http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_07_Issue_19.pdf
LO Volume 7, Issue 19, done, and getting ready to hit the streets. It was another fabulous time with some great memories captured in print and online. To the contributors, another great issue and party!
As we continue to bring more and more people into the Observer Project, it always amazes me that some people are still not getting it: All of the stories are written by different people, people who are your neighbors, your friends, your retailers, your teachers, your ministers, and others. While some of them are not "professional writers," we have noticed that a majority of the Lakewood Observer readers and members prefer knowing that our contributors write, not because they are paid to, but because they care deeply about the city and the subjects that they have taken the time to write about.
Of course many prefer the printed paper to the online version, which is still the most traveled website in Lakewood; but that is because they have a need to control the topic and the subject. On the website it is a whole different kettle of fish (whatever that means). There it gets a little rough, a little heated, and ideas, comments, and actions happen. Not based on spin, but based on people wanting to share their knowledge base, and their desire to earn each other's respect. While the Deck is nowhere near as heated as when Ryan Patrick Demro, Tom George and Ed FitzGerald were running, and attacking each other with the help of their minions, it still gets a little heated. But when one’s family's life is about to be changed forever by something on their street, or in the community, you would hope they would bring passion to the Lakewood Observer table of open discussion. You would hope that people who support the issue would also be there, as well as those opposed. After all, civic discourse is not a bad thing; it can be a damn good thing, for everything it teaches us about the issue, the community, and those players in the community and in the discussion.
The Lakewood Observer project was not created to be a "news" paper. It was started because we knew that the residents and businesses of Lakewood had more information on the topics that mattered most to the day-to-day lives of Lakewood, than any corporate news source ever could. We knew and trusted our neighbors and friends to continue their grapevine vigilance and discussions, as that is the way communities have worked for decades. We knew that provided with a modicum of respect, understanding and love, yes love, a community can become whole again.
In 9 short years, strictly being built from the ground up by Lakewoodites, the Lakewood Observer remains the single way to for Lakewoodites to get the word out. This year we will again work with a couple of groups, including our own, to produce an election special that will be available to every voter in Lakewood, providing
an not only an understanding of what the candidates believe-- equally, fairly, and honestly—but also what Lakewood voters and residents feel about those candidates and issues.
Thank you everyone who is reading this, and please take the time to thank our many advertisers who understand that community is not based on “news,” it is based on discussion, knowledge, application and love.
James C. O'Bryan
Publisher
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