Moving day at the Daily Press Stephen Woody Publisher’s Notebook Moving day. Since I’m writing this Thursday night for Friday’s editions, I’m not sure how moving day is actually going. (We’re moving Friday, and over the weekend, from our downtown location to our new facility north of Montrose. The new address: 3684 N. Townsend.) I’m thinking “moving day” is going well, since the staff has been preparing for several weeks. We’ve had a daily “countdown” of what to do, what the latest news is, and so forth. Earlier this week, we passed the variety of inspections, received an occupancy permit from the city and was given the keys to the building. There’s a lot of excitement about the move, particularly to a brand-new, from-the-ground-up facility. I’m sure the staffs at Flower Motor Co., Montrose Ford, Jeans Westerner, Flairmont Furniture — just to name a few, plus all of the growth south of town - have had similar feelings about moving into their new buildings. The Daily Press has been in its present location, 535 S. First Street, since 1960, so I’m told. Before that, it was on Main Street. We’ll have more stories and features about the move and the new facility in Sunday’s Daily Press. Happy Birthday Greetings! Craig Wolverton celebrates. His Better Half, Julee Wolverton, was the landscape architect for the Daily Press’ new facility. I see by the sports pages….. The Ryder Cup is underway in Ireland. It’s America’s best golfers against Europe’s and the U.S. players, though they’ve got Tiger and Phil, are considered the underdogs. The U.S. has lost the last four Cups in a row. In Washington, they have the Roll Call Cup, pitting the best Democratic golfers against the best Republican golfers in a similar team format. In an upset recently, the Democrats won, 8 to 3, ending a four-year losing streak. Incidentally, the best golfer in Congress is Rep. Chris Chocola of the second district in Indiana. The Republican has a 0.5 handicap. Kudos! To the Fred Flower family and Flower Motor Co., for their generous donation to the San Juan Healthcare Foundation/San Juan Cancer Center. Their donation was in honor of Dr. John Lambert, MD. I see by the paper….. Edward St. John is an 83-year-old resident of Blackstone, Mass., who found a $1 million-winning lottery ticket in the garbage, out back of a convenience store. For something to do each day with his time, St. John would root around garbage bins looking for winning tickets. Yet, according to the AP, Kevin Donovan, 49, put in a claim as the ticket’s rightful owner, and winner. He said he bought the ticket, and accidentally threw it out. The Massachusetts Lottery Commissioner denied Donovan’s protest, saying that possession of a lottery ticket was akin to cash, requiring only possession to show ownership. Donovan keeled over dead from a heart attack, shortly after the protest was dismissed. So the Donovan survivors got a lawyer and sued the lottery commission. St. John, adhering to the time-worn adage of “finders/keepers”, and at the tail end of his life, didn’t want to see his winnings tied up in court. So he agreed to a settlement. St. John will get $43,000 a year for the next 20 years; the Donovan family getting $7,000 annually. Ken Gordon, while running for Secretary of State, visited with Western Slope newspapers in the last week, including the Saguache Crescent, circulation 560. The Crescent is the only paper in Colorado, perhaps in the U.S. even, which is still produced on a 1920s Linotype. Gordon, who’s known for his sense of humor and wit, stopped by to visit with publisher Dean Coombs. “I’m Ken Gordon, and I’m running for Secretary of State. Would you like to interview me about that,” Gordon asked. “No, not so much,” replied Coombs. “I’m looking for something my readers would be interested in. Do you have a three-legged dog? |