This Friday will mark the end of the Altoona Star as a weekly publication. Based on the advertising conditions and the subscription counts, the newspaper continually required too much external support and was not getting close enough to the break-even point to keep subsidizing. Unlike some entities, we will not be asking for a government bailout; rather, we will accept that the market isn’t there for this service and move on.
   I want to thank a few folks that have done a great job taking over the paper and making it into something I, for one, am very proud of:
   Sara Hefty managed the transition from the previous owners and basically rebuilt the paper from scratch. She developed and systemized the operations so that every week, we would get a consistent issue out and every issue would continually get better. She also did a great job finding good people and helping them succeed.
   Emily Thierfelder took over the editor job at this time last year and did a great job of managing the publication every week. She made sure we had the writers and photos needed. She also selected the stories and made sure the content was edited and ready for the paper when it came time to hit the publication deadline.
   Juliann Sylla started part-time last spring doing excellent graphic design work for the paper and has helped create much of the solid advertising and graphics that made the paper stand out.
   Lindsey Morrow picked up the sales spot this past fall and did a great job of getting out and meeting advertisers and helping them find good advertising solutions with the paper.
   Derek Hagen has covered hundreds of sports articles for the paper over the years and has done an extraordinary job making sure the games were covered and covered well.
   This list doesn’t include a whole pile of folks that did editing, writing, photography, and more. Thank you to everyone that contributed in every area. It was a great setup and your help and participation was extraordinary.
   Also, thanks to the folks that worked with our reporters on stories, from the staff of the city to the schools and a whole bunch of other folks that help provide the details of the news – thank you.

   Well, what can I say? Having to close down the newspaper is a unfortunate situation, but the numbers don’t lie – a poor economy combined with rough times for the publication industry as a whole finally affected the Altoona Star.
   The past year has been fantastic. I have learned so much about the community of Altoona: The ins and outs of civic development, more about municipal finance than I think I will ever need to know, and most importantly, I have gotten to know many of the residents that make this small Wisconsin town such a great place to live and work – and I have enjoyed every moment.
   As Altoona Star Creative Director Sara Hefty wrote in her January 5th, 2007 “editor’s note,” the newspaper hired me right out of college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Being so young and relatively inexperienced, I know many of you did not need to trust me as much as you did – but nevertheless, you answered my phone calls, called me with news tips and story ideas, and continued to read the newspaper. In doing so, you helped me and the rest of the Star staff provide real-world experience to a plethora of freelance reporters and photographers, and made my first year of “adult” work one of the most enjoyable I think I might ever have.
   It has been an educational and challenging year, but I leave with fantastic memories of the Altoona community. I am looking forward to the future – and hopefully, to seeing some of you around town once in a while!

 
   And I thought saying goodbye was hard the first time.
   When I made the decision to return to the sports editor position in September, I had no idea I would have to say goodbye again so soon. Unfortunately, it appears that the Altoona Star has gone the way of the Altoona Headlight and the Altoona Tribune before it. As an employee, I am saddened to lose my job of the last four-plus years and to no longer be able to work with as good a group of co-workers as anyone could ask for. As a fan of Altoona sports, I am saddened that I will no longer be able to help provide the coverage that our community’s athletes have earned. But most of all, as a lifelong resident of Altoona, I am saddened that we have lost what I consider to be a valuable piece of our community. Despite that sadness, I am proud to have been involved with the newspaper almost from the very beginning, and I can only hope that we have in some way contributed to the betterment of the community. Those who knew my grandfather, Jerry Hagen, know that an interest in city history is very much ingrained in my family, and if nothing else, I hope that the Star will serve as a historical resource in the years to come.
   My involvement with the Star was more or less a happy accident. I noticed that the original publisher, Robby Robinson, was attempting to juggle all types of coverage mostly by himself, and sent him an email mentioning my involvement and familiarity with Altoona High School sports. I had almost forgotten all about it until several weeks later, in November 2004, I received a reply offering me an interview. I had never taken a journalism class in my life, but had read more than my share of newspaper sports sections, so I tried to emulate those as best I could while watching the Wisconsin Badger basketball team scrimmage UW-Parkside on TV. I took the article I wrote that night to the interview, and before I knew it, I was writing the season previews for the Altoona varsity basketball and hockey teams, and I was off and running as sports editor.
   Although I had the job title of sports editor, I never really thought of it as a job… and frequently during the early years, the lack of paychecks would support that idea. Later, as the newspaper evolved, I took on more responsibilities and started to get a regular paycheck that at least paid the bills, but I still looked at it as more of a hobby than a job. I always took my work seriously, and pulling all-nighters in the office in order to get a full slate of Tuesday-night games into the layout by press time on Wednesday was not my idea of fun, but when my “job” involved in large part cheering on the Altoona sports teams and writing about their success, it’s hard to complain. Not only did it give me any number of opportunities that I would never have had otherwise – like sitting courtside on media row at the boys’ and girls’ state basketball tournaments – it also offered me a forum to try to give something back to the community and the athletic programs that have done so much for me.
   Maybe the most rewarding part of the job, however, was seeing the community embrace the newspaper. I was constantly amazed by how often people approached me at games or other events to express their support for the Star. Numerous times at the graduation parties of high school athletes, I saw entire binders full of Altoona Star newspaper clippings of their careers in sports and other activities. Hopefully, the Star contributed something to their experiences and memories of Altoona. That is probably what I’ll miss the most: while I knew a good number of people in Altoona before I took this job, writing for the Star has given me the opportunity to get to know a lot more. I’ve always said that the best part of the job was developing relationships with the players, coaches, parents, and fans.
   In all, it was a good run, even if it ended too soon. I think all of us working here at the Star knew that this day was a possibility, albeit one we hoped would never actually come. Such an abrupt ending is bound to leave some unfinished business, and I regret not being able to cover the remainder of this season’s events, such as the historic 200th basketball meeting between Altoona and Fall Creek. I wish all the teams and athletes well, and while I will no longer be covering them as a sportswriter, I will be supporting them as a fan.
   Finally, I would like to thank all the people who made my role with the Star possible. While it is impossible to thank them all here, I will say that without the contributions of Robby Robinson, Ed Bohn, or Steve Dye, the newspaper as we know it never could have existed. Steve’s letter mentioned in detail the contributions of the current staff, but I also would like to thank Sara Hefty, Emily Thierfelder, Juliann Sylla, and Lindsey Morrow for being an outstanding group of people to work with. As the only member of the staff that predates the ownership change, I saw firsthand how much of a difference each of them made in the evolution of the newspaper. Most of all, thank you for reading and supporting the paper through the best and worst of the last few years. See you down the tracks

   The city’s big real estate development project of River Prairie isn’t going to work quite as hoped. The ideal – develop the land, flip the land, tax the land – isn’t as fun when it becomes develop the land, sit on the land, figure out how to pay for the land.

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   I hope you’ve noticed the changes we’re making in the distribution of the Altoona Star. As of the next issue, we’ll no longer be sending out free copies of the paper to everyone in the school district. 

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   With less than two weeks until the November election, many Altoona residents might have noticed the influx of direct mailings in their mailboxes – specifically, direct mailings from a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based group called All Children Matter that contain rather aggressive messages about Wisconsin Assembly District 68 Democratic candidate (and Altoona resident) Kristen Dexter. Why would a group in Michigan care about state representatives in Wisconsin? Although the Altoona Star remains an objective, nonpartisan entity, I feel it is important to explore the origins of such mailings and the importance of doing one’s own research on candidates before an election.

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   The Altoona Star is starting to receive more and more Letters to the Editor submissions – which we love! – and I wanted to take this opportunity to remind readers of our editorial policy.
   As long as a Letters to the Editor submission is signed with the writer’s full name and place of residence, and contains no facts that can be immediately proven incorrect by our research, we will publish the submission.
   It is not up to us to decide if someone is right or wrong or whether their point is valid or invalid. 
   Please feel free to contact the Altoona Star at (715) 577-7775 or editor@altoonastar.org with any questions, comments, or concerns. In the meantime, I look forward to receiving more Letters to the Editor submissions from our readers!

  There were no photos in more than 4,370 copies of the Friday, August 1 issue of the Altoona Star because we were attempting to get your attention. 
  Mission accomplished.
  Some of you missed the Friday, July 25 letter from our publisher, Steve Dye, which explained that those who have not registered (for free) or subscribed (for $35 in the Altoona School District or $55 outside of the Altoona School District) would receive a photo-less newspaper on Friday, August 1. Others immediately sent in their registration or subscription forms, and we thank you for doing so.
  Others failed to spot the full-page “Missing the Photos?” ad on page three of the August 1 issue, which explained how to get the photos back by either registering (for free) or subscribing (for $35 in the Altoona School District or $55 outside of the Altoona School District). See a pattern? We need you to register or subscribe if you enjoy receiving the newspaper. Or, let us know to stop sending it to you.
  Granted, we did receive a few livid phone calls from parents who were unable to see their kids in print, calls from concerned residents who thought there might have been a printing error, and a note or two that read, “You sure got our attention by omitting the photos! Pictures please! Here’s our subscription!”
  So, WHY did the Altoona Star remove the photos? Here is your answer:
  As it stands right now, the U.S. Postal Service considers the Altoona Star a “junk” piece of mail. We need to change to a publication that is requested by our readers, and the only way to do that is by asking our readers to either register or subscribe. Ultimately, we need 1,121 more registrations or subscriptions to be classified as a requested publication. Once we reach this goal, our postage rate will drop, allowing the Altoona Star to spend more of its budget on the things you care about – articles, events, and photos.
  Keep in mind that since changing publishers more than 15 months ago, the Altoona Star has consistently mailed out the newspaper for free to all homes in the Altoona School District, and we will continue to do so. In each of these issues, the Altoona Star has included the opportunity for our readers to register and/or subscribe to the newspaper. We have also attended football games, basketball games, community events, and sent out mailings in order to collect registrations and subscriptions. But we are still short. After more than a year of these efforts, we decided to do something bold and remove the photos in copies of the newspaper going to people who had not registered or subscribed.
  This week, we welcomed in our largest group of new press club members and registered readers. Altoona, thank you for your support – it is greatly appreciated and continues to be the reason we print every week.
  Finally, please note that free drop-off locations will be eliminated this week. Additional copies of the Altoona Star will be available at our office on 704 Bartlett Avenue in Altoona for $1. Feel free to stop in any time Monday-Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. We are currently working with a grocery store and two convenience stores to start selling the Altoona Star as well.
  The bottom line is, of course, that we provide a successful local newspaper that serves to strengthen the community of Altoona. No matter how we go about getting the newspaper to readers, that goal will be maintained.

   It’s been just over a year since we took over the newspaper and I’m pretty pleased with how it’s changed. We’ve brought in some very talented people and while there is a long way to go, these folks have done an excellent job upgrading the paper. I hope that you agree. However, we still have a bit of a gap when it comes to paying for every issue.
   I am a big fan of getting every issue to everybody in the community, as I think that helps build a stronger community, which is good for everyone that lives here. However, it does cost more to go that route. Part of what we are doing to address that here is to aggressively manage our costs. 

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   Goodbyes are never easy.
   I have lived in Altoona for my entire life, and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with Altoona sports for as long as I can remember. I’ve played, coached, kept statistics, and for almost four years, it has been my privilege to cover Altoona sports for the Star.

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