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The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief

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The Chronicle & Chief
TypeWeekly newspaper
Owner(s)Country Media, Inc.
Founder(s)William Glendye
PublisherFrank Perea
EditorJoe Warren
Deputy editorWill Lohre
Founded1881 (as Oregon Mist)
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationSeptember 25, 2024
Headquarters1805 S. Columbia Blvd.
CitySt. Helens, OR
Websitethechronicleonline.com
thechiefnews.com

The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief was a weekly newspaper published in St. Helens, Oregon, United States. It was formed in December 2023 by the merger of The Chronicle in St. Helens and The Chief in Clatskanie, both published by Country Media, Inc. It was the newspaper of record for Columbia County.[1] It ceased publication in September 2024.[2][3]

History

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St. Helens Chronicle

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The St. Helens Chronicle originated in 1881 as the Oregon Mist.[4][5]The paper was founded by William Glendye out of a vendetta against Enoch Adams of the Columbian, founded a year earlier.[6] Within two years, Glendye sold the paper to Emmanuel H. Flagg. In 1890, Charles Meserve acquired the paper.[6] Flagg resumed ownership by 1913 and at that time changed the paper’s name to St. Helens Mist.[6] In 1915, Steele L. Moorhead bought the publication and sold his interests to Simpson C. Morton in 1917.[6] Morton sold the paper in 1926 to Ira B. Hyde Jr. and George D. Borden.[7] Miss Jessica L. Longston and Miss L. Berenice Anderson purchased the paper from Hyde in August 1929.[8]

In 1926, the St. Helens Sentinel was established by Lew Cates and J. M. Cummins.[9] It was soon sold to Edward. E. Brodie[4] and then to Fred J. Tooze in 1928.[10] He sold it a year later to Longston.[11] In 1933, Longston merged the Mist and Sentinel together to form the St. Helens Sentinel-Mist.[12] In 1963, Longston and A. T. Brownlow sold the paper to John M. McClelland Jr.[13] In 1936, a Paul Paulson founded the St. Helens Chronicle. He sold it to Gilbert and Eldridge Crouse in 1965.[14] The Crouse brothers and McClelland bitterly feuded for years until merging their papers together in 1968 to form The Sentinel-Mist Chronicle.[15] In 1985, the paper was sold to Earl Parsons.[16] By then the paper's name was The Chronicle and Sentinel-Mist, finally becoming The Chronicle in 2009.[5][17] That same year the newspaper was sold to Country Media, Inc.[18]

The Clatskanie Chief

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The Clatskanie Chief was founded in 1891 by F. T. Shute.[19] An article in another newspaper read "The latest newspaper in Oregon, launched upon the fateful sea of journalism May 29th, is the Clatskanie Chief. It is bright and newsy and evidently succeed."[20] In its early days the paper offered a bundled subscription with Better Fruit, a publication in Hood River, Oregon.[21] Shute soon sold the Chief to Enoch C. Blackford.[22] His uncle Enoch W. Conyers,[23] a businessman and a former state legislator, became the controlling owner in 1889. Conyers had been a lifelong Whig, and became a Republican when that party was formed.[24] As his health declined, Conyers sold his interest in the paper.[25] The new owners in 1908 were his niece and nephew Nora H. and George B. Conyers.[26] The siblings sold the paper in 1910[27] By 1915, the paper was owned by W. G. Baylis.[28] Baylis' business partner Minnie Hyde bought him out in 1920.[29] A couple months later she sold a half-interest to A. E. Veatch, who owned the Rainer Review. Hyde worked as editor and Veatch handled the business-side.[30]

At that time the paper was printed in Rainier until the Chief installed a cylinder press. Veatch sold his interest in 1921 to S. F. Scibird.[31] Hyde's health declined which led her and Scibird to sell the paper in 1922 to Earle Richardson and W. Arther Steele.[32] Richardson went on to buy the Elgin Recorder later that year,[33] and sold his Chief shares to Steele.[4][19] About three decades later Steele was named president of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association in 1953.[34] He published the paper for five decades and also served as the town's mayor for 18 years and a councilman for six years.[35] Arthur and his wife Melvina Steele ran the paper together until Melvina's death in 1972, when their son Gail Steele took over.[36][19] Arthur Steele died in 1988.[37] Gail Steele died in 1999 and his daughter Deborah Steele Hazen inherited the paper.[38] In 2014, The Clatskanie Chief 's name was changed to simply The Chief.[39] That same year Hazen sold the newspaper to Country Media, Inc.[40]

Merger and closure

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In December 2023, Country Media announced The Chronicle and The Chief will merge to create a new weekly newspaper called The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief.[41] The change was made due to declining revenue and difficulty recruiting and retaining experienced staff. Country Media president Steve Hungerford said: “Combining the two newspapers into one was a last-ditch effort to reduce expenses and reestablish profitability." But the effort was unsuccessful and after eight months the paper was closed. Its last issue was published on September 25, 2024.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Newspapers and Genealogical Resources". University of Oregon Libraries. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  2. ^ a b "Announcement: The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief to close". The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief. 2024-09-11. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  3. ^ a b Sparling, Zane (October 15, 2024). "Two more Oregon newspapers go dark. This time in Columbia County". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  4. ^ a b c Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Columbia County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords & Mort.
  5. ^ a b "Columbia County's leading source for community news". The Chronicle. Aug 23, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  6. ^ a b c d Rinn, Daniel. "St. Helens Mist | Historic Oregon Newspapers". University of Oregon. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  7. ^ "St. Helens Mist Sold". The Sunday Oregonian. February 28, 1926. p. 21.
  8. ^ "St. Helens Mist Sold". The Bend Bulletin. September 5, 1929. p. 1.
  9. ^ "New Paper Planned". The Oregon Daily Journal. March 2, 1926. p. 18.
  10. ^ "St. Helens Sentinel Sold". The Oregonian. January 10, 1928. p. 15.
  11. ^ "Fred J. Tooze Sells Paper At St. Helens". The Capital Journal. United Press. September 5, 1929. p. 1.
  12. ^ "Sentinel-Mist Weekly Planned". The Oregon Daily Journal. April 2, 1933. p. 5.
  13. ^ "St. Helens Paper Sold". The Oregonian. Associated Press. July 12, 1963. p. 16.
  14. ^ "St. Helens Newspapers Square Off In Bitter Feud". The Oregonian. July 29, 1965. p. 50.
  15. ^ "Papers Join At St. Helens". The Oregonian. June 20, 1968. p. 56.
  16. ^ LaBeck Stepankowsky, Paula (October 2, 1985). "New owner publishing St. Helens paper". Longview Daily News. p. 11.
  17. ^ "The Chronicle and the sentinel-mist. [volume]".
  18. ^ "St. Helens Chronicle sells to Country Media Inc". South County Spotlight. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
  19. ^ a b c Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. ISBN 978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC 861618089.
  20. ^ "Brought It Down". Albany Democrat-Herald. June 3, 1891. p. 4.
  21. ^ "Better fruit". 1910.
  22. ^ "Local And General". St Helens Mist. August 14, 1891. p. 3.
  23. ^ Lockley, Fred (June 22, 1928). "Impressions and Observations of The Journal Man". The Oregon Daily Journal. p. 12.
  24. ^ "Republican League Register, a Record of the Republican Party in the State of Oregon". Portland, Oregon: Register Pub. Co. 1896. p. 192.
  25. ^ "Builders Of Greater Oregon: E. W. Conyers". The Oregon Daily Journal. May 14, 1910. p. 5.
  26. ^ "Local". St. Helens Mist. February 21, 1908. p. 1.
  27. ^ "Clatskaine Chief Is Sold". The Sunday Oregonian. September 18, 1910. p. 52.
  28. ^ "Much of Land Long Farmed". The Sunday Oregonian. August 29, 1915. p. 56.
  29. ^ "Woman to Run Paper". The Oregonian. September 16, 1920. p. 21.
  30. ^ "Half Interest in Paper Bought". The Oregonian. November 25, 192. p. 18.
  31. ^ "Veteran to Take Half Interest in Clatskaine paper". The Oregon Daily Journal. July 29, 1921. p. 12.
  32. ^ "Clatskanie Chief Changes Hands". The Oregonian. February 6, 1922. p. 9.
  33. ^ "Dynes Sells The Recorder: Earle Richardson of Willamette Valley Buys the Elgin Newspaper". La Grande Observer. November 8, 1922. p. 12.
  34. ^ "Idea Sessions Mark Oregon Press Meeting". Editor & Publisher. Vol 86 Iss 28. Duncan McIntosh. July 4, 1953. p. 15.
  35. ^ Smith, Dean (September 10, 1971). "Friends Laud Newsman Art Steele". The Oregon Daily Journal. p. 8.
  36. ^ Walker, Bill (July 26, 1997). "Third Generation Alive And Well". Editor and Publisher. p. 34.
  37. ^ Lindsley, Cathy (February 8, 1988). "Clatskaine newspaper publisher dies at 91". Longview Daily News. p. 3.
  38. ^ Smith, Laurie (July 13, 1999). "Longtime Clatskanie councilman, former newsman, Gail Steele, dead at 75". Longview Daily News. p. 14.
  39. ^ "About The Clatskanie chief. [volume] (Clatskanie, Or.) 1891-2014". National Endowment for the Humanities. ISSN 2373-7360. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
  40. ^ "The Chronicle buys Clatskanie newspaper". St. Helens Chronicle. July 19, 2014. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  41. ^ Perea II, Frank (December 27, 2023). "Announcement: The Chronicle and The Chief to become one weekly newspaper". St. Helens Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
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