Retired Lexington County Chronicle and Dispatch News editor Jerry Bellune and publisher MacLeod Bellune, the married couple that founded this paper in 1992, served Lexington County for decades, bringing you county-wide news published right here in the heart of Lexington.  

Too much Lexington County local news is published or broadcast from outside the county by outsiders sending their publications and broadcasts our way.  The Bellunes are to be commended for maintaining the county’s newspaper-of-record, an independent voice speaking to the issues impacting residents, and doing so from the place they call home.

The new owners of The Lexington County Chronicle, Kyle and Jack Osteen from Sumter, like the Bellunes, operate a family publishing company, not a far-away holding corporation without local roots. They are fifth-generation S.C. newspaper publishers, part of the family that started the Sumter Item in 1894 and continues to operate it.

The Osteens intend to keep Lexington County news local, soon moving the paper to new offices on Main Street in Lexington. 

We renew that commitment this week as we introduce a new look for the Chronicle (which you can see here if you subscribe to the e-edition).

Today’s issue is the first of a redesign that we will continue to adjust to serve our readers and advertisers.  Please give us your thoughts. We’ll need them as we continue to grow and evolve.

We hope this redesign allows us to deliver news with clarity and engaging visuals, including the many faces of the communities we serve.

You’ll still find stories that dig into issues impacting Lexington County and features celebrating some of the many things that make it a special place to live and work, packaged in a way we hope makes them  easy to read.

In the future, we plan to expand the Chronicle’s electronic publishing with an updated website, social media and email newsletters to deliver local news in a variety of formats to suit different reader preferences. Later, contests, podcasts and video news formats are planned as well.

A lot is changing at The Lexington County Chronicle, but we’re still family-owned, and we’re still committed to reporting about Lexington County from Lexington County

After all, you live in Lexington County, your news should, too.

Parks Rogers is publisher of The Lexington County Chronicle.