North Coast Oregon

I try to post an article here every day. Early on I only posted five days a week, then it went to six days, and the only time I'd post on Sundays was when I was really pissed off about something.

Over the last year and a half I took on a self imposed obligation to post a little something every day. So far the only thing that has stopped me from doing so was the storm when our power and internet was out for five days. There was another time when I was in the wilderness with my horse for a couple days last summer.

I often tell people that I wonder just how long I can keep this up. Somehow I find inspiration to keep the stories coming. As many of you know I like to have at least a weeks worth of articles written ahead of time. Sometimes I feel a dry spell coming on. I’ll post all the things I’ve written and I’ll be down to the last story I have in the bank for publishing, and then I start writing again.

Normally I don’t take on any extra writing because it takes an enormous amount of energy just keeping this blog going every day. Sometimes I think of all the things I could be accomplishing if I stopped blogging all together. But maybe this is my monument that I am building. Positive reader feedback goes a long way to keep me going. My thanks to all of you.

There are other local blogs out there. There are many that I have abandoned as a reader and there are yet more that have been abandon by their contributors. I am impressed by other local blogs that actually contribute to our community. One in particular is North Coast Oregon which is the site that belongs to Tryan Hartill.

After the election in November there was an audible hum in the air of people who were disgusted with the Daily Astorian and their biased form of journalism. Even this week you could hear callers on the KAST morning call in show talking about what a poor newspaper the Daily Astorian is. Many people in the news will no longer grant them an interview.

People started talking to Tryan Hartill, encouraging him to take his well respected web site to a new level and turn it into a reliable source for local news. Historically, Tryan has out scooped the Daily Astorian on several occasions, and now on a daily basis, covering stories that needed to be told that the Astorian wouldn’t cover because of their association with individuals involved with the story. They would rather not cover a story than tell the truth about one of their friends. For instance the Daily Astorian never mentioned that Betsy Johnson was being investigated by the FBI.

Long story-short, Tryan, at his own expense turned his blog into a local news organization. The site is piecing together nicely with features being added daily. He hired reporters, found advertisers, and believe it or not, asked me to do a weekly opinion column.

I am honored to be considered for this post in his news organization. So what if I have to pen four more articles every month? I think I can handle it.

So if you want to see a news organization coming in on the ground floor and see more writing from Astoria-Rust you can catch one of my pieces every week at http://www.northcoastoregon.com/ in the Opinion column.