November 26, 2007, 7:00 PM

Benicia Independent gone into hibernation

By Roger Straw

Dear friends,

It turns out The Benicia Independent is a much bigger job than I imagined.

Late last October, local events created a window in time that required a very quick response, which the Independent filled nicely. A clear call to action arose because of the last-minute election hit pieces, the Benicia Herald’s censorship and politically influenced firing of Les Mahler, and the refusal by all nearby media to publish pre-election coverage of the public campaign finance reports that implicated out-of-town businesses that work with Seeno and Valero. Benicia needed, and still needs, an independent voice for news that is judged too "ugly" for the mainstream media, too "unflattering" to the current powers that be, or too "sensitive" for those whose advertising pays the bills at the local newspaper.

And beyond all that, no town, large or small, should have to rely on a single news source. Online media hold great promise for returning us to the days of multiple sources for local news and views.

But while an online news source is quick, easy and cheap to start, it takes an incredible amount of work to live with what one has created. Since the start-up of the Independent on November 1, I have been struggling to:

• gather news and commentary
• fact-check
• write stories
• copy-edit for spelling, punctuation, grammar and style
• design (and re-design) the site
• layout and publish EVERY day
• build a subscription database and communicate with readers
• research and implement the business end of a news operation
• solicit advertisers
• design, publish and bill for advertising
• and more....

In all this, I’ve had a great show of support from many of you as volunteer writers and contributors of story ideas. Several of you have sent financial support, and a very special handful of you have sat with me and offered advice, encouragement and your own skilled volunteer time.

The personal side to this story is this: I am a staff of one. At first I wrote a few stories and threw together a quickie website design. Gradually, it dawned on me that I’m both Publisher and Editor, not to mention writer, copywriter, web designer, subscription manager, advertising manager.... And here’s the rub: just one week before taking all this on, I began full-time infant care for my daughter’s and son-in-law’s 3 month old baby.

Stressing myself out completely, anxiously running to the computer at the baby's nap time, not paying adequate attention to either the news or the baby, straining my lower back ... I’m announcing today that the Benicia Independent is going into hibernation.

Hmmmm.... hibernation. That’s not "dead," right? Well, it may be dead. A website will sit there doing nothing for as long as you pay a web server to keep the code in play, and that’s not very expensive. So yes, not dead. But not very alive, either. And I’m making no promises of a yawning bear emerging from this sleep on a date certain, nor on a date uncertain.

There are only a few things that might wake this sleeping bear:

• big news (it’s possible that I won’t be able to resist posting stories about some kinds of things)
• the emergence of two or three others like myself who would take on various primary unpaid staff responsibilities (including daily news gathering and editorial responsibilities)
• the appearance of a grant or other financial backing that allows for multiple paid staff
• ...or the stepping forward of someone to whom I could "pass the torch," an eager and committed person who has more time and energy than me to devote to start-up, development and daily operations

To all whose high hopes for the Benicia Independent are diminished, I apologize. I dreamed big, and surely filled a significant need for a very short time. Let me know if you or someone you know would like to go into the news business.

Roger Straw
Publisher, et. al.
The Benicia Independent

November 22, 2007, 7:00 PM

Patterson extends margin of victory to 184 votes; Cloutier ahead in Vallejo

By Roger Straw

The Solano County Registrar of Voters has completed its count of provisional ballots and posted the final results of Benicia's elections, with Mayor-elect Patterson extending her lead over Councilmember Bill Whitney by 7 votes. None of the Benicia races were altered by the addition of provisional votes. | READ MORE