Welcome to VeroNews.com – the new online daily newspaper for Indian River County.For the first time since 1996, when the Press Journal was sold to an out-of-town chain, residents of our community have their own newspaper pledged to covering all of Indian River County – and only Indian River County.The goal of VeroNews.com is to provide comprehensive, up-to-the minute news and commentary on the events that shape the lives and future of the people of Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere and the rest of our communities.Our launch, originally planned for July 1, has been a little rocky. We are trying to make the site as user-friendly as possible, and technology doesn’t always cooperate. I suspect it will be Thanksgiving before we have worked out all the kinks, and are functioning at the level we want to serve you.But in the meantime, any shortcomings won’t be for lack of trying. Our professional journalists (none of whom lives in Port St. Lucie or Stuart) have one 24/7 focus – turning VeroNews.com into an indispensible part of our county’s daily life. And unlike the other guys, I guarantee it won’t take us 82 years to get it right.Please email me your thoughts and suggestions.Milton R. BenjaminPublisher***What you’ll find at VeroNews.comBy Debbie Carson, Online EditorThe staff at VeroNews.com could not be more excited to show you what we are all about – covering Indian River County in a way you will not find anywhere else on the Web or in print. Our goal is to be your local news source and we aim to achieve that by concentrating all our efforts in covering the cities and neighborhoods in Indian River County.We will be covering local government, including Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere and Indian River County; public safety, including daily crime blotters and police and fire happenings of note; and, of course, news of people doing good things in their communities.Our site is designed to give you multiple ways to find what you’re looking for. Vero Beach, Sebastian and Fellsmere have their own landing pages with their own front page story, photo and video, along with their own top stories. The County page is place to find news from unincorporated Indian River County.If you want to get a quick overview of everything going on in the county, check out our homepage, www.VeroNews.com. There, you’ll find the top news, photo and video of the day, along with the headlines from each of our community’s landing pages.We will also be offering blogs written by a unique collection of Indian River County residents on topics large and small about life in our little corner of paradise designed to make you think, perhaps elicit a smile and as often is the point of these offerings allow you to provide your opinion on the topic at hand. Our signed bloggers include Miss Vero of Miss Vero’s Beach House, Rhett Palmer and Max Newport to name a few. Staffers will also contribute with their own blogs on their particular area of expertise, including Mary Schenkel, Lisa Zahner and Keith Carson.As an added value to our visitors, we are providing a place for our community groups to promote their organizations and news under “Other Sections.” There, you’ll find links for Arts and Shows, Education, Faith, Health, Military, Organizations, Philanthropy, Real Estate, and Recreation. You’ll also find a videos and photo galleries created by Visual Journalist Keith Carson under the Multimedia link.VeroNews.com also has a section devoted to Sports. This will be the place to find information about youth, adult and prep sports news, along with happenings at Dodgertown. During the school year, we will be covering many of the sporting teams at Vero Beach High, Sebastian High, and Saint Edwards. It is our goal to provide the sports scores immediately following the games on our Sports page, so be sure to check it out.Our news Web site also offers a continuously updated calendar on every page, where events submitted from groups are posted. Want to know what’s going on this weekend? Click the date in the calendar and see what pops up. (The Vero Beach Museum of Art is offering a one-day workshop July 18.)We will be tweaking our Web site as we grow and receive feedback from you. So please, feel free to contact us by e-mailing info@veronews.com with your thoughts, comments and suggestions for our site.As much as we will be out in your neighborhoods, we cannot possibly be everywhere all the time. VeroNews.com is your site, so please send us your news at news@veronews.com and your photos at photos@veronews.com.