Well, that’s my new, off-hand slogan for the final quarter of 2024 for your favorite newspaper. And it’s for the simplest and most obvious of reasons: The retirement of our 25-year editor, Phil Castle. And even though Phil took on the role of editor emeritus for one final edition of the Business Times at the behest of management to smooth the transition, what you are reading today is the first edition of the Business Times in over 25 years without Phil Castle in charge of content and design.

And when I say Phil was in charge of content and design, I mean everything your hands were holding as you read your Business Times over the past —guessing — -14 years? More simply put, Phil wrote and put everything together for every edition over that span outside of some half page of publisher-type silliness and all the ads I sold — although he placed those, too.

Who’s doing all of that now, you may ask? Well, the silly publisher is taking on additional roles of storytelling and deciphering press releases. A young man with a nose for news, Brandon Leuallen is writing and investigating stories. And the very talented Jackie Young is in charge of the deadline-laden insanity of putting it all together. The past couple of weeks have been both crazy and fun.

So please give the new gang some grace if things look and read a little differently from your normal experience in the past 734 editions of the paper. We’re probably going need it. I say that in spite of the fact the paper has changed plenty over my 24 years at the helm. But the one thing that never changed was the assured quality of the stories and content created on the keypad and through the mouse under the nimble fingers of Phil.

But as the title of the book I read on my recent plane rides from Grand Junction to Detroit and back said, life is full of “Necessary Endings.” In the case of the Business Times, it’s because Phil deemed it was time to spend more time with family, pursue his passion of writing (novels, not newspapers) and scuba diving while not being bogged down by having to work them around time at the office. And we wish Phil all the best in the next phase of his life. Necessary, and deserved, indeed.

So yes, the writing style is going to change, and I’m sure you’ll notice it from the cover story through the rest of the paper. But I also hope you’ll enjoy the stories in the same way you’ve enjoyed Phil’s. Additionally, you will see more stories with more of an investigative slant being mixed with stories the Business Times has become known for: Good stories about good people doing good things. The best part? The vast majority of them, as always, will be original and local.

So thanks for reading my big introduction to the newspaper editing world. I’m (along with Brandon, the new guy) already getting a kick out of writing the stories, features and even the press releases. To me, it’s because the subjects and people make them so darn interesting and fun to write. And please keep the stories and comments coming to the Business Times. We’re going to be out there more than ever. With so many stories begging to be told and others being missed in local news coverage, we can’t wait to hear about and tell yours.

No one covered more local stories better than the Business Times under the guidance of Phil Castle during his 25-year tenure. And that’s a legacy we are aware of, are very proud of and fully intend to continue.

The best thing about necessary endings? New beginnings. Thanks, again, for being part of this one.