Since November, we've brought the City Election Forums online with a live blog from the event, followed by video of the Internet using YouTube. You may have noticed that we are carrying weekly screen features. Katie Moore has been following "American Idol" in her column "Idoltude" posted every night shortly after American Idol is broadcast on the west coast. Shawn Estes is following other TV news in "State of TV" posted every Monday. Other recurring features include new DVDs released posted on Tuesdays and new movies in theatres posted on Fridays.

One of the goals for WillametteLive is to make Salem Monthly's listings even more powerful. Keep watching the Web site for more information on that. Recently we released, along with Salem Monthly's Diner's Dish, an interactive feature to restaurants that will enable you to quickly search the listings. Restaurants aren't the only businesses receiving special treatment; all of the local event venues are listed as well. The listings will continue to grow, because we are offering free listings to every business. You can access the business listings by clicking the "business" tab on any of the section pages or by simply clicking Browse Business. The extensive restaurant search is available on every section page.

Once you've signed up for an account, you will have special access to the events and classified systems. We've made the sign-up process quick and simple. Once you are signed up, the ability to edit and remove your events will be available to you from the centralized "control panel." To edit or remove an event, login to your account and then click on "Events." You'll see a list of all the events you've entered. Follow the prompts to make changes to your listings. From that screen you can also access your classifieds listings and remove any sold items. Only one login is required to manage those tasks.

If you're a business owner, one other option becomes available to you, and that's the ability to add your business to our online listings. For business listings, there are premium online listings that allow you to upload pictures, add/edit your hours, and write your own business description. For a small fee you can also be included in Salem Monthly's Marketplace.

We're already in the midst of our next phase of growth. There are some exciting features on the horizon that will add even more interactivity to Willamette Valley online coverage. Stay tuned.