The Pilot has announced staff changes this week designed to enhance the newspaper's news and sports coverage.

Patrick Love joined The Pilot staff on Monday as the new sports editor after working for the past three years in the same capacity at The Daily Record in Dunn. Former sports editor Tom Embrey is moving back over to the news department as a senior writer.

Editor Steve Bouser believes the position changes will bolster both sections.

"We're excited about having Patrick Love join our staff," he said. "He has a lot of energy and talent, and we're looking for great things from him to keep our sports section strong and locally focused.

"Tom has done a great job on sports, but we need his strong reporting skills back on the news side."

Love is a 2004 graduate of Virginia Tech. After graduation from college, Love worked for the Moore County Independent for its entire existence, as reporter, sports editor and then as editor. After the paper folded, he moved onto The Daily Record. He also has experience working as a stringer covering Atlantic Coast Conference sports and NASCAR.

"I'm definitely excited about the opportunity," he said. "It's always fun to take on a new challenge and build something that's meaningful."

Love said he is committed to covering local sports and plans on being a visible presence in the community. He said he hopes the community will take ownership of the section, and encourages readers to be engaged and bring forward any ideas or suggestions -- no matter how big or how small.

Embrey said he is happy to be back on the news side again, where he worked for a year and a half before taking the reins of the sports department in 2008. As a senior writer, he'll be responsible for covering Southern Pines, Whispering Pines and law enforcement in addition to general assignment stories.

"I'm excited about another challenge," Embrey says. "Hopefully these things will work to make us an even better paper."

Contact John Krahnert III at (910) 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.