Area newspapers to cease printing

A pair of area newspapers will cease publication effective this week, the owner announced in this week’s editions.
Community News Corp., which publishes the Byron Review and Star Herald of Dodge Center, made the announcement on the front pages of the newspapers this week. Larry and Melanie Dobson of Dodge Center have owned the newspapers for the past 15 years.
The Dobsons cited “lack of profitability” as the reason for ceasing publication. “It has not been profitable for many years,” Larry Dobson wrote in this week’s newspapers. “We kept it going mostly out of love for journalism and the belief that having a newspaper is important to the sense of identity people have with their communities, that it helps build community spirit and promotes cooperation.”
Larry went on to say, “It is very expensive to produce a newspaper, and we do not have the resources to continue production.”
In a letter to readers, Melanie said, “We may not have been the most professional paper, but we have tried to get things right. I feel our papers have had a lot of heart—heart, humor and joy.”