Blake Bell officially joined the staff of The Atmore Advance this week and will be serving the community of Atmore in the role of news editor.

Bell is no stranger to the area having spent much of his early life in Atmore. He graduated from Escambia County High School in 2001 before moving to Columbia, Missouri to study journalism at the University of Missouri. Several years later Bell worked for The Atmore Advance part-time during a brief break from school and later attended college at the University of Alabama where he wrote for the school’s newspaper, “The Crimson White.”

Following college Bell worked briefly for the Moundville Times in Moundville, Ala., before returning to Atmore in 2010. For the past year he has served as a staff writer for Atmore News.

Bell said he has thoroughly enjoyed working in the Atmore community over the last year and is excited about the opportunity to continue to serve the people of this area at The Atmore Advance.

“It’s always great to come home and to be able to do what you love around people you know and in a place you also love is a blessing,” he said. “I’m really anxious to get going and to serve Atmore through this new opportunity.”