Hello readers! My name is Shane Harms, and I am the new lead reporter and web editor for the Ballard News Tribune.

I humbly accept the reporting pen from Zachariah Bryan, who has taken a position with the Tundra Drums in Bethel, AK. Zachariah has done an amazing job keeping pace with the happenings of Ballard. I hope to provide the same quality of work and commitment to the Ballard community Zachariah has bestowed.

My background is in creative writing, journalism and photography. I graduated from North Dakota State University in 2010 with degrees in English writing and psychology.

I started up with the BNT as an intern. Eventually I become a stringer reporter sporadically writing feature stories and reporting emergency situations. In order to learn more about publishing, I took a job as the BNT advertising sales representative, and I have been selling ad space up until now.

I have experimented with many genres of writing including poetry, fiction, screenplay, blog, and journalism. My work has appeared in Coast Mountain Culture Magazine, The Conium Review, Revolver, Cirque, and other online publications. I have career aspirations in media and publishing.

I was born in Palmer, AK. and grew up in Minn. Being of Native American, Scandinavian, German and French Canadian ancestry, I feel very comfortable in Ballard. It really does feel like a small city apart from Seattle with its own unique culture and history.

Since moving to Seattle in 2010, I have called Ballard home, but recently I moved to Green Lake. However, I remain heavily enveloped in the Ballard community and consider it my home. All of Ballard is my office and playground.

Some of the things I’m most excited about are the breweries and other new businesses blooming out of Ballard. A few things I’m keeping an eye on are the Apodment construction situation, public transit and storm drain issues during this upcoming winter season. I’d also like to revive high school sports coverage.

I am very excited to take on this new role. Ballard is constantly changing, and I hope to keep pace with its flux. With my experience in writing and a sense of place accrued through living in this community, I hope to tell Ballard’s story.

Please call (218) 234-6923 or email me at shaneh@robinsonnews.com with your tips, comments, press releases and letters to the editor.