My friend (and  former NE Magazine columnist) Paul Bass has begun the launch of his latest venture into online local news, and he’s chosen two top-notch young journalists to help him.

Jodie Mozdzer, who just announced her departure from the Courant, will report.

Eugene Driscoll, a former Courant.com producer, is the “Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler/platform agnostic interactive content aggregator/brand manager of the International Order of Friendly Raccoons–Derby, Conn. Chapter.” By that he means “editor.”

Here’s some more of what Eugene has to say:

I started Monday, May 4 at 9 a.m. by donning a sweater vest and recording a mind-numbingly boring video I posted to YouTube . Jodie starts in a week or so.

I spent this week meeting with potential freelancers and searching for an office. Paul Bass and I signed a two-year lease for an office at 158 Main St. in Ansonia on Friday.

The plan going forward is to cover the lower Naugatuck Valley. I’m trying to find contributors who live in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. We’re paying $50 per article. We’re following the trail carved by the New Haven Independent .

I’ve been trying to gradually get the word out there by creating a Twitter account (www.Twitter.com/valleyindy ) targeting my neighbors in the Valley. I just created the Facebook group you spotted this afternoon.

Here’s that video. It does lack some of the color Paul’s Compost Heap narratives have, but I’m sure Eugene’s presentation will improve, given his wit and sense of humor.  (The sweater vest, though, might constitute a serious journalistic affront.)

There is an obvious freelance opportunity here for any refugees down thataway, but even if none of the alumni can capitalize on this, I wish Paul, Eugene and Jodie well. Paul is a perceptive and principled newsman whose smarts and hard work have made the New Haven site a model for the industry. There’s no reason to doubt this one will grow to be, too.