NOTEBOOK:Back in familiar surroundings

Let me get something out of the way first.

I’d like to raise a toast to S.J Cahn, the now former editor of the Daily Pilot, who decided to take some time off from the daily grind that is daily newspapering and spend some quality time with his loved ones.

To those of us who know him well, know how seriously he took his job here and how hard that must have been for him to make this decision.

Here’s to many more good times, S.J., for you and yours. We all wish you well.

But now, we need to get back to business.

Rather than leave the newspaper without an editor, Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson asked me to help guide the ship until a permanent editor is found.

So that’s what finds me back here in this spot, back — at least for the interim — in a job I did for six years until I left in May of 2005 to work on our websites.

The editor job is a good job, an oftentimes fun job, an important job and one that we will fill with the strongest candidate we can find.

In the meantime, rest assured, dear readers, that the paper is staffed with a talented array of writers, editors and photographers, who will continue to maintain the high standards that have been set for them.

As we begin the search for the editor, though, I’ll be working closely with the staff and getting reacquainted with the issues and community leaders who I have basically watched from the sidelines as I took my venture into cyberspace a year and a half ago.

Speaking of those websites, let’s talk about some of the changes there and some of the changes that should be coming down the road to www.dailypilot.com and the paper itself.

You may have noticed the website has changed quite a bit in the last year or so.

And if you didn’t, well, then pardon me as I throw in a few shameless plugs and list some of the new features.

These are just some of the changes that have taken place, with many more yet to come. Keep a look out on the sites for more online features in the coming weeks and months.

On the print side, there are more changes coming, as well. We are looking at giving the paper a new look, new features and better readability by early next year.

While the newspaper industry is filled with bad news and dire predictions, the truth is that the outlook for community papers like the Daily Pilot is bright. We will continue to deliver news you can’t find anywhere else, and the rise of the Internet is only going to make us stronger, I believe.

But as we go through this time of change at the Daily Pilot, the people who we need to hear from the most is you — the readers. Please take the time to drop me a line and offer suggestions or ideas on how we can be better, how we can improve our news and how we can be the best community newspaper for you.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

is the interim editor and general manager of online for the Daily Pilot and its sister papers. You can reach him at tony.dodero@latimes.com or (714) 966-4608.