First things first: Yes, there are “For Sale” signs outside the building that houses the Wallowa County Chieftain.

But they don’t mean we’re planning to pull the plug on the Chieftain.

Instead, we’re searching for new offices in Enterprise because our current building at 209 NW First St. is simply too big for us. Our plan is to settle into our new digs when we find them and to continue providing Chieftain readers with the best coverage of Wallowa County that we can offer.

I understand why people might have been concerned about the Chieftain when they saw the signs go up outside the building, and that concern isn’t completely misplaced: Across the nation, more than 2,000 newspapers have shuttered their doors since 2000.

But let me emphasize this point: The Chieftain is not among them.

The Chieftain’s parent company, the EO Media Group, continues to be committed to providing news coverage to communities throughout Oregon. In fact, EO Media is one of the few companies that’s actually launched a newspaper during the last couple of years: In early 2023, when the Medford Mail Tribune, a paper that had served the Rogue Valley for more than a century, abruptly closed — fueling fears that the Medford area would become another “news desert” — EO Media started a newspaper in just a matter of weeks to cover the region.

The Chieftain has covered Wallowa County for more than a century — as the bound volumes holding old copies of the newspaper demonstrate. We’re committed to continuing that work well into the future.

Just from a different home base. We’ll keep you posted. After all, we’ll have a lot of bound volumes to move.

Office hours

In the meantime, here’s something else Chieftain subscribers should know about, and it’s happening next Wednesday, March 20 (weather permitting):

Some of you have participated in the past in what I’ve called “office hours.” Basically, I stake out a location somewhere in the county, settle in for a couple of hours and invite all comers to come and talk with me about the Chieftain: What could we be doing better? What stories are we missing? Why do we run those particular comic strips? Pretty much any topic related to the Chieftain is fair game during office hours.

I’m excited to announce the next edition of office hours from 2 to 4:30 p.m. next Wednesday, March 20, and we’re planning a couple of twists:

First, I’ll be claiming the home field advantage: We’ll be holding this edition of office hours at the Chieftain’s offices, 209 W. First St. in Enterprise.

Second, in addition to offering you a chance to talk about the Chieftain, we’ll also be showing subscribers how to take advantage of all the options available in our online edition.

Even if you opt for the printed edition to be delivered to your home, your subscription includes — free of charge — online access once registered. Your online access allows you to peruse wallowa.com without restrictions, and gives you access to our mobile app and e-edition. This opens the door to a treasure trove of content, including interactive puzzles (14 new ones each day, including sudoku, crosswords, word jumbles and number logic puzzles), and stories and features that never make it to the printed pages of our newspaper.

It also ensures on-time delivery, when the weather isn’t cooperating or there’s production or mail issues. Fourteen feet of snow outside? You’ll still find that day’s newspaper delivered promptly to your email inbox, or easily accessible on our website.

Personally, I’m partial to the printed newspaper, but I also like how the online edition offers convenient and timely access to breaking news and updated information on events and business happenings as they happen.

Of course, technology can have its drawbacks. The No. 1 reason subscribers to any of the EO Media Group’s newspapers call our customer service line is for help with their online access or digital subscription. More often than not, our customer service team is able to quickly and easily talk customers through the process of registering their account, changing or retrieving their passwords or other digital concerns. The number is 541-963-3161.

However, if you’re a visual learner, it can be a challenge to communicate over the phone what you’re seeing (or not seeing) on your device to troubleshoot some of these simple problems. Recently, we’ve developed an online directory of “help me” videos to show readers how to activate their account, login to the e-edition and more. These simple, step-by-step videos allow you to walk through the process on your own (and if you’re like me, pause the video every so often and rewind because you missed an important step). If you’d like to check them out, visit eomediagroup.com/docs.

Sometimes, though, there’s no substitute for one-on-one access — and so we’re invited subscribers to come by the Chieftain’s offices on Wednesday, March 20 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. so we can walk you through any registration or access problems you’re encountering, and show off all the special content and features available to you. Bring your digital device with you.

And if the device is working just fine, but you just want to share a few comments about the Chieftain, that’s fine too. We’ll see you next Wednesday.