-mails using @reporternewspapers.com and replacing them with @redmond-reporter.com. For those of you who are still getting used to the idea, you will have until April 1, at which point the old e-mail domains will cease.

And finally, you may have noticed already, but our Web presence is also blossoming. Our online edition is updated daily and now features video footage of Redmond happenings. So if you have some local video, send it our way.

As part of our commitment to our community, we have designated a fixed number of positions in our online paper for local advertisers only. Those ads from local businesses will be served on the site using the most advanced technology on the Web today.

“The Redmond Reporter has seen tremendous growth on its Web site,” said publisher Andrea Southern, who added that hits to the Web site have nearly doubled since October.

We know that good news is hard to find in these dark economic days, but as you can see, the Redmond Reporter is shining brightly.