Readers of the Osceola News-Gazette on April 1 will see changes in the newspaper and its Web site that will include new graphics, zoned local news sections for the Kissimmee and St. Cloud areas and expanded online news and feature content.

New technology available since the News-Gazette’s last redesign has allowed staff to update the graphics in the print version of the newspaper using a sun theme and the new emphasis on the newspaper’s Web site will make available to readers more content about a variety of topics, from home improvement to car care to fishing and hunting articles.

It will offer new opportunities for readers to comment on news and feature articles written by the newspaper’s staff and on the editorials published on the opinion page. There also will be more polls in which readers can participate to gauge local sentiment on issues.

At the same time, the redesigned Thursday News-Gazette will give advertisers a new opportunity to reach existing and potential customers in the main population areas of the county through the two zoned sections, which will be called Around Kissimmee and Around St. Cloud. The zoned sections will replace what previously was the Around Osceola section. Aroundosceola.com will have both zoned editions available.

The Thursday newspaper, which will continue to include the weekly Homefinder section, will have a combined circulation of 50,000 while the Saturday newspaper, which will not have zoned sections, will have a circulation of 39,000.

The boost in circulation and the start of the zoned editions will mean the Osceola Shopper, which has served local readers and advertisers weekly in Osceola County and surrounding areas since 1960, will no longer be needed and will cease publication. In addition, Hola Osceola, which had been included in the Shopper to serve Hispanic readers, will no longer be printed. However, holaosceola.com will remain online and it will have new features as well, including readers having the capability to post their own events or information about their organizations in Spanish.

Other changes coming in April include moving the monthly Journal of Osceola County Business to a Saturday publication date and a new classified ad system that will allow customers to create their own adds online.

Aroundosceola.com also will include an image gallery where photos that are not included in the print version of the newspaper will be posted for easy viewing.

“The News-Gazette staff is very excited about our upcoming “sunny” redesign,” Paula Stark, publisher of the News-Gazette, said. Our belief is that the new look will hold our current audience and now also be more appealing to younger audiences, engaging them in the process of reading newspapers. In addition, our message will be delivered to more homes, making it the largest distributed newspaper in Osceola County.”

The changes will make the Osceola News-Gazette more competitive in these challenging financial times as well as position it for growth, Stark said.