It’s been more than seven days since we last received a Juneau Empire paper. It’s been a week since the newspaper’s delivery person has driven by. We’ve called the newspaper office every morning but they never call back. Folks over near the high school haven’t received a paper for seven days, nor have our closer neighbors.
In the past, the Juneau Empire sometimes failed to drop off their day’s paper, usually because the latest news carrier couldn’t find our house on Chicken Ridge. The next day, we would discover a paper on our front porch. Now the newspaper box is always empty.
Yesterday, I spotted a pile of newspapers near the front door of Breeze Inn Market. Even though it was Sunday, every paper looked as thin as a pancake. That was twice as thin as the Wednesday paper, which includes shopping ads that make each one almost as thick as a stack of two pancakes. But the section “A” is usually only four pages thick.
My wife and I are thinking seriously about canceling our Juneau Empire subscription. But, like many of our friends and neighbors, we still hope that we will wake up some wet morning and find the day’s paper nestling near the front door. The sun will burn through the always’ gray Juneau sky, the paper will be full of stories about the third legislative session of the year, and all will be warm and cozy on Chicken Ridge.
I have had the same thoughts, Dan. But then I realize that only if we all subscribe can we keep it going and mount some kind of defense against mis and disinformation. By the way, got our first paper in a week today!