Message from the publisher

After much agonizing and several months of searching for anyone with ties to Odessa who might want to take over publication of The Odessa Record, we have decided that interest in a small weekly newspaper simply isn’t present among current and former Odessa folks. So the time has come, for the sake of family and for health reasons, to hang up the red editor’s pen and try to enjoy some more relaxed years of retirement.

The job has been enjoyable for the most part, and the expressions of thanks for our efforts by several avid readers of and subscribers to The Record have certainly been appreciated. The advertising support of many of our local and area businesses has also provided much-appreciated revenue that has helped us meet our expenses. But after nearly 12 years at the helm, the looming weekly deadline is something we no longer feel strong enough to face.

We have begun talking to the new owner of Free Press Publishing about a assuming ownership of The Record. The company already owns and publishes the Davenport Times and the Ritzville Journal/Times, plus weeklies in Cheney and Spokane Valley. FPP is interested in taking over The Odessa Record, while maintaining a presence of one or two people in the local office as reporters/advertising reps. At some point down the road, however, FPP has expressed the desire eventually to also bring the Wilbur Register into the fold and then ultimately to produce a single weekly paper for Lincoln County, with each community’s local office contributing content for its pages.

That idea may be the only viable way financially to keep our community papers going and to retain a physical presence in our respective communities. The Record has been published continuously since 1901, the other Lincoln County papers even longer. Several other small-town newspapers stopped publication years ago (The Harrington Citizen, The Sprague Advocate, etc.).

We thank you all for your support over the years. We will keep you posted as our discussions with the potential buyer proceed.

Those wishing to comment may do so online via our website at http://www.odessarecord.com, via email at therecord@odessaoffice.com or via the post office at Box 458, Odessa WA 99159.