2018-02-08

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Enjoy the new online reading experience!

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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

Mountain lion comes knocking in Westlake Village

Animal frightens family and small dog


Mountain lion females will protect their young at all costs. So will humans. An adult mountain lion, fixed with a National Park Service tracking collar, tried to break into a Parkwood Estates home near the Three Springs neighborhood in Westlake Village on Feb. 4. Homeowner Nadine Young said the indoor and outdoor lights at her house were on around 8 […]

Marching to the beat of his own drum



Frequent commuters through the intersection of Kanan and Agoura roads have probably seen or heard the long-haired man who spends his weekends playing a drum kit that he has set up in a dirt lot known for its Halloween pumpkin and Christmas tree displays. The one-man concert band faces Kanan Road, and when he’s there, and he’s on, he’s hard […]

Special message for Feb. 14

LOVE NOTES—Americans Supporting Americans Greater Conejo Valley is sending valentines, like this one, to troops on the front line in Afghanistan. Students at Willow and Sumac elementary schools in Agoura Hills prepared 400 notes for ASA to mail to service men and women abroad.

Roadrunner revs it up

On the Trail

It’s not the most common sight to witness—a ground bird high atop a boulder. But there it was, a roadrunner perched on the edge of a rock the size of a Mini Cooper. Maybe the bird wasn’t used to heights or had made a poor landing, for it stood at an awkward tilting angle. Its long tail quivered as if […]

North Ranch soccer tourney champs

REAL WINNERS—The Real SoCal North Ranch Boys BO8 Soccer Team wins the FC Long Beach Tournament on Jan. 14. Top row, with coach Kenny Dapello, from left are: Jerry Shifman, Santiago Diaz, Stephen Ouvaroff, Kaleb Nehdar and Todd Norton. Bottom row: Ren Thomas, Griffin Valladares, Justice Sullivan, Blake Miller, Braedon Wynalda and Daniel Geft.

Send a singing valentine

The Agoura Hills Harmony Chorus (Ahh!) is offering singing valentines for those who want to say “I love you” in a unique way. Quartets from the chorus will deliver the singing valentines to places throughout the Conejo and San Fernando valleys Sat. through Wed., Feb. 10 to 14. Singing valentines can be delivered to various destinations such as work, homes, […]

A whale of an art guild show

CATCH OF THE DAY— Calabasas resident Charles Diggs wins the Westlake Village Art Guild’s Best in Show for his 3-D sculpture, above, titled“Cruising the Grand Canal.”Otherfirst-place winners of the 2018 Members Show, by category, are: Susan Nelson (oil and acrylics), Virginia Kamhi (pastel and graphics), Jeanne Costello (watercolor), A. Siflinger (photography and digital), Pamela Fong (mixed media) and Tim Koch […]

Cyber threats and the media landscape



Veteran broadcast journalist and author Ted Koppel presented a technological doomsday scenario and critiqued the White House assault on the media to a full house Jan. 23 at the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Koppel envisions world destruction starting through a cyberwar against the United States. If an enemy state were to destroy U.S. power […]

Rethinking how to road trip

Flying Squirrel

I was speaking with someone recently about traveling to Washington, D.C., this summer to take my high school senior daughter to college. In my mind, I was thinking about jumping in the family car and heading cross country to the East Coast. For some reason, this made sense to me. Growing up, my family had the opportunity to travel across […]

BRIEFS

Homeless people count Community volunteers are needed for the annual count and survey of homeless persons in Ventura County. Due to the Thomas Fire, the 2018 Ventura County Homeless Count and Subpopulation Survey has been rescheduled to the morning of Thurs., Feb. 22. The annual homeless count is coordinated by the Ventura County Continuum of Care and County of Ventura, […]