The Long View
Many, most of us I suppose, try to take personal responsibility for making things better. We all see what that is a bit differently, and most of us try and help where we see something's needed and where helping's within our reach. Usually we do this amongst families and friends, but sometimes it extends to one's community or region or even beyond. Ten years ago, my friend Paul and I looked at the issues and problems this community was having and saw as part of a solution, real and solid community newspapers. I picked a model, the only model that could have brought all the information we thought we could gather onto every kitchen table in these mountains. Nobody had to go further than their mailbox or spend money they maybe needed for something else, in order to be as well informed as they could be. That was the idea then, and even today I think it's the future of newspapers for just about all of rural and exurban America. Thomas Jefferson even said that when the press was free and every man able to read, all was safe. He was frying other fish and didn't mean free-no-charge but I suspect his language prefigured a reality others just couldn't see yet. It wouldn't have been the first time that happened with Jefferson's words, nor I imagine will it be the last.
The point of a newspaper - or maybe of most anything - isn't to go on forever. It's to accomplish or at least move forward, whatever it is that needs to be accomplished. Whether this newspaper has done that or not, that's for you - not for me - to ponder if you wish. I'll just say that I think we've helped our communities and I'm proud of that. We've taken our responsibilities seriously, what trust you've accorded us I think we've earned. We have tried to be a sane and thoughtful and helpful voice, we've tried to be fair and given everyone free reign to speak their piece and never changed, distorted, or even failed to publish what was sent to us. For our occasionally imperfect coverage and whatever errors and omissions we're managed over nearly ten years, I apologize. But for what we've passed along in substance and specifics, for what we've brought you by way of depth and research and analysis often based on decades of covering the issues, I guess I have to say we're happy to have been able to do that. It hasn't been easy. We've delivered newspapers by the ton in snowstorms, we've been sued without cause and threatened by elected officials and God knows what else, but we've never backed down or compromised our personal integrity or the coverage we've provided you.
We're closing the papers because after two years in a struggling regional economy, I don't believe we'll be able to continue to operate into this winter, when our advertising revenues typically drop significantly. It takes real commitment from our local business owners to bring you these papers, and we're enormously grateful to those who've helped us -and you - with their support over the years. This is a difficult time for our staff, about 17 people are affected by the papers' closure and I hope all of you will be looking for ways to help the ones you know replace lost income. They're some of the smartest, nicest, hardest working people around. Special thanks are owed to Marie Shultis, our enormously dedicated Ad Sales director, and to Susan Horner, our amazingly gifted and cheerful graphic designer. And thank you to my lovely wife Maxanne Resnick, for those five years of work you really didn't feel like doing but did brilliantly anyway.
But I do think all of us who've relied on these papers owe a genuine debt of gratitude to Paul Smart, who has somehow managed to perform the work other newspapers typically delegate to many staffers, by himself, year after year. More than any of the rest of us, Paul has been the papers' unique voice and without his amazing effort and output, there could have been no Phoenicia Times or Olive Press.
Our staff of reporters and columnists, some of the finest writers anywhere, have been a continual source of inspiration and delight. Thank you Violet & Sparrow for your exquisite sensitivities, Thank you Dakota for your perfect clarity, and the ever-more-amazing-by-the-day Jen Holz. Thank you Lonnie Gale, Aaron & Chris, Ellen V, Carol, Michelle, Rockelle, Mitchell, Rachel, Michael K., Lisa for all those years of school coverage filed at 3AM, and the ubiquitous and always insightful Jay Braman. Thank you Cally, Hailey,Paloma, and Sylvia; you're all growing up beautifully as we could all see you would. And thank you Gary, Cindy, Carol, Tree, and for a while Charlie from Olive. To James and Beth and Dion... cool pics always! To Gus Murphy, America's most brilliant editorial cartoonist and one of its better letter-writers, wow man. Good doesn't begin to tell it. Same goes for the unstoppable Angela Chieppa, America's coolest trucker, John for the heavy lifting, and our distinguished transport alumni George Minkle and John Pomeroy. It's been a great privilege and sometimes much fun to have worked with every one of you.
Whether this is the last issue of the papers ever, that I can't say for sure, although it is for now. The websites will stay up as we wind down the newspaper's business, over the coming months you can reach any of us through our usual channels. Many great and capable people have approached me about resuming publication one day, that may, perhaps be down the road but it's too early to say. For my wife Maxannne and for my kids, you will see more of me now. It'll be nice, and I will get our firewood in. For everyone else, thank you too for being a part this part of this great adventure in community building, just as I told you we'd be doing ten years ago. I think it's worked. I'm still a believer in our communities and our region and see a new American Renaissance ahead, all centered and unfolding right here. Things will be good.
BP

Editorial

Some Things To Be Thinking About...
Now that school has started and everyone's back in work mode, there are a few odds and ends from the summer we feel need addressing. Most are issues we'd like to think are at the front of responsible minds in our area. And yet, we worry that they may have been overlooked.
First off, as our front page story notes, isn't it time we start to look seriously at safety issues along our Route 28 traffic corridor, as promised by so many over the past decade? And while we're at it, maybe we can also start working together as towns and counties on not only counting our individual dollars and cents, but sharing services and opportunities as a means of future savings... as well as creating a better regional identity to those who pass through our area not knowing of all our longheld differences?
Next, how about taking the work completed to create a state-of-the-art auditorium at the high school one step further, by upgrading its acoustics so we can really start programming world-class music (including whatever our Voicefest friends offer)? And reminding ourselves that yes, the arts DO make a difference.
While we're at it, though, can we also return to serious talk about just how we want our education system to look in the years to come? Are we going to choose a new path towards full centralization or support for community schooling or just wing it for a while longer?
On a state level, whatever happened to our state budget? What's really getting funded, in our area, and what's not? Is Belleayre shifting focus based on climate and economic changes? Shouldn't we know where to peg our futures?
Similarly, on a federal basis, are we really so disgruntled that we're simply going to punt on all those hot-button issues some of us don't think worth discussing, such as a better healthcare system that serves all of us, , the continuing threat of climate change, needed changes in energy sourcing (and consumption), and truly meaningful financial reform... including continuing usery-like bank payments, loan default set-ups, and income inequalities? Do such issues rate as serious, or will we simply leave them for the rest of the world to wrestle with?
And yes, what about that Phoenicia Sewer proposal? Are we going to finally see some serious infrastructure investment into our corridor's main town or spend the coming decades talking, like many municipalities that refused New deal projects during the 1930s, about what could have been, once, before what should have been was simply let to pass by, on a gamble?
Nice to be back to school, eh, to face the serious stuff again.
Drive safely... and stay thoughtful.
PS