Normally, I like to have some sort of off-the-wall comment to start off a column.
Today, I don’t. Except for this: (insert your favorite curse word here).
The novel coronavirus is making its way through our country, and its impacts to our day-to-day lives are as significant as anything we’ve experienced.
Sports are canceled. Schools are shut down. The state and federal governments have declared emergencies.
And local businesses are having to make hard decisions in the wake of it all. We’re no different.
Office closed
Starting today, our office is closed to the public, and most of our team will be working from home. If you need to reach us for whatever reason, here is the contact info:
Advertising or general inquiries: Jerry Raehal at jraehal@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9133;
Newsroom: Peter Baumann at pbaumann@postindependent.com or 970-384-9114;
Circulation: Jake Marine at jmarine@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9148;
Classifieds: classifieds@postindependent.com or at 866-850-9937;
Obituaries: obituary@cmnm.org or at 866-850-9937.
If you’re attempting to reach someone else on our team, our contact information can be found on page 4 in the paper or on the website here.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but feel it is in our team and the public’s best interest to put them in place.
But we’re still open
I cannot express the pride I have in the PI team during this timeframe, and the work they’ve put in. We’ve been the voice of Garfield County for more than a century, and these are the times we feel our jobs are most valuable. A virus will not stop us. We will continue to inform the public, and try to find more ways to get the news to you.
Access to the news
With that in mind, we will be making a few changes in access to our news coverage.
e-Edition: First, we will be moving our e-Edition to a free model. All our stories are already free on the website, but we know some people enjoy reading it in that format.
Newspaper racks: We will be limiting the number of racks that we have distribution points at. The racks that do have newspapers will have the front doors removed (if not now, soon) to foster a safer process.
Local businesses: If you’re a business that has been receiving papers and plan to stay open and want the papers continued to be delivered, please contact Jake Marine at jmarine@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9148.
Home delivery: Please note, the PI has nothing to do with any home delivery of the paper, and have no deals with people who made this their business. Any arrangements that are being made should be communicated by the people making the deliveries.
Supporting our businesses
This is a hard time for many local businesses, and we encourage the public to support them.
If you’re a local business that has changed operations to help the public at large or ways they can access your business, please send an email to news@postindependent.com.
We are putting together a page that shows all the listings, as well as standard closures and other updates.
Acts of kindness
As hard as this time has been, we also love to hear about the amazing things people are doing to help others. If you want to share a story, or a kudos about people or businesses doing great work, let us know on Facebook or send us an email.
In these troubling times, people acting with kindness and helping out should be our north stars. We want to know those stories and appreciate them.
The great thing about Garfield County is even though we have a wide range of opinions and views is that we will help each other.
Random suggestions
The following are not my ideas, but ones that I’ve heard:
• Local stores creating hours only for the elderly. They are most at risk of getting the disease, but also most at risk of not being able to get the supplies they need.
• Another that’s not my idea but seems like a good one is using school buses to deliver meals made at schools to students at their homes.
• Formation of volunteer groups to help out. If you have an idea or if you have something already enacted that you want the public to know about, please let us know by emailing news@postindependent.com or sending a message via Facebook.
• If you have an idea that has not been enacted, let us know and we will try to work with the appropriate agencies to see if it can be started.
Jerry Raehal is publisher of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. You can reach him at jraehal@postindependent.com.