Several housekeeping items this week.

With the plethora and then some schedule of events this summer, we split out weekly ongoing events from our community calendar (See Page 2) and ran it monthly for the summer months. That allowed us to devote more space to the long list of annual events.

This week, we are transitioning back to those weekly activities listed in our regular community calendar on a weekly basis. I know it was a bit of a sea change, but it had to be done in order to accommodate the overload of news.

Please check the calendar carefully to be sure your group or organization’s listing is correct, and let us know immediately (editor@wallowa.com) if it is not. If you are not listed, again let us know immediately so you can be added for future weeks.

One last calendar note, if you submit calendar items online, please double-check to be sure those are listed correctly for our readers who prefer to take advantage of that feature.

WE HAD ANNOUNCED some weeks ago that Katherine Stickroth was resigning her role as columnist. (See Wallowa Gal elsewhere on this page). Katherine has had a change of heart, and we are pleased to announce she is sticking around.

When we asked for proposals for a replacement column, we received a number of interesting ideas, which are still on my desk. It is my intention to begin incorporating several of those into upcoming editions on a rotating basis.

We will continue to publish our regular monthly columnists –– Rick Wandschneider, John McColgan, Barrie Qualle, Jon Rombach and Katherine. Watch for new faces and features on a semi-regular basis in upcoming months.

WE HAVE had many positive comments to the progress of the newspaper since I began as editor back in March. Thank you to everyone who has stopped me in the grocery store, came by the office or sent a note of encouragement.

I know not everyone loves the Chieftain. A lot of water has run under the bridge in the years leading up to my arrival, some of it rather muddy.

I can only answer for what has gone on since I have been here. If there is some lingering bad feeling you have had toward the newspaper, I would encourage you to contact me directly so we can discuss it, see if there’s anything we can do to right the wrong and then move forward together.

There is no one I am not willing to sit down over coffee with to discuss any topic past, present or future.

Let’s continue to build the future of the Chieftain and Wallowa County together. We don’t have to agree, but we do need to communicate.