Part of our mission at The Citizen, and at any good daily newspaper, is to constantly evolve. Papers that do nothing to freshen their content and look can quickly stagnate.

But that doesn't mean we aim for a total redesign of the paper every year, or that we launch a new section or product every month. While those are major changes that actually have been made here in the past couple of years, most of the alterations we make on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis are more subtle.

This column spotlights a few of those quieter changes we have made recently:

€ It's taken much longer than we would have liked, but we finally have a regular Monday columnist who is offering personal opinions on issues that are reported on The Citizen's news pages. Carole Estabrook, whose writings started up a few weeks ago, is a self-described moderate Democrat who has a strong interest in local news. Her column gets us back on track with a full complement of local columnists appearing on our opinion page every day.

€ Our Go guide now carries a locally produced video game page, with the centerpiece being game reviews by our resident expert, staff writer David Wilcox. Now I'll confess I don't know the difference between a PlayStation and Wii, but David's knowledge on this stuff is more than extensive. His reviews certainly aren't for everyone, but there are some readers who are really into the world of video games, and we're glad we can now give them something to look forward to each Thursday.

€ Earlier this year, we wrapped up a monthly series of profiles on area diners that appeared on the front page of our Lake Life section.

Our Lake Life staff felt the series was a success, so they came up with a new concept.

Starting last month with a feature on the Witches Brew coffeehouse in downtown Auburn, Lake Life is now showcasing an area coffee shop every month. A story on Burritt's Cafe in Weedsport is planned for later this month. These articles give readers ideas about places to go, and they tell the stories about the people behind them.

€ We have always used the Go section to profile musicians that are performing at local venues in the coming weekend, but now we've added a new touch to those stories. Readers who want to hear a sample of the music being described can often get one by checking out the story on our Web site. When bands or soloists are willing to provide us a music clip, we'll put it up on the site so readers can get a taste of what they might hear if they go to the show.

Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns run Saturdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net