When you read your community newspaper, you’re opening a treasure trove of local information, nuggets of pure gold you won’t find anywhere else and certainly not all in one convenient place.

Who else is going to provide you with objective and unbiased news about the winning touchdown, the new auto dealer in town, the street-repair budget passed by city council and how the police are curbing crime?

Only your community newspaper does that, and most readers gladly pay a nominal subscription to keep informed, educated and entertained. But, there’s a second part to that “information equation,” and that’s a newspaper’s website.

Our paper’s online articles are behind a paywall, which can only be unlocked by paying a subscription and receiving a password.

“Not fair,” some might say. Others might declare, “The website’s content should be offered at no cost.”

We respectfully disagree. While we value all of our readers and never want to lose a single subscriber, at the same time we can’t afford to cover, produce and provide the news for free, whether in print or online.

We simply would have to close down.

Like any business, the newspaper has operating costs that must be met and bills to pay. Our employees have families to support and financial obligations to fulfill, from buying groceries to making a car payment or writing a monthly check for the mortgage or the rent.

Let’s face it, inflation is at a 40-year high and fuel costs are going up, up and up, not to mention our printing costs as the price of newsprint rises.

It is our deepest honor to bring you the news. At the same time, we must maintain a successful business so we can stay open and keep offering all the stories, sports, events and more you have come to depend on, whether in print or behind a paywall.

When another business in town provides a valuable service, folks don’t balk at making a fair payment, whether it’s to a plumber, the dentist or a landscaper.

The newspaper and its website also provide a critically important service to our consumers, so why should they be any different? In addition, the cost of accessing our articles behind a paywall, which is tied to a subscription, has traditionally remained very affordable compared to so many other services and fees.

This newspaper is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in town. For generations we have accurately and impartially covered the triumphs and the tragedies, the laughter and the tears, of our beloved community.

The content on our website i an extension of what we chronicle in print.

These products possess lasting value, and anything truly valuable is rarely ever given away for free.