Still delivering news with passion

You may have noticed today’s Frontiersman showing up a bit later than usual on newsstands, in coin racks and in home delivery tubes. That’s because, beginning today, we are transitioning to a daytime cycle of producing and distributing the newspaper.

We have been working toward this transition for nearly three months. Since home delivery began more than 10 years ago, the Frontiersman has been a morning newspaper, arriving in boxes and on doorsteps by 5:30 a.m. on delivery days.

Until this week, the press and mailroom crews worked evenings producing the newspaper, often not finishing until well after midnight. That’s when delivery route drivers picked up the papers and began their wee-hours distribution.

With three editions each week, plus two full days of commercial print work filling the rest of our printing press schedule, any glitches in day-shift preproduction work led to unnecessary and often costly delays at night. So the change to afternoon delivery will bring operational efficiencies that will result in a better finished product for readers and advertisers.

“We are looking forward to having all hands on deck at the same time,” said Frontiersman publisher Mark Kelsey. “It will make for more consistent, delay-free operation and help us be more competitive in the commercial print arena.”

The change in schedule will have the added benefit of allowing formerly second- and third-shift staff to maintain a more “normal” work schedule. It will also allow all staff to have the same time off, hopefully in sync with their families.

The change will mean home delivery drivers will get their papers shortly after noon on Tuesdays and Fridays, allowing for easy delivery by the time most readers get home from work. The Sunday edition will still be delivered on Saturday night, as it always has been, and will be delivered in most cases by 6 a.m.

The new schedule will result in a change in what we are able to get into any given print edition. But news that breaks after deadline or between editions can always be found at frontiersman.com, where full access is always free.

Since 1947, the Frontiersman has been the paper of record in this community, documenting our wins and our losses, our growth and our challenges, for more than 66 years. That does not change today. We remain as committed as ever to this community and to our mission of keeping residents informed.