FROM THE
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Now
we are 5
by JUDY HODGSON
We celebrate as often as possible
around here. First, there's our birthday in January every year.
(The North Coast Journal was begun in 1990 by Tom and
Mia Abate, who sold us the fledging monthly in June of that year.
Tom is now with the San Francisco Chronicle.) We sometimes
celebrate in July, the month we put out our own first edition.
And it was Sept. 3, 1998 -- five years ago we took a giant leap
forward and launched the North Coast Journal Weekly as
you know it today.
I was looking back this week
at that first effort with Mark
Carter, "Mr. Hospitality," on the cover. It was
a lighter piece -- a personality profile of the hotelier, gourmand
and oenophile, and his impact on the local hospitality industry.
But it wasn't long before we were back into controversy with
stories on the "End of
the independent grocers" (Safeway's strong-arm move
to reduce the competition) and, one of our more controversial
covers that year, "17
reasons why football is better than high school." (Back
editions are accessible here
on our website.)
On our first anniversary, Sept.
2, 1999, the cover subject was "Growing
pains" for local farmers' markets threatened by pending
legislation. The Sept. 7,
2000 cover was an in-depth look at the county's new economic
development guide, Prosperity, and the recently established Headwaters
Fund, money that has yet to be allocated. Sept.
6, 2001, was another profile, this time of photographer Larry
Ulrich. On our fourth anniversary last year, the entire staff
participated in a special package of 12 stories all related to
9/11, "One year later."
This week we have two stories
sharing the cover, part
two of the Shelter Cove saga by free-lancer George Ringwald,
who has been with us through all our birthdays, and a piece by
our newest staff member, Hank Sims. Sims spent time with Cpl.
Josh Ingram, a Marine who recently returned from the Iraqi front
with a story to tell.
In the news section this week,
we are trying something a little different, wrapping the weekly
news highlights into a section called, "Weekly
Wrap." We hope this condensed version of the top stories
of the week will allow our editorial staff more time and space
to expand on stories that need a little more attention.
As always, we appreciate feedback
from you.
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