As some may have noticed, there have been some changes in the Newberry Observer in the past few months. I want to take a moment to address some of them and how 2024 will look for the Observer.

1. No more jail log.

I decided to stop doing the jail log in August and have no plans of bringing it back. I believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. By running names, age and charges, whether or not they committed the crime, I have automatically made them appear guilty. Instead, look out for the court reports (which should run next week) which do contain sentences and official charges. Alternatively, you can go to the Newberry County Government website and look up the inmate search to see alleged crimes.

2. We are short-staffed.

As of now, the Observer is short staffed. My job is to report, write and edit and therefore I do not have access to any of the systems that help with ad sales and/or paper subscriptions. I will be in the office when I can to assist and transfer calls to someone who can better help, but please understand there may be a wait.

Also, I am happy to help, but if you are ugly, rude, or otherwise disrespectful, I will hang up on you and wait until you are ready to speak to me like an adult. I understand being frustrated, but that is no reason to be rude to someone who is trying to help.

3. Deliveries and not receiving the Observer in the mail.

There seems to be some confusion as to where the paper is printed and delivered from. We have received many calls of people informing us they have not received their paper and we apologize about the inconvenience, but it is out of our hands. The paper is printed in North Carolina, picked up Tuesday night and brought down to the office, where it’s distributed to the Newberry Post Office, who will deliver it to where it needs to go. If you do not get your paper Wednesday, please give it a day or two as they may show up late.

If you did not receive a paper within a few days, please come to the office where we will give you one. We understand news being important and the inconvenience of not being informed. We are doing everything we can to help while we are short-staffed, please just be patient.

We appreciate your understanding and support as we move into 2024.