2004-11-04

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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

Incumbent trustees reelected in Oak Park



Incumbent trustees reelected in Oak Park By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com Two trustees in Oak Park will be returning to the board of education. Incumbent Jan Iceland captured the most votes in Tuesday’s Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education race with 43.1 percent. Trustee Jim Kalember and challenger Kenneth Kossoff finished close but Kalember pulled out a 56-vote victory, […]

Voters go to the polls in droves



State assemblywoman returns to Sacramento for another term



By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com Democrats held their majority position in Sacramento following Tuesday’s election and among the party incumbents returning to office was state Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Woodland Hills). Pavley won her third term in the 41st District, earning 60 percent of the vote compared to 35.5 percent for Republican challenger Heather Peters, a Santa Monica resident. Libertarian Richard Koffler […]

Calabasas High School hosts drama festival



Calabasas High School hosts drama festival

Voters make no changes on

Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council

By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com Two Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) incumbents won reelection in a landslide on Tuesday. MAC members Todd Haines and Deena Parry captured about twice as many votes as the challengers. An unprecedented seven candidates initially ran for two seats on the MAC, an elected body that represents Oak Park at the Ventura County level. Haines, […]

Firefighters accept equipment donation



By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com A potentially life-saving thermal imaging device was presented to Los Angeles County Fire Station No.144 in Westlake Village last week. Jeanne Harrison, a Westlake Village resident who wanted to make a difference, spearheaded the two-year fundraising effort. The thermal imaging device is a tool that firefighters can use to locate a person or a fire in […]

School traffic trouble continues in Oak Park



By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com Oak Park’s Medea Creek Middle School, nestled in a residential area, is the center of a traffic impasse on Doubletree Street and the surrounding roads at drop-off and pick-up times. The issue has plagued the neighborhood since the school was built, and residents are still fuming about the gridlock. Last week some of the school’s neighbors […]

All bids rejected for Decker Canyon recycled water project



By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) has rejected all bids for the proposed Decker Canyon recycled water facilities project. Pre-qualified contractors placed bids on two aspects of the project—installing a pipeline that would bring reclaimed water to a golf course and construction of a pump station that would have delivered the reclaimed water for irrigation. A […]

Cities get money for hazardous-response planning



Feedback from local citizens is sought for a plan to mitigate an emergency. The Las Virgenes-Malibu Council of Governments (LVMCG) received a $117,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) to prepare a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan for member cities (Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu and Westlake Village). The LVMCG is seeking input from local residents before Nov. 15. […]

Hospital executive protests zoning overlay change in city of Westlake Village



By Lori Porter porter@theacorn.com To meet state requirements for special needs housing, the Westlake Village City Council moved a zoning designation known as an overlay from one location to another. The action was contested by a local hospital executive. The special needs housing overlay would accommodate low-income affordable housing for senior citizens and homeless or physically disabled citizens. The overlay […]