As a person walks down Maine Street in “Eads, America”, he will see a scene that is repeated in hundreds of small towns across the country. A once prosperous business district with stores, cafes and places of entertainment has become diminished over the years.  Now, a handful of established, well run businesses are the only anchors holding Maine Street in place as the rest of the buildings stand dilapidated beyond repair, vacant or are used for personal storage.  More and more, this is a picture of small towns facing real challenges. 

     I’ve always believed newspapers play a crucial role in society. Whether it’s a publication with millions of readers or a periodical with a thousand readers in a sparsely populated county, the function is the same:  to serve the community, to provide the public with information that is unbiased and without agenda, to challenge people to examine their opinions and the opinions of others toward a greater understanding of who we are, and to support a healthy economy because a community cannot prosper in the absence of a dynamic marketplace.