Welcome back to the MG blog! Sorry we've been away for so long.

We have liftoff! The Capital Journal debuted its new size and new look Monday afternoon in Pierre, SD, to solid reviews from a readership eager for an updated look. In an area that's very devoted to its newspaper and its traditions, publisher Russ Cannon reported three phone calls last night and several more this morning — and they were were all positive! Several area leaders saw the new paper yesterday and gave it big thumbs-up. (Nice thing about a smaller town — instant feedback!)

The CJ took a substantial trimming, going from a 52-inch web to a 48-inch in one slice. The newspaper basically looked like it spent the weekend on the South Beach Diet. The paper also debuted a second section each day, headed by its popular People page, now in living color!

Kudos to the newsroom staff for making this happen, especially Ken Potter, who stepped in to the news editing role on a temporary basis about 6 weeks ago. Ken made this redesign come to life, which wasn't easy considering he was working without 17 percent of the newsroom staff!