Cops seek Bradford school vandal/ Newspaper that lost 90% advertising during Covid reorganizes

By Guy Page on December 27, 2023

12/27 Journal-Opinion newsletter

Police are looking for a man who did some damage at Elizabeth’s Park and Oxbow High School early Friday morning.

According to Vermont State Police, a small truck drove into Elizabeth’s Park and then onto abutting property belonging to Oxbow High School where a storage building was broken into and a fire extinguisher set off.

The vehicle then returned to the park where the man (pictured below wearing an orange Carhartt sweatshirt and shoes with purple laces) wielded a hammer to smash a window and security cameras at a storage building. He left with a pair of black shoes that were in the lost and found.

Hardwick Gazette to go non-profit – A 130-year-old newspaper will have a new owner come New Year’s Day.

Hardwick Gazette will operate as a nonprofit organization as of Jan. 1 2024. Current owners Kim and Ray Small will transfer all newspaper assets from the current holding company, Hardwick Journalism Inc., to a newly established nonprofit company, Northeast Kingdom Public Journalism Inc.

The new entity will be run by a board of directors.

“We have no specific plans at the moment beyond this: we will create a community newspaper,” wrote NEKPJ board member Elizabeth Dow. “The Hardwick Gazette will survive.”

The newspaper, founded in 1889, has overcome some daunting challenges in the past few years, It lost 90% of its advertising revenue at the outset of COVID-19 and suspended its print edition.

In a parting commentary, current publisher Ray Small said he is optimistic about the paper’s future:

“Some say a local paper is important because it builds community. Others say that the local weekly is the ‘first draft of a town’s history.’ I believe both are true. I
have also learned that the value of a newspaper can find powerful expression in its impact on everyday life.”

In addition to Hardwick, the Gazette serves Craftsbury, Cabot, Calais, Greensboro, Marshfield, Plainfield, Stannard, Walden, Wolcott, and Woodbury.