Utah County readers responded enthusiastically when the Deseret Morning News changed to morning delivery a little more than a year ago. Our circulation is up and still growing, and we continue to adapt to the needs Utah County residents express as they make the Deseret Morning News their must-have newspaper.

So it is with great enthusiasm that we take our Valley Life page, which has been a weekly feature, and vastly expand it. Beginning Thursday, we will blanket Utah County with a new weekly Utah Valley Life section.

Utah Valley Life's format is unique, and so are its contents. Features, events, sports, movie theater listings, classified ads — the best way to describe Utah Valley Life is to call it "intensely local." Even the display advertising will be drawn specifically from Utah County retailers and other businesses.

Deseret Morning News readers acquainted with our stable of sports writers will see even more about BYU sports from Dick Harmon, Scott Taylor and Jeff Call. Jim Rayburn will continue to lead our prep sports coverage, giving readers more rankings, scores, stats and game stories. The News' broad circulation coverage means statewide standings and statistics when Utah County schools play teams from elsewhere in the state.

Utah Valley Life is also an interactive section. We're offering space to readers to announce weddings, births and other important events in their lives. Readers' likes and dislikes about happenings in the county around them will also be published in the interactive column rantnrave@desnews.com.

Utah Valley Life will appear each week in Thursday's edition of the special Utah County edition of the Deseret Morning News and as a free, stand-alone publication on racks and in stores throughout the county.

The Deseret Morning News has a long tradition of service to the people of Utah County, and we hope this new expansion will offer family-oriented material of relevance to our readers in this vibrant area.

John Hughes, Editor