Happy birthday, Tri-County News!

Jean Doran Matua, EditorThis issue of the Tri-County News marks a somewhat historical one. It is the first issue of a new year, year 55. For those of us younger than 55 years, that seems like a lot. But in the general scheme of things, it’s not really so long.

The Tri-County News is healthy and growing, and will continue to be a vital part of the Kimball area community.

A solid legacy

There has been a newspaper in Kimball for more than 100 years now. The Kimball Kodak, a Kimball office of the St. Cloud Daily, the Kimball Messenger and, beginning in 1948, the Tri-County News.

Clayton Greely began the Tri-County News 54 years ago. It soon became a family affair, as wife Phyllis and children Ron, Jane and Carol all helped set type, run the printing press, and all the other various tasks associated with putting out a newspaper each week.

Phyllis Greely Hoeft continued to run the Tri-County News after Clayton’s death in 1970. She was Editor and Publisher until her retirement in 1994.

Steve Prinsen purchased the newspaper and was Publisher for nearly six years. He continues to publish the Annandale Advocate and ADvantage. The Tri-County News won several awards during this time.

Steve Swenson owned and published the newspaper for nearly two years. He continues to publish the Eden Valley Watkins Journal Patriot, now based in Eden Valley.

We’ve come a long way!

Long gone are the days of setting hot lead type and hand-cranking a printing press. The advent of computers improved quality and saved time. Of course, computerization brings challenges of its own, and we still have a lot to learn in that department.

The paper has grown, too. The number of subscribers has approximately doubled since 1948. The once eight-page weekly tabloid is now at least 16, often 20 pages each week.

A far cry from the “olden days”, we now set type and prepare photographs on computer. Our billing and subscriber lists are also computerized. The newspaper is printed in Sauk Center, and our full-color pages are done with an imagesetter (directly from computer to negatives). Technology has helped a great deal to improve the quality of what you are reading.

Change is inevitable

You’ll notice a few changes this week. The front page, for starters. The new design is meant to be clean and user-friendly.

The church directory has changed, too, to be easier to read and use. Refinements may still be made, but these are good starts.

An index to advertisers will now be included in each issue. We feel it is very important to acknowledge local businesses. Their weekly ads are a service to you, our readers and their customers. Subscription fees pay for mailing the newspaper each week. It is money generated from advertising fees that pays to produce and print the Tri-County News – including the occasional full-color spectaculars!

This week marks the debut of a “Crime Watch” column. Unfortunately, we are not immune to what used to be “big-city” problems. Our goal is to point out what crimes are happening, and what local law enforcement agencies and courts are doing about them. All of the information we print is public, accessible to anyone at the county courthouse. We could, by law, print much more detail – including names and addresses. We have made the editorial decision to omit identifying information at this point in time. The message is this: Yes, crime has crept into our community, but we won’t tolerate it.

We will continue to refine and “tweak” things as we go. That’s part of the nature of this business – always changing and improving.

Some things won’t change – at least any time soon

What won’t change is our commitment to our community.

We’re here for at least another 55 years, growing and changing along with our community.

We send a giant “thank you” to our loyal subscribers and advertisers. And we warmly invite new subscribers and advertisers to join us. We also welcome your suggestions and participation!