Blog

     AS MOST OF you know, weekly newspapers depend on the United States Postal Service for delivering each edition to subscribers.
Here at the Decatur Tribune, we also have the e-edition (the same content as the paper edition) with many online subscribers, and sales of the paper edition at several newsstands in Decatur.
     However, an overwhelming majority of Decatur Tribunes are sold through annual subscriptions and are mailed each week at the post office in Decatur.
     Out of those papers, the overwhelming majority goes to annual subscribers in Decatur, Forsyth, Mt. Zion and most other Macon County communities.
     The remaining small percentage of Tribune subscriptions are mailed to subscribers in other counties and beyond.

     EVERY Wednesday morning, we mail thousands of Decatur Tribunes at the Mound Road Post Office and the postal workers there have always expedited our newspapers with efficiency.
     They know how important it is to get the newspapers to the subscribers each week. About all in-county subscribers receive their Tribunes the day after they are mailed. In some cases, on Friday, instead of Thursday.
     Local postal workers have always done a great job for us.

     TIMELY delivery to some of our out-of-county and out-of-state subscribers in recent years has been slipping in some cases — taking longer to arrive than it once did.
     Last week, we started getting emails and calls from some subscribers outside of Macon County that they hadn’t received their Tribunes for two or three weeks.
     All of the non-Macon County subscribers who called have their Tribunes trucked to the Springfield USPS Distribution Center from the Mound Road location in Decatur…and the frustrating part?  Check out my “Viewpoint” column on page 3 of this week’s print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune.

     • FIRST AGAIN! One state in the Midwest has led the nation so far this year in tornado reports, while some typically-active states have fallen behind.
     Guess which state?
     Illinois is number one in preliminary tornado reports, bucking the historical average.
According to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) for January through the end of April, Illinois had 119 tornado reports, more than twice the runners-up of Mississippi, at 53, and Oklahoma, at 46. Those numbers put Illinois at 99 tornadoes more than the historical average for that 4-month period.
    (I don’t think they hand out any awards for that championship title.)

     • WHAT!!! — I told WSOY’s Brian Byers last week that one of our subscribers in Tuscola called the Tribune office and told us that she was at a diner recently when someone mentioned that “the Decatur Herald & Review had purchased the Decatur Tribune.”
She asked if that was true.
     Since I own the Decatur Tribune I believe I would know if this newspaper had been sold.
     The short answer: “No.”
     The long answer: “No and No.”

     • MEMORIES — Last week’s groundbreaking for construction of the new Activity Center for seniors (page 13) at 3909 West Main Street stirred a lot of memories for me, and I’m sure many of you reading today’s column.
     I remember the times I ate at The Redwood restaurant at that location when I was a young man and watched golfers out one of the windows.
     I also played a lot of golf at Scovill with friends and family members over the years. It was always my favorite course when I was a young Decatur businessman.
     During the years I was mayor I was the guest speaker, from time to time, for a few of the service clubs that met in the facility.
     Congratulations to the Decatur Park District on the project. There will be a lot of senior citizens who will not only use and enjoy the facility when it is completed next year, but will also have some special memories (like mine) about the time they enjoyed visits to The Redwood, the golf course and attended service club meetings at that location.

     • NEW Apartments are coming to downtown Decatur.
     It was announced last week that a “timely agreement” was approved for renovation of the building at 148-160 E. Main Street into new apartments. A local developer plans to renovate the upper floors into 10 apartments to be completed by late 2027.
     The report states: “This project was made possible by leveraging Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. This building is located in the Central TIF, which was created to incentivize investment throughout the TIF district that includes downtown Decatur. There are seven total TIF districts in Decatur. This is just one tool our team uses to improve our community.”
The building, which I can easily see when I look out my office windows is only a half block away from our newspaper’s location at 132 South Water Street and when the apartments are finished, the tenants should have some great views out of the windows in those upper floors.
     Pleased to see some development downtown through repurposing structures.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. most Thursday mornings at 7:00.

 FOR MORE stories and more “City Beat” and editorial comments, SUBSCRIBE to the print or online editions of the Decatur Tribune by using the “Subscribe” prompt at the top of this page.  You will find many stories and columns about Decatur and Central Illinois each week. The print edition is $50 for 52 issues (one year) and the online edition is $30 for one year.  The combo rate (both print and online editions) is $65 per year.  You can also subscribe to the print edition via USPS by sending $50 to: Decatur Tribune, P. O. Box 1490, Decatur, Illinois 62525-1490.