We've been working on this for months.

This Saturday, the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal staffs will launch a wicked local news Web site called ChinaSentinel.com

This site will be the most complete compilation of news, lists, contact information and directories that you'll find anywhere. We've compiled a list of 70 businesses active in and around China, South China and Weeks Mills. We name which doctors and dentists in the area are accepting new patients and how to reach them. We have town and school officials — on all kinds of committees and boards — and tell you how to contact them.

There are more than a dozen local photos at the site already and we will add more. There are more than 20 news stories and items at the site and we will add more.

Why are we doing this? For starters, because it is good, community journalism. Providing news and useful information is what the Sentinel and KJ have done for years and years. With this "experiment," we are just taking our calling to a new place, to the Web.

We are trying to reach new readers. The Sentinel and KJ already are the dominant newspapers in China and South China, but we know not everyone buys and reads us there. This site will mean we have more people reading our good journalism in these growing communities.

We are trying attract new advertisers. We are optimistic that, when local businesses see how useful this site is, they will want to occupy the prime ad placements at it. As people start using it, reading it and talking about it, we think advertisers will want to be part of that dynamic.

A question that's come up already is: Will we do more of these? The answer is yes. We plan to launch four more of the very local sites by June 1 in towns throughout our coverage area. Keep watching — your town could be next.