You may have noticed a lot more of Owen Thomas on the site today. That's because we are pleased to officially welcome him into the Gawker fold. He'll continue to write under the Valleywag banner as well as supply a West Coast perspective as Gawker continues to take on a more national flavor. There was much hand-wringing after the announcement that Valleywag would be merging into Gawker — much of it a testament to how much of a must-read Valleywag had become in Silicon Valley — but the good news is that he'll still be keeping a close eye on tech gossip and news, except now for a larger audience and with the chance to spread his wings a bit to cover other topics. Of course, given the times and our overlord/benefactor Nick Denton's cost-cutting mode, as we expand, we also have to shrink. As others have already noted, the talented Sheila McClear will be departing the site at the end of the year, when her writing will be missed.

Send an email to Gabriel Snyder, the author of this post, at .