2019-03-21

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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

Butterflies arrive and paint the town



We’re being invaded—but in a good way. The advancing army means us no harm; in fact, they bear no arms whatsoever. They are winged beings called California painted ladies. Their common name may suggest denizens of a 19th century frontier brothel, but the name refers to the species’ speckled palette of orange, black and white. Their suggestive name notwithstanding, painted […]

Keep your eye on the birdie

The Conejo Valley Audubon Society will meet at 7:30 p.m. Mon., April 1 at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, 439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo. Frank De Martino, club president, will discuss “Fly Me to the Moon: Bird Migration Myths and Realities,” longstanding myths and contemporary science relating to migratory birds. Organizers say, “Come celebrate April Fool’s Day by taking […]

2019-03-21 E-Edition

Local hikes in super technicolor



The super bloom in Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon drew an estimated 100,000 visitors over the weekend, creating traffic jams and unmanageable crowds that prompted officials to shut off access to the fertile open space. But for Ventura County residents, fields of technicolor wildflowers can be observed much closer to home because hikes in the Conejo and Simi valleys are also […]

Enough of Kanan traffic

Solutions to busy road being sought


Gnarly traffic on Kanan Road has plagued residents for years. Now, something is being done to address the problem. The City of Agoura Hills, Ventura County and two public school districts are trying to come up with a plan to ease traffic congestion on the road during peak periods. A regional study of the Kanan Road corridor was discussed by […]

Region governed by new wildlife corridors

Animal protections put into place


Ventura County made history March 12 by becoming the first county in the nation to create special zoning for the protection of wildlife. The so-called wildlife corridors hope to give threatened animals such as cougars more room to run between the mountains and the sea. Three years in the planning and comprising some 500,000 acres with more than 7,390 privately […]

Bobcat killed on LV road

An adult male bobcat, B-361, was struck and killed by a car the evening of March 15 on Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas. The male cat was collared by National Park Service biologists Nov. 6, 2018. He roamed between the burned and unburned areas of Malibu Canyon, the park service said. His carcass was collected and will undergo a necropsy, […]

Slowly but surely the debris gets hauled away

WOOLSEY FIRE UPDATE

State contractors say they have removed burned metal, concrete, ash and debris from nearly 150 residential properties in Los Angeles and Ventura counties affected by the Woolsey and Hill fires. The homeowners are participating in the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program. Crews have cleared debris from 127 properties in Los Angeles County and from 21 parcels in Ventura County—and will […]

Fire-damaged parks slow to open



The heavy rains over the last few months have healed most of the visible damage from the Woolsey fire—burn scars and blackened plant life have been replaced by lush greenery that invites locals to return to the Santa Monica Mountains where they can enjoy the recent sunny weather. Local parks are a different matter. Some spaces are still showing signs […]

High-end store takes the low road

Vintage Grocers exits the Westlake Promenade


This story was updated 2:55 p.m. March 29, 2019. March 15 started as a normal workday for Kilie Mackey. But when the Vintage Grocers receiving manager arrived at the Westlake Promenade store Friday morning, she was shocked to find it had been closed—permanently. “People were there painting the windows white to block them out, and there was a sign on the […]