BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week

CANTON -- It appears the Canton community will once again be home to a local newspaper.

At a joint meeting of the town and village boards on Wednesday night, a representative from the Johnson Newspaper Corporation told elected officials there’s a plan to resurrect The long-time Canton newspaper, The St. Lawrence Plaindealer.

Gary Valik, vice president of sales and marketing, said plans to again publish the Plaindealer are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022. The Johnson Corporation ceased publication of the Plaindealer in June of 2019, citing financial woes.

At the same time, the Ogdensburg Journal was also shut down. That publication is now back in operation and is published weekly.

Valik said Canton has all the elements for a successful newspaper, citing the colleges, hospitals and businesses.

“The staff will be dedicated to the Canton area and do separate distinct news,” he said. “We will have a dynamic product for the community.”

Asked what the subscription rate would be, Valik said the company expects to offer a $22 annual subscription cost.

“We want to make it affordable,” he said. “We want to bring the community together to sustain a newspaper.”

The announcement was applauded by several board members and Canton Historian Linda Casserly. Casserly was part of a meeting between Valik, Regional Editor Thomas Graser, Mayor Michael Dalton, Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley, and William Coakley at Coakley Home and Hardware on Friday. Valik said there has been talk of bringing back The Plaindealer since summer.

“I've been on a high since the meeting on Friday,” said Casserly. “I’m very excited to get back writing again.”

Councilman Bob Washo said The Plaindealer was one reason why he decided to move to Canton. He also asked if there would be any flexibility in the publication day to allow the newspaper to report town and village meeting news in a more timely fashion.

Valik said the company is looking at a Thursday or Friday publication.

Martha Foley Smith, a former Plaindealer editor, said the local newspaper treated readers to columns from the outlying areas which she called “a wonderful part of the paper.”

“The lack of a community-based newspaper is dangerous, basically,” she stated.

Trustee Beth Larrabee said she grew up reading the Plaindealer.

“It was a celebration of our youth and a place to celebrate our community,” she said. “I will love to cut articles and send them to family members.”

There was no mention if an office will be established in Canton.