We are constantly striving to improve both the print and on-line editions of The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times.

As part of that on-going effort, we’ve recently added a new feature to our Web sites that we hope will help increase the community dialogue on the various issues that impact our communities.

If you visit www.arlingtontimes.com or www.marysvilleglobe.com, you will find that the sites are now offering a variety of blogs.

The first type is staff blogs, written by members of the Globe and Times staff. Currently you’ll find sports reporter Danielle Szulczewski’s Fifth Quarter blog as well as the Lights & Siren blog which features local police blotters and crime-related stories. Look for additional staff blogs to be added in the very near future.

The second type of blog you’ll find is our candidate blogs. We’ve offered free blogs to every candidate who will be appearing on local ballots in the November General Election. The blogs will enable the candidates to speak directly to their constituents and to address the critical issues we face today. Currently, two candidates for the Arlington City Council and one candidate for the Arlington School Board have signed up. We’re expecting more candidates to sign up in the near future.

The third type of blog that will be offered will be the community blogs which we’ll be providing to a wide variety of local community members.

If you would be interested in becoming a blogger for the Globe or Times, give me a call or send me an e-mail and we can discuss it further.

To contact Managing Editor Scott Frank, e-mail him at sfrank@marysvilleglobe.com or call 360-659-1300.