2007-05-31

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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

A. E. Wright campus chosen for new alternative school

Would be similar to a charter school

By Stephanie Bertholdo  bertholdo@theacorn.com The Las Virgenes Community Learning Center, the fast-tracked alternative education elementary school set to open in the fall, will be temporarily located at A.E. Wright Middle School, said Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Sandra Smyser in a recent letter to parents. Smyser said the decision to locate the Community Learning Center at A.E. Wright was […]

Agoura High rolls out the carpet



LAYING DOWN A NEW RUG– A worker from Field Turf Builders installs the new artificial turf at the Agoura High School stadium. The field is expected to be ready for graduation in June.

Calabasas residents fear sewer expansion will spur development



Calabasas City Council members gave staff members the go-ahead to begin researching expansion of the city’s sewer system, despite opposition voiced by two residents at last week’s meeting. The council voted 5-0 to look into providing sewer access to the rural areas of the Highlands, Old Topanga Road, South Mulholland Highway and Dry Canyon Cold Creek. Toby Keeler and Hal […]

Remembering those who’ve fallen



SOLEMN DAY– Left, Calabasas Cub Scouts Will Bernstein, 9, on the left, Brandon Solursh, 9, and Darren Solursh, 7, pay their respects as they place American flags on the veterans’ graves at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood. Monday was Memorial Day and America paid tribute to those who have lost their lives in military service to the country. […]

Officials assess water supply



Water is precious in arid climates like Southern California’s. In summer months, water districts throughout the state, especially in the south, attempt to stretch their supplies by using conservation measures and tapping into stored water from alternate facilities. As levels run low and the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District draws water from other local reservoirs, some consumers might notice slight […]

Community chips in to honor local students



More than 31 local business, service, athletic and academic groups presented scholarships to a select group of Oak Park High School seniors on May 24. The students were rewarded for most improved grade point average, leadership and community service, arts and athletics, and cultural awareness and family ties. “Oak Park High School goes out of its way to make this […]

Scholarships awarded in Reagan’s honor



Eighty-seven Ventura County high school seniors were honored for leadership and academic excellence at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. Twelve of the students received $42,500 worth of college scholarships and a copy of “Ronald Reagan, an American Hero” signed by Nancy Reagan. The teachers of the top three winners will also each receive a $500 award. All […]

Fond farewell to Hodari Bowen

Willow Elementary's 34-year-old plant manager leaves behind widow, four children

GOODBYE- Left, Willow Elementary School Principal Garry Galvan and the entire student body release balloons to celebrate the life of the school’s plant manager, Hodari Bowen, who died in a motorcycle accident on May 17. Bowen was 34 years old and leaves behind four children, two of whom, De’Ari, 5, and Alesha, 8, attend Willow. His other children are Latrece […]

Mayor meets her namesake



SEEING DOUBLE– When Sue McSweeney of Marysville, Wash. googled her own name, she discovered her namesake, Sue McSweeney, mayor of Westlake Village. The two recently met and Mayor McSweeney led her new friend on a tour of city hall. The visiting McSweeney, who is a quadriplegic as a result of multiple sclerosis, received a Family First grant from the MS […]

Agoura Hills man dies in Mulholland Highway crash



By Stephanie Bertholdo  bertholdo@theacorn.com Jonathan Richard Varble, an Agoura Hills man who was reported missing by his family early Sunday morning, was found dead in his car Tuesday evening around 8:30 p.m. Varble, 24, apparently drove his car off a 50-foot embankment off Mulholland Highway east of Stokes Canyon Road and hit a tree. According to Sgt. John Lago of […]