2003-01-02

Read the Latest Acorn!

Click below to read the latest edition of The Acorn!

Enjoy the new online reading experience!

Subscribe to The Acorn

Acorn online content now offered free

'Paywall' removed

The new millennium has been a transformative time for newspaper publishing.

Changing reader habits and the advent of new technology have placed big demands on companies in the print news business.

The Acorn and its parent company, Times Media Group, understand that their biggest responsibility is not only the delivery of credible, relevant information in a timely fashion, but making sure residents have easy access to the publication when stories become available.

That’s why we’re super excited about the news being shared today.

Following a five-year stretch in which Acorn readers were given the option of purchasing online subscriptions to the paper, that so-called “paywall” is coming down.

“Mr. Publisher, tear down this wall,” the late President Ronald Reagan might have once said.

And so we did.

Starting immediately, all online content from our five Acorn publications will be available at no charge to the reader, meaning a paid subscription is no longer required to click and read articles. The weekly Acorn has always been delivered to your driveway at no cost—that more than 40-year tradition will continue—and from now on The Acorn on the internet will be free as well.

Why the change?

The Acorn is your community newspaper, and we want to make sure it stays that way. We believe it’s important that residents feel a connection to the stories we write and also learn about the businesses that advertise in their community. The absence of a paywall is the best way to ensure this free-flow of information remains.

We also invite readers to sign up for the new, easy-to-read Acorn newspaper e-edition delivered weekly to your e-mail. Viewed on mobile, desktop or laptop, the pages are super easy to navigate and, free, just like the print paper.

Local journalism is first gear in the engine that drives America’s free press, and a free press it shall be.

Archives

We need to find a compromise



We need to find a compromise I am writing this letter in response to all of the numerous opinion letters both for and against the proposed building of the new Heschel West Day School in Old Agoura. My goal is to create the possibility that Heschel West and the residents of Old Agoura can unite together to achieve a peaceful […]

Surprised by the hostility to a school



Surprised by the hostility to a school I have been living in Agoura Hills since 1989, and I must say that I have always felt so blessed to live in such a great place. I do not understand why a small number of our residents are so committed to oppose the Heschel West project, unless it is their gut reaction […]

Ventura County supervisors were arrogant



Ventura County supervisors were arrogant With the sole exception of Supervisor Steve Bennett, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors’ 4-1 vote to approve Ahmanson Ranch translates something like this: "We, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, who were elected to represent the people, approve of total gridlock on the 101 Freeway with 45,000 more cars a day. We see nothing […]

Calabasas needs to quit wasting money on the

Ahmanson fight

Calabasas needs to quit wasting money on the On Dec. 19 the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved the Ahmanson Ranch project. Before this decision was reached this board expressed their disgust with those who gave testimony before this board that was either totally false or deliberately distorted while representing themselves as "experts." This board also expressed disdain for the […]

Replace the supervisors



As a concerned citizen, I sat through two days of expert testimony on the Ahmanson Ranch development at the Ventura County Government Center last week. I simply cannot believe that four of the Ventura County Supervisors could not even vote to adequately study a known cancer-causing contaminant prior to approving the building of new homes at Ahmanson Ranch. I, and […]

Thousand Oaks should be renamed ‘1,000 Stumps’



Thousand Oaks should be renamed ‘1,000 Stumps’ I was in attendance at all of the hearings on Ahmanson Ranch, and read most of the newspaper reporting on these meetings. What stood out in my mind was the arrogance of three Ventura County Supervisors involved, these being Maria Vanderkolk, Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo. The standout was Judy Mikels, who admonished […]

Will change banks



Since Washington Mutual Bank wants to play with our health and move forward on the disastrous Ahmanson Ranch project, I will not allow them to play with my money. My homeowners’ association, of which I am a boardmember, has voted to close our account at Washington Mutual and withdraw over $118,000. My kids play in streams fed from water runoff […]

Wants to keep the portable basketball boards



Wants to keep the portable basketball boards On Dec. 5 an article in your paper reported about the supposed danger to teenagers playing basketball with portable hoops and backboards on Evanwood Avenue. Apparently some homeowners petitioned the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council to remove the portable hoops from the street. Who were these homeowners who petitioned the advisory council? How […]

Predictions for 2003



What do you think about the prospects for 2003? We have mixed feelings, but here are our fearless predictions for the New Year: •The economy will slowly begin to improve. •It will be a normal winter for rainfall; wet, but not excessively so. •Nobody will emerge as the leading Democratic presidential candidate until 2004. •Californians will get no breaks on […]

Acorn readers help Hospice



ACORN READERS HELP A WORTHY CAUSE––Lisa Rule, general manager of The Acorn Newspapers, hands Ed Troupe, executive director of Hospice of the Conejo and Jeanette Hutchison, Hospice board president, a check for $1,693. Rule says "thank you" to all the readers for helping support the Thousand Oaks Acorn and this very worthwhile charity.