YOU, TOO, COULD GET PUBLISHED ON VALLEYNEWS.COM.

Byline: -- Angie Valencia-Martinez

Alex Cohen, 8, of Calabasas, recently became the winner of the first-ever Thanksgiving turkey decorating contest for the Southwest Valley -- as seen in our cover.

When contacted by phone, his mother said Alex was a Leonardo da Vinci in the making. She gushed over his talents and said this wasn't the first art contest the youngster has won.

After I hung up with her, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. ``How awesome,'' I thought. Think about it. Where else can elementary-aged children get recognized for their work and have it published? The chances of getting into a metro paper like the Los Angeles Daily News are slim. But the probability that they'll get into valleynews.com is great. That's because, as our slogan says, our news is so local, you write it.

We gave our readers a week to submit their entries; within days, they poured in. That's been the case here at valleynews.com. The more people know about us, the more courage they get to log on and write about what's important in their community.

On page 10, David Hurwitz writes about his parents and their three decades of business. He pitched the story to a reporter on the city desk, who couldn't fit it into his schedule. So Hurwitz, determined to get his parent's business acknowledged, wrote the story himself -- making it much more personal and touching than anyone else could.

In the last couple of weeks, we've read stories from experts writing about health topics; citizens writing about their favorite restaurants; and residents putting their opinions, from the NFL to Veteran's Day, in writing.

Valleynews.com gives everyone the chance to participate from 8 year olds to 80 year olds. So join our thousands of users and get it in writing. Your chance of getting published is just a mouse-click away.