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OPINION
WHITE BEAR PRESS
www.presspubs.com
MAY 18, 2022
Plan to endorse a candidate?
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pinion pages in our newspapers have been abused and quite frankly it’s our fault. We have allowed what are really advertisements in our opinion pages. Prior to last year, our page count went up between four and eight pages each week during election season. The newspaper received zero revenue from this and took on the printing and delivery expense. When political candidates hire people and coordinate groups of people to submit letters that they prepared, have their campaign committees submit letters, or get friends and family to submit letters, these letters should fall under advertising. It’s been a real problem in the past decade. I’ve learned many newspaper colleagues feel the same way. As your local news source, we found a way to keep political endorsement letters in the papers and help it be transparent to the Publisher’s readers by labeling them as “paid letters” and charging a nominal View fee. As your local newspaper, we Carter Johnson struggled with a decision. We struggled with the expense of publishing up to four to eight extra pages during the political campaign season. After last year, it was clear it’s the right thing to do. This week Press Publications and our sister newspapers will again roll out guidelines regarding endorsement letters. So, what does this mean? It means we will continue to publish nearly all letters to the editor that meet our guidelines and will charge a nominal $35 fee for endorsement letters. What is an endorsement letter? It’s a letter that endorses or opposes a candidate or item on the ballot such as a levy, bond referendum, or items that require a vote. Our residents count on us to be transparent and we believe this is another way to continue to do that and prevent misuse of opinion pages in our local community papers. A colleague who publishes the Proctor Journal near Duluth has been charging endorsement letter fees for years. I believe many of the newspapers in North Dakota are charging fees, as well as our friends at the Echo Press in Alexandria, to name a few. The local community counts on the opinion pages to discuss local topics of concern, but when we get into the political season, we get swamped with chain mail. This guideline should help our staff of journalists focus on their job by covering countless meetings you don’t have time to attend and stories of interest to our readers. Paid endorsement letter guidelines: “The White Bear Press accepts election letters endorsing or advocating for or against a ballot measure, party or candidate as paid advertising announcements. The fee is $35 for 350 words or less. Paid letters running longer will be charged $10 per 30 words after that. Like other letters to the editor, the writer’s name, address and phone number are required. Phone numbers and addresses are not published. The White Bear Press has the right to reject letters that don’t meet publishing standards and will determine if the letter qualifies as a paid endorsement. Paid letters will be identified with a label and may or may not appear on the opinion/letters page. As always, we welcome your opinions. Contact us at news@presspubs.com. Carter Johnson is publisher of Press Publications. Distributed weekly in:
www.presspubs.com 651-407-1200
White Bear Lake • White Bear Township • Mahtomedi Birchwood • Dellwood • Willernie • Gem Lake Pine Springs • Portions of Grant
DISCLAIMER: Paid advertisements appear in Press Publications’ publications, including print and other digital formats. Press Publications does not endorse or evaluate the advertised product, service, or company, nor any of the claims made by the advertisement. Advertising does not influence editorial decisions or content. Press Publications reserves the right to refuse, reject, or cancel any ad for any reason at any time without liability.
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It has been a good year
here is much to be celebrated as the 2021-22 academic year comes to a close. Collectively, we’ve put our best foot forward in student learning and found successes, and we’ve continued building our future through ongoing construction projects happening throughout the district. Student Success Our students have gotten back into the swing of things this year, coming back to school in the fall for fully inMovers & person learning. While we Shakers continue to focus on complicated Wayne A. effects the last two years have Kazmierczak had on students, families and communities across the world, we are encouraged to see that our students continue to learn and grow. One example of our students’ success is data we received this spring regarding WBLAHS - South Campus’ Class of 2021 graduation rate (97.0%), which compares very favorably to other area high schools: Irondale High School (97.5%), Mahtomedi High School (97.2%), Centennial High School (95.9%) and Mounds View High School (95.6%). Measurement looks different at each level, but success is being found at every age group. Glimpses
of the creative learning happening in our classrooms can be seen in “The Week in 62.4 Seconds” videos shared on our Facebook and YouTube pages. Recent share-outs include elementary students visited by capybaras and middle school students sharing culture through affinity groups. High school highlights include manufacturing students creating fire pits, laser engraving their own designs and welding the seam of the metal rings. I hope you check them out to see the students’ fun learning in action for yourself. Students at all levels represented the district at state, national and international competitions this year. In addition to athletic teams who competed at State, the roster of students receiving School Board Student Recognition honors this year include those in fishing, tumbling, scholastic art awards, and academic contests related to math, history and geography. Building Our Future on the district’s Comprehensive Facilities Plan, made possible by the community’s support of the 2019 Bond Referendum, has been exciting to follow this year. The list of completed projects continues to grow, currently including the South Campus Phase I Addition (Gym), Transportation Facility, ALC Security Renovation and elementary additions at Lincoln, Matoska, Vadnais Heights and Willow Lane. Groundbreakings have taken place at Birch Lake, Lakeaires and Otter Lake Elementaries and for the South Campus Phase II Addition (Classrooms and Office).
In Hugo, we’ve watched the new North Star Elementary being built from the ground up, with the project being on schedule to open for students this fall. Extensive progress has been made at the unified high school site, currently WBLAHS - North Campus, with the most notable building changes thus far being the shell of the fieldhouse and the 3-story classroom addition. The athletic field and track in the new stadium are expected to be completed before school begins this fall. In January 2023, North Campus students and staff will transition into the new classroom addition so construction work can take place in the existing building and development can happen on the east side of the site. The work will continue on the site through the fall of 2024, when the building will house grades 9-12 for the first time since 1983. We invite you to continue to follow along with us on this process. The Building Our Future web page (isd624.org/ BuildingOurFuture) contains press releases and videos. Current project photos and video footage can be found linked to the construction crew button available on each of the individual project pages. We know students’ success is bolstered by support they receive from others, both directly and indirectly. Thank you for your part in making it a good year. Dr. Wayne A. Kazmierczak is Superintendent at the White Bear Lake Area Schools.
LETTER GUIDELINES FOR ELECTION SEASON 2022 • Election season is considered to be when filing first begins until the day of the election. • Limited to 350 words. Paid letters running longer will be charged $10 per 30 words after that. • Letters are free unless endorsing a candidate, party or question on the ballot. Endorsement letters will have a $35 fee. Please call 651407-1200 to arrange payment by credit card or mail a check payable to Press Publications to 4779 Bloom Ave, White Bear Lake, MN, 55110. Endorsement letters are labeled, “paid Carter C. Johnson ............................... Publisher cjohnson@presspubs.com Gene Johnson ..................... Publisher Emeritus ppinfo@presspubs.com Shannon Granholm ................ Managing Editor quadnews@presspubs.com Amy Johnson.............................. Interim Editor whitebearnews@presspubs.com Patty Steele ....... Director of Sales & Marketing marketing@presspubs.com
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letter.” • Letters for or against a candidate will qualify as paid letters. • Submissions must include a full name, address and phone number for verification. • Letter-writers must live, work or have another connection to Press Publications coverage area. • Due to space limitations, letters that don’t address local issues are not guaranteed publication. • Repeat unpaid letters by the same writer about the same subject matter will not be published. Repeat paid
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endorsement letters will be published as space permits. Four weeks (or issues) must pass between publication of unpaid letters from the same writer. Exceptions may be made for rebuttal letters at the editor’s discretion. Submissions containing libelous or derogatory statements will not be published. Letters by campaign managers or candidates designed to champion the candidate’s position on a specific issue will be accepted as paid letters. Letters reprinted as part of letter-writing campaigns are
paid letters. • All letters are subject to editing. • We reserve the right to not publish any letter. • The deadline to submit a letter is 5 p.m. Wednesday the week prior to publication. • The last batch of letters to be printed before the Nov. 8 election will be printed in the Oct. 26 issue and must be received by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct.19. • To submit a letter, email news@presspubs.com, fax it to 651-429-1242 or mail/deliver it to Press Publications.
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