u/FannyBrownRiced

Hi there. Recently 13 towns in NJ held school elections in April. Some had budget questions on the ballot. Only about 4% of registered voters showed up.

Now in Hudson County there are elections happening now and in person tomorrow, May 12.

I am a paying subscriber to NJ dot com and northjerseynews dot com (writing this way so they don't become links) but I, and no one who tried, could get a reporter to cover them, even though in one town we have the first choice on the ballot in more than a decade. Seems newsworthy, no?

Also tried Patch and all the small online news outlets that scoop up local news grant money — but nothing. The NY Times also doesn't cover it (yes, I'm also a subscriber and yes I asked) which is not surprising because they are more likely to cover someone tap dancing outside a hot dog stand in Kansas, than something happening across the Hudson.

I write a local newsletter (since 2024) with a small following, and now a bit of search traffic... and I wrote about it because people honestly had no idea it was happening, couldn't find the ballots, don't know what ward they are in or how many wards we have, etc. but my podunk (but fun!) newsletter shouldn't be the only source of news. I spent last week trying to get info on the elections, and found an official site had never updated their info with the early voting extension. It's a story...

I also do this as a public service. I started collecting pledges less than a year ago but have less than 40 paying subs because I wanna keep it free/no paywall. The money that has come in is now going to pay freelancers.

Was at a local zoning meeting last week and a neighbor complained they didn't know a recent meeting was happening, and a board member said something like, "what can I tell you, the newspapers all went out of business."

It's like people expect news and communication to flow out of a tap like water, but they pay a water bill, but don't support news or realize it's necessary.

Jersey Journal RIP, Hudson Reporter RIP, etc.

Anyone else having this problem in NJ? Love some commiseration here because I'm really sad and frustrated.

📰 Latest Weehawken Gazette dropped this morning. If you want to know about the upcoming election on May 12 and all kinds of local news you can’t get anywhere else — check it out.

I paid for the install, last dishwasher was 3 years ago from PC Richards. Lowes guy shows up and says they can't do a hardwired install because it's a fire risk and it needs a plug. I said why didn't they tell me? He says I don't know. Says he can do a plug for $200 but that's just between me and him. Is this a thing? Am I being scammed?

Hi there! I have a great cartoonist who wants to contribute to my stack, but gonna be honest ,I'm trying to decide the best format for web/mobile, and as my pub is just text and photos, I'd love to see some more examples. If anyone has recs, please drop them here! Thanks.