Today marks the end of an era for the Insider. An era that will, henceforth, be known as "Katie Time." She's been working with us since the Insider was born, first part-time as our trusty calendar editor, then full-time when we realized we couldn't live without her.

She paid her dues as a reporter at first, doing all the grunt work we could throw at her yet still finding time to bake cookies for us weekly (the woman does amazing things with peanut butter cups). That MAY have helped to lead us to our decision to name her editor after The Great Staff Shake-up of 2008 (we're over you, Travis, okay?).

As editor, Katie ushered the Insider into a new era of good design, fast-food issues, general organizational bliss and photos of cute animals. We like to think that as she and the city of Concord became one, both sides got the best of the deal: The city was reminded each week to keep its chin up and fed regularly at Insider food tastings, and Katie . . . well, Katie realized that even though Concord didn't have a Chipotle, it was still the best city on earth. No question.

So when Katie had an opportunity to work MUCH closer to home, we thought, a little too cockily, "No way - how could she give all this up??!?!" But it turned out that the odds were stacked a little too high against us, and we suspect that Katie's new coworkers offered to bake for her, which may have sealed the deal.

To deal with our sorrow over Katie's departure, we tried all the usual things: Gorging on ice cream sundaes at Arnies, driving around to Katie's favorite Concord haunts, listening to break up songs, sucking down soft serve from Summer Freeze, wandering the banks of the Merrimack screaming, "why must you leave us, why?!" Then we ate some more ice cream (Ballard's, this time), crumpled to our cubicle floor and cried.

And then word came down from on high (and by "on high" we mean the corner office with all the windows) that we would get a new leader, an awesome leader, a leader who would guide us out of these dark, post-Katie days and into what shall be called the "Age of Amy."

Starting tomorrow, former Monitor reporter Amy Augustine will be the editor of the Insider. Amy is a lot of things - funny, nice, a snappy dresser - but mostly, she's a local lady. She graduated from Hopkinton High School in 2003 and moved on to Keene State College, where she was opinions editor at her college newspaper, The Equinox, and earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism.

Amy came to the Monitor in December 2007 as an editing intern and began reporting the following summer.

At first, we imagined forcing these two editors to compete in an epic battle. There would be tests of strength, agility and mental prowess. But the Cruel Oppressor says this issue has to get out on time, so we asked Katie and Amy some questions instead.

Katie MacKenzie

What will you miss most about Concord?

Not to get all emotional or anything, but I'm really going to miss the people I've met. Concord has a lot of cool people doing great things. I'm glad the Insider is around to show them off!

Coffee or tea?

Lately, iced tea - unsweetened with two Splenda.

What was the coolest thing you did as editor of the Insider?

It's hard to choose just one thing! I've organized my share of food and product testings (pie, barbecue sauce, lip balm) and that was always fun. But the coolest thing? I guess I'll go with our "grumpy" issue. We printed an entire spread of cheery photos including a pile of sprinkles, teddy bears in bathrobes and a pink cupcake. That was last winter - we noticed that Concordites were suffering from a permanent case of the Mondays and hoped our spread would be the cure. The issue is still pinned on the cubicle bulletin board. (next page »)