BY BILL SHUMWAY
North Country This Week

For more than 20 years, tens of thousands of St. Lawrence County residents have made NorthCountryNow.com part of their day.

Today, we are making a change in response to shifts in the business environment, especially since the coronavirus threat emerged in March. Frequent viewers will be asked to subscribe for about the price of a cup of coffee each week.

Your financial support will help us continue to provide the comprehensive news coverage and local information you have come to depend on.

Your subscription will help make it possible for our news staff to continue reporting on local government and schools, police and fire, elections and business news you often can’t find elsewhere.

Your support also helps ensure we continue publishing news about your friends and neighbors, obituaries, important shopping information, and hundreds of letters and photos from readers each year. When it is safe for large events to gather, we hope to return our popular day-by-day calendar of events.

With increased shopping online and at “big box” stores, the amount of local advertising that traditionally has covered costs of our news coverage has decreased. While many advertisers continue to use our products weekly, the resulting drop in advertising is significant.

Along with other initiatives underway at North Country This Week, viewer support will allow us to continue to serve and enrich the lives of county residents.

Each month, people can still view 15 North Country Now stories at no charge before being required to subscribe. The home page, classified ad pages and links to other news sources will remain free. Viewers will have a choice of paying $7 monthly, $39 every six months or $75 once a year. We are also offering gift subscriptions and an “NCNow Supporter” option for $2.88 a week that includes a free mailed copy of North Country This Week every week and a free monthly email newsletter.

Details are at my.northcountrynow.com.

Thank you for visiting NorthCountryNow.com. We hope you continue to make us part of your daily routine and stay up-to-date with what’s going on in St. Lawrence County.

Bill Shumway is editor and publisher of North Country This Week and NorthCountryNow.com.