The Indy is no more.

The alternative weekly founded in 1993 to provide a progressive spin on local issues has a new name and focus, Dirk R. Hobbs, founder and executive publisher of Colorado Media Group, said Monday.

His company acquired in April assets of the Colorado Springs Independent and its companion the Colorado Springs Business Journal, including the branding. After studying the market, Hobbs determined a different direction was needed.

The Indy has been renamed Southern Colorado Insider, or SoCo Insider for short. The inaugural issue will debut in July and publish once monthly until revenue pushes publication to twice monthly, Hobbs said. He anticipates the growth will take two to three months.

He cites two reasons for retiring the name.

The coverage area is expanding to include all of El Paso County as well as southern Colorado cities of Pueblo and Cañon City, he said.

Content will be “a veritable who’s who and what to do in the communities,” Hobbs said, with event listings for performing and visual arts, entertainment, culture, sports, food, dining and shopping. The areas will be promoted, previewed and lightly critiqued, and articles will provide a “deep dive” into the sectors.

“What we’re trying to do is get people out of their house and enjoying their Colorado lifestyle,” Hobbs said.

Large to small venues, festivals, sporting events, music, theater and other activities to see and do, along with features on artists, sculptors, painters, digital artists, singers, gallery owners, restaurants and others will result in what Hobbs calls a substantial offering.

Politics will be missing from the lineup, however.

“Politics is one of the things people either loved or hated about the former renditions of The Indy,” Hobbs said results of the focus groups showed.

“As far as politics and right vs. left, I think people are so fried from all the anxiety between the left and the right, we’re going to try to simmer it down and showcase what connects our communities.”

The majority of the wide range of people who participated in the focus groups want one place they can plug into to learn everything that’s going on in the region, Hobbs said.

“We got a tremendous amount of feedback that said tell us where to go, who’s playing, what’s happening — we don’t have a singular resource to talk about that.”

One thing that’s being retained is the small tilted letter “i” in the word Insider, as was the case with the letter in The Indy.

“We’re tipping our hat to The Indy; it’s been here more than 30 years, and we’re honoring it,” Hobbs said.

Also, he is reactivating all former editions of The Indy when a new website for SoCo Insider goes live next month, at the same time the new magazine appears on newsstands, online digitally and on the website. A date has not yet been announced for the first edition.

The Colorado Springs Business Journal, meanwhile, has been folded into an existing publication Hobbs has been producing since 2023, The Southern Colorado Business Forum & Digest. He’s released three issues of the combined product with a “business friendly” approach that takes the temperature of the business community and works to attract new and relocating companies to the state.

“People said they like that we are inclusive of these other communities and we’re staying in our lane and not veering off into other subjects we don’t have any business talking about,” Hobbs said. “Some of that is daily news.”

The expanded Business Digest will start charging subscriptions in the fall, he said. North magazine, an upscale glossy lifestyle magazine he started in 2021, and SoCo Insider are free to look at online and pick up from street racks.

Hobbs also is preparing to acquire two more publications in Denver and another in Colorado Springs. He would not disclose which ones.

The Independent, or The Indy, ceased publication in 2023, citing financial difficulties, after one of the founders announced he was pulling out of the company. Sister publications also were closed.

The Indy relaunched under nonprofit structure, which also failed. The business was picked up last year by another for-profit ownership group, Pikes Peak Media, before Hobbs two months ago purchased all rights, titles and events associated with the Colorado Springs Independent and Colorado Springs Business Journal, including web domains, communications channels, databases of advertisers and circulation property.

With his product expansion, Hobbs has doubled staff, from 12 to 25 employees. Some familiar bylines from The Indy will appear in SoCo Insider. Fran Zankowski is the publisher, Karen Hazlehurst has stayed on the sales side, and some arts and entertainment writers also have signed on with the new ownership.

“It’s been fast-paced and a heck of a lot of fun,” Hobbs said. “When you engage the community and they say what would really be valuable to them, and you listen to the great feedback and then execute many of the ideas, it’s gratifying.”

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.