Austin Arthur

Austin Arthur is a Florida native who has called West Orange County home for nearly two decades. His connection to the area became deeply personal through his wife, Kellie, who was born and raised in West Orange. Together, they are raising their three children in the same community that shaped her life and has become an important part of Austin's own.

Over the years, Austin's appreciation for West Orange grew alongside his involvement in its business and civic life. As a local business owner and community advocate, he became active with nonprofit organizations, community boards and local causes, developing relationships with residents and leaders throughout Winter Garden, Ocoee, Oakland, Windermere, Horizon West, Dr. Phillips, Gotha, Tilderville and the surrounding communities.

That involvement also brought Austin into regular contact with the West Orange Times & Observer and the journalists who chronicle life in the community each week. The newspaper's roots stretch back to 1905, when the first edition of the Winter Garden Ricochet was published. Through generations of change and growth, the newspaper evolved into the West Orange Times & Observer and related Observer publications, continuing a tradition of hyperlocal journalism that has made it West Orange County's newspaper of record.

As Austin became known through his community involvement and his earlier long-form interview program, After Thought, the Observer approached him about bringing a new voice to its local news coverage. The result was West Orange on the Go, a program of the Observer that brought the week's hyperlocal news into an audio format.

Inspired in part by the conversational news-and-comment tradition associated with legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey, Austin approached West Orange on the Go as something more than a reading of the headlines. Each program moved through the news of the week while adding context, history, commentary and observations about the people and places behind the stories. The format reflected Austin's belief that local news matters most when people understand not only what happened, but why it matters to the community they share.

For Austin, the program was another extension of his love for West Orange County. It was an opportunity to celebrate its successes, discuss its challenges, remember its history and help neighbors stay informed about the place they call home. From local government and business to schools, nonprofits, community events and the people making a difference, West Orange on the Go was built around a simple idea: West Orange has stories worth knowing, and those stories deserve to be heard.