Loon Lake Times is now South Stevens County Times, mission remains the same
By Loren Grube, Publisher
With the new year comes a new look for Loon Lake Times, which will now be called South Stevens County Times starting with this January 2022 edition. Although the name will change, the mission of the monthly newspaper will remain the same as the Times staff continues to work to provide relevant local news to all South Stevens County communities — from Hunters to Loon Lake to its southernmost community of Nine Mile Falls.
When I took over in 2017, my only goal was to improve with every edition, which started by creating an online presence. When I started reaching out to community leaders and business owners, more and more people wanted to write for the paper. It was exciting!
Up until 2018, Loon Lake Times was delivered bi-monthly to every mailbox in Loon Lake, WA. In 2019, I decided to expand the delivery route to include neighboring communities – first Clayton and Springdale in 2019, then Valley, Hunters, and Ford in January 2020, and Nine Mile Falls and Tum Tum in March 2020. Then a suggestion came in to increase the number of publications from six to nine, so that the paper would come out monthly during the busy summer months. Then another suggestion – how about going monthly? One of my favorite sayings by Nike is “Just Do It!” I felt we were ready as we added more reporters and contributors to provide a wide range of relevant content for the region. So, we pulled up our sleeves and in 2021 became a monthly publication. This benefited advertisers by giving them more exposure and readers by giving them regular more frequent news. One of my goals is to get a free newspaper to every mailbox in the unincorporated communities of South Stevens County.
Effective January 1, 2022, our public doing business as (DBA) name has changed from Loon Lake Times to South Stevens County Times, although its legal name will remain South Stevens County News LLC.
How do you like our new masthead? Thanks to the professional graphic design services of Sherry Lavigne, we were able to collaborate on many different options, and finally decided on one that maintained the same center format and art circle. Our hope is that this name change makes all readers feel more included and more a part of their local newspaper. As always, we welcome your feedback.
South Stevens County Times will continue to deliver a free newspaper every month to every mailbox in the nine communities it serves – a total of 9,500 mailboxes in: Ford (99013), Nine Mile Falls (99026), Tum Tum (99034), Clayton (99110), Fruitland (99129), Hunters (99137), Loon Lake and Deer Lake (99148), Springdale (99173), and Valley (99181) with complimentary copies delivered to newsstands from Deer Park to Chewelah.
Our Mission: In our rural region with high rates of poverty and major internet and cell phone connectivity limitations, the South Stevens County Times plays a critical role in the equitable distribution of quality public health and safety information, as well as local community stories that keep neighbors connected, uplifted, and inspired. With free delivery to over 9,500 mailboxes and 125 businesses across South Stevens County, more than any other small regional paper, regardless of a household’s ability to pay a subscription, the South Stevens County Times is committed to inclusively keeping all our citizens connected and informed with quality reporting. Advertisers make it possible! If we don’t tell our stories, who else will? Help keep our communities connected, informed, and vibrant with a donation or advertising with the South Stevens County Times today!”
20
20
20
