I’ve been mad enough to cancel our household Columbian subscription a few times over the past 26 years, only to start it up again because we’d dearly miss knowing what’s happening around here. As angry as I was over some article or editorial, I never ever would wish The Columbian to stop publishing. This town absolutely needs local news media in order to function as a community.
So it has come as a shock to watch Clark County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke systematically work to destroy our only communitywide newspaper. First, they banned The Columbian from county waiting rooms for citizens to read, then M&M reversed historical precedent by refusing to publish public notices in this countywide newspaper, and finally they threatened to charge a “littering fee” specifically to The Columbian.
Local community leaders should know how vitally important news media is to our community. Clearly, M&M don’t care about citizens or the health of the community as long as they destroy those on their enemies list.
Deborah Nelson
Vancouver
