Thank You, Al Irwin

It is with sadness that we learned that longtime Langley Times reporter Al Irwin is retiring today.

If anyone deserves a long, peaceful retirement, it's Al. He is a class act, and has covered Township for almost two decades--through the Beales, Scholtens, Alberts, and Green eras. When I was a young cub reporter at the Advance, I avidly read Al's stuff in the Times, marveling at the background he was able to weave into his stories.

Now that I sit on Langley Township Council, I have an even stronger appreciation for the work he has done. It's not easy to cover a municipal hall year after year, but Al did it well. He took great pride in covering the news in Langley with accuracy and fairness.

With the Times winding down their Sunday edition, they had to make some changes in their newsroom. Al took them up on their offer of early retirement, and I'm glad to hear the paper was more than fair with this longtime employee. Congratulations, Al, you'll be missed.

And anytime you want to dabble in the blogosphere, drop us a line... we're always open to bringing on a young, cub blogger like you!