The Monroe Sun, a hyperlocal news site, debuts online

The Monroe Sun, a hyperlocal news site focused on the town of Monroe, has officially launched online.

The media outlet was created by Bill Bittar, a former reporter with the Waterbury Republican-American. Earlier in his career, Bittar was involved in three different Monroe-based news endeavors: he was editor of the now-defunct Monroe Courier newspaper, editor of the online Monroe Patch while it was owned by AOL and created and ran the All About Monroe website.

In launching The Monroe Sun, Bittar emphasized the word “The” in its name to differentiate itself from the bluegrass band Monroe Sun while stressing the need to give the town its own unique news source.

“Monroe isn”™t a ”˜one-horse town”™ or some meaningless pass-through,” he wrote in a letter to readers. “It has a population of nearly 20,000 people. Wolfe Park is a town jewel with a beach, pool, ball fields and a pavilion. Monroe has high performing schools and the protection provided by its police, firefighters and EMS volunteers is second to none. Through The Monroe Sun, it is my hope that hard work and an extensive background of living in and covering Monroe will be enough to earn your trust, while growing a loyal following for the long haul.”