When you’re on your own, we are there with you

As the United States faces its worst public health crisis in a generation, we want you to know we are here for you — and with you.

Whatever happens, whenever it happens, your newspaper will be here to let you know how our community is managing through this crisis — from business, to government, to the health care system and schools, and to the drastic impact on individuals and families.

And we’ll be here to let you know about the good and extraordinary things happening — like the local folks making cotton masks, taking initiative in the face of a nationwide shortage of respirators. Amid the anxiety, there are moments that remind us of the resilience of the human spirit.

The Columbia Basin Herald unites with many other community newspapers across the country sharing this message today. We encourage you to support local journalism by subscribing. Just like this public health crisis affects you, it affects us, along with other small businesses. Yet we are determined to carry on in our role of informing the public, so essential in our democracy.

We are here not just to report statistics, but to help you make sense of the situation and help you navigate it. Having fact-based, reliable reporting that provides public scrutiny and oversight is more important than ever.

Together, across the decades, this newspaper and its readers have navigated horrific events — natural disasters, terrorism, financial downturns, and periods of extreme political and societal division. Working together, the Columbia Basin will win. And we’ll be here to document that, too.