It is with a heavy heart that I announce my departure from Wentzville Patch. I am leaving this week to take over the reins at the University City Patch.

While I am excited for the new opportunities in University City, I would be remiss if I didn't say how much I will miss covering Wentzville. Over the past 13 months, you have embraced Wentzville Patch and made the site vibrant and full of great comments.

The great Wentzville readers have kept me on my toes, asked for more information on certain stories and added information of their own. In short, you have helped create a great place for news and information.

I'm happy to announce that while I am ending my time with Wentzville Patch, I feel confident that I'm leaving my editorial baby in good hands. Patch Editor Joe Scott will be taking over for the next few weeks while my replacement moves back to the area and gets settled.

I'm going to allow the new editor to introduce himself to you, but I will say he is a St. Charles County native who is very excited to be moving back to cover Wentzville. He should be on the job by the end of January.

In the meantime, you can contact Joe Scott at Joe.Scott@patch.com.

I have loved my time here and value all of you that have read or contributed to Patch. Thank you for making Wentzville Patch what it is and for making this one of the harder career decisions I've ever had to make.

I'm going to keep reading and I hope you do as well.