The members of the Roanoke Times team that bring The Botetourt View, So Salem and Swoco to three local communities in the Roanoke Valley. Thanks for following us online!

We want to pause here at the start of a new year to give thanks to you, our readers — one million times!

In 2012, our three community news sites serving Salem, Southwest Roanoke County and Botetourt County registered one million pageviews. That’s up 21 percent from the year before.

And up from, well, zero when we launched our sites back in 2008.

Thanks to all those who have bookmarked our sites and keep coming back, or keep up through our news feeds on Facebook and Twitter.

All your news appears online first — here at SWoCo, and our other community sites — before making its way into our weekly print editions. And in many cases, you’ll get more photos online.

So thanks for your support, and keep clicking!

As always, you can share your news and photos from Southwest Roanoke County at news@swo-co.com.

Elizabeth Watts Jones

Elizabeth Jones is the community journalist for SWoCo. She grew up in Southwest Roanoke County and graduated from Roanoke College. She’s looking forward to covering  news and events from schools, community events, churches, and more.

Got a story idea or something to share? Elizabeth can be reached by phone at 981-3191 or by emailing elizabeth.jones@swo-co.com.

(You can also share at our general email address, news@swo-co.com.)

If you’re curious about where Avery Eliades has gone, she’s moved over to our sister publication in Salem, so she’s still around!

SWoCo has a part-time opening for a community journalist. Interested? Or know someone who might be?

We have more details here on jobs.roanoke.com, or search the jobs site for posting number 644032.

We’re a bit late calling your attention to this but over on The Roanoke Times “Refresh RT” blog, they’re asking: How did you get your news while the power was out?

There’s a brief questionnaire. You can check it out here. (And if you got some of your news through SWoCo — whether the website proper or our Facebook/Twitter updates — don’t forget to mention that somewhere!)

Speaking of the storm, here’s the latest update from Roanoke County on brush collection efforts. And if you have photos of storm damage or clean-up, you can share at news@swo-co.com or use the “share” tool to upload 10 at a time.

We learned today that SWoCo has won an award in the Suburban Newspapers of America annual contest.

* SWoCo shared second place — with its sister publications in Botetourt County and Salem– in the “best web/print combination” category.”

The judges said:

The Botetourt View, So Salem and SWoCo are print / online projects produced by The Roanoke Times that combine user-generated contributions, a community journalist, local advertising sales and online-first, edited-for-print content in the way that many media companies can and should.”

Meanwhile, our parent site — www.roanoke.com — took first place in the “best overall local news site” category. SWoCo and our other community publications drew an indirect mention there. The judges said:

“Roanoke.com and The Roanoke Times cover all the bases with this excellent site and suite of interactive-media services including mobile for Blackberry, IPhone and Droid. News texting , even digital billboards for breaking news? Great stuff. Nice design. Especially liked photos of the week and the local community sections.”

As the judges pointed out, we rely on you — the reader — to share many of the photos you’d like the community to see, so we here at SWoCo thank you!

Want to keep up with SWoCo from your mobile device?

We now have a site designed specifically to work from your smart phone — go to m.roanoke.com, choose “topics,” and then click on the SWoCo icon you see here.

This will save you the hassle of typing in the whole URL.

Please note that this is for your mobile gizmo only; if you’re coming at us from a computer, you should still go to the regular roanoke.com or swo-co.com.

Do you like to eat?

Today, roanoke.com has launched its new food site, PlateUp — or, more technically, plateup.roanoke.com.

We have restaurant reviews, a searchable dining guide, a searchable recipe guide and a shopping blogger, Hollie Wingate, to fill you in on coupon deals.

You can post your own reviews and recipes, too.

If you want to go stylin’ around Southwest Roanoke County with your very own SWoCo sticker, just pop us at email at news@swo-co.com and we’ll mail one to you.

Carrie Wickert is a leukemia patient. By joining the Marrow Registry, you could be a life-saving match for someone like her.

Carrie Wickert is a 33-year-old young lady who loves life. Carrie grew up on Smith Mountain Lake and the Roanoke Valley and is a 1995 graduate of Cave Spring High School. She enjoys water activities on the lake, loves the sun, her friends, and is an active member at First Presbyterian Church, where she has gone on two mission trips.

Carrie was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) last August, went through chemo at Lewis Gale and was cancer free in October. At that time there was not a bone marrow match for Carrie and there was a 30 percent chance the cancer would not return. But this January the cancer did return and Carrie is currently at Duke University medical center going through more chemo and will be part of a transplant study program as soon as she is in remission.

You could be a life-saving match for someone like Carrie.
You have the power to heal …. the power to save a life!

Take the first step: Join the Registry

Date: Saturday, May 1
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Lewis-Gale Medical Center, 1900 Electric Road, Salem, 24153
More information: Betsie Letterie (919) 414-8312; Roger Wickert, 353-5600.

Joining the Marrow Registry is easy:
1) Fill out a registration / health / history form. Remember to bring the name / address / phone number of two contacts.
2) Have the inside of your cheek swabbed. There are NO NEEDLES involved to register.

You need only to be between the ages of 18 and 60, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines.
This registration drive is sponsored by the Salem Rotary Club.
To learn more about The Marrow Foundation, call (800) MARROW-2 or go online at BeTheMatch.org

The Roanoke Times is looking for a few good teens. Once a week, we publish The Edge, a print page that is planned, written, and photographed by local teenagers. With Roanoke Times staff as advisors and mentors, high school students learn the ropes of journalism, hands on. Sometimes, students are inspired to make a career of it.

Are you interested in exploring journalism? The Edge is accepting applications from high school students in the region. We need writers, photographers and artists for next year’s staff.

We have more details here.