Over the course of the last 12 months, there have been several changes at The Orange Leader.

The staff has worked hard to implement the changes and continue to strive towards more changes.

One of the changes we are working towards is making it YOUR paper.

A woman told me she had considered writing an editorial column from time to time on issues she felt were important. The statement, innocent as it is, was also a reminder we must work harder to connect with the community. The editorial page is for our community to voice opinions.

The editorial page is the opinions of the community. A chance for citizens to speak their mind and let others know what one is thinking. It is designed to initiate conversations and create thought on issues we face today.

Currently, The Orange Leader has a few local columnists who submit on a regular basis such as West Orange – Cove CISD Superintendent Rickie R. Harris, J David Derosier, Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Mary W. Poole, staff from Orange County Texas A&M AgriLlife Extension Service, Senator Robert Nichols and Texas House Member Representative Dade Phelan. A local gentleman draws one editorial cartoon a week.

As a service to the community, we allow the candidates to run a letter of introduction as submitted. This allows voters an opportunity to learn more about each candidate so citizens can make an informed decision when they are at the polls.

Over the past year, we have received several letters to the editor. Some of these letters were much longer than the 300 word or less limit. From this day forward, letters exceeding the maximum word length can be run as a column.

If you wish to write a column for consideration, the word count is approximately 750 words. For columns, we request a picture also be submitted