Robin GOLDSWORTHY

These past couple of weeks the nation has mourned with the families who have lost their beloved daughters. Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14, were active in their community, strong students and socially connected. These were not “troublemakers.” This week, Mary O’Keefe writes about the importance of we parents talking to our kids about the predators that may be in our midst. So take the time tonight to give your kids or grandkids an extra hug and remind them to be safe and to be aware.

Can you believe that six months have passed since the launch of the Crescenta Valley Weekly? It seems almost like yesterday that we first sat at my dining room table, then Mary O’Keefe’s after we were evacuated from my house due to the Station Fire, working on our first edition.

If you remember, this paper was created in response to the closure of the Crescenta Valley Sun in July. It still surprises me that so many people are unaware that the Crescenta Valley Weekly is its own private entity – there’s no “big name” corporate ownership behind our masthead. We are in no way connected with any other paper. It’s just us, with funding coming from subscriptions and advertisers. Every week we print and distribute 20,000 papers to residents and businesses in the foothills.

As confident as we were in launching the paper, we were unprepared for the out-and-out gratitude community members have shown in response to the CV Weekly appearing every Thursday in their driveway. As we suspected, the desire is great for news that is solely driven by the foothill community.

We’ve received multitudes of letters, phone calls and e-mails of congratulations and encouragement and recently even were recognized with an honorary service award by Crescenta Valley High School.

While sitting at the Walgreens grand opening on Saturday where we had a booth set up (while trying not to drown) so many people came up and said how much they enjoy the paper. Same thing at the Montrose Founders Day celebration where I had the opportunity to present Steve Zurn with an award for service provided by the City of Glendale Public Works.  It was really nice to hear.

And we enjoy informing you on what’s going on around town. Whether it is flying over the fire-and-flood damaged areas that we live in, reporting on the crimes that occur here or telling you what’s happening with our local chambers of commerce, it is a privilege for us to be your “go to” source for local information.

Many have come to realize that it is through the financial support of our subscribers and advertisers that we will be able to continue to provide the Crescenta Valley Weekly. At a dollar a week, most consider it a bargain. However, beginning with next week’s edition, we will only be delivering the paper to the driveways of those who subscribe to the paper. Don’t worry – additional complimentary copies will be available throughout the community at businesses that many of our folks visit on a regular basis.

So, to those who have taken the time to write that check or to visit our website and sign up via PayPal, we say thank you. Your confidence in us and appreciation for what we do is invaluable.

I also want to remind you that we Twitter, podcast and send out e-mail “blasts” of things going on in the area that we think you should be aware of. Visit the website to learn how to Twitter or check out our podcasts. To become part of our e-mail blasts, just send me an e-mail at robin@cvweekly.com with “Add me to the blast zone” in the body of the message.

  crescenta valley, safety