Column: Change does not mean an end to the free stuff

You have probably noticed the changes at the Chiefland Citizen.

Lou Elliott Jones

The real storm chasers are the folks who clean up the debris a storm leaves in its wake.

Buy this photo

First, two new guys moved in. We went from having a newsroom dominated by women to a boys’ club.

There has been tinkering with the design  and content to make it more interesting and useful. One noticeable change is the teasers at the top of Page 1.

Then there’s the electronic changes at the website, www.chieflandcitizen.com; the Twitter feed, News4Levy; the Facebook page, Chiefland Citizen; and the email blast for those who register at our website.

All of these changes will be coming incrementally because we want to hear what the readers of both the print and online versions have to say about them.

One change implemented three weeks ago is a delay in posting stories published in the printed edition to the online site. They will not be posted before Friday, with the exception of breaking news like last week’s shooting and kidnapping.

Shorter obituaries will be posted online as we receive them. This will allow folks to know and pay their respects when the death and burial occur between editions. We will post the full obituaries from Thursday’s paper on Mondays.

One thing that’s unchanged: We still print the full obituary, with a photo — and a flag for military veterans — for free.

What is staying the same in much of the Citizen is the free stufff:

Births, Adoptions, Military News, HonorRroll, Graduation, Events, Momentous Birthdays, Engagement, Wedding Obituary, Letter to the Editor, A buck or a fish you nailed, Local Sports, Academic, Business and Community achievemens. i.e. everything you are interested in reading

If it’s advertising or for profit, that will cost money to get in to the paper. We love our work, but this is a business and it needs a revenue source like ads, subscriptions and newspaper sales.

This must be clear: Our news columns are not for sale.

It’s disheartening to ask someone to write for us and have them ask how much it would cost or to hear a parent ask how much the Citizen charges to run a photo of their child with their first buck or ginormous fish. It’s free and we’re grateful for the submissions.

Other changes include specialty pages by, for and about the Savvy Set (folks in their best years over 50), Veterans Voices, and agriculture/4-H/FFA and all that comes from the ground (dry or under water). You can find that on Page A3.

Next week the Sports section debuts a monthly outdoors and parks page.

And I do this column. Sometimes it’s about government, sometimes its about a plant. That’s a big change because Carolyn Risner used to fill this spot with her award-winning writing. We have the same shoe size, but I swear my feet cannot fill her shoes.

This is just the start of what we at the Citizen hope is a good thing.

If you want to tell us your opinion of the changes, or to suggest changes, call me at 493-4796, email to editor@chieflandcitizen.com, write to P.O. Box 980, Chiefland 32644, or stop by at 624 W. Park Ave.

Where’s the cartoon?

That photo replacing the usual cartoon is about Hurricane Ida’s beneficial effect on our area.

We got some badly needed rain. And we got a little bit of money. And an opportunity to salute the folks who do a different kind of storm chasing.

Eight contract trucks from Burford’s that work for Progress Energy in the Save A Lot parking lot at U.S. Highway 19/27A and State Road 129 on Monday.

The crew was buying food, snacks, ice and beverages before heading north for storm debris cleanup.

When Hurricane Ivan tore through Pensacola in 2004 the area was left without water for more than a week and without electricity for almost three weeks. You would think that living in  a city doesn’t require chain saws, cherry pickers and heavy equipment.

I cannot begin to describe the feeling of joy on our block when neighbors spotted the trees being hauled off and the utility crew moving in. That was more than a week after the storm. Fuel for the generators was hard to come by at that point. And we started to feel a little more human and less like Survivorman.

This photo is one way of saluting them and the numberless people who work to make things right after a disaster.