March 2016

2154
Group Photo
Circa 1996, Michael Antonelli (left) and Jonathan Crane (right), back in the Coupon Tabloid days.
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Circa 1996 – Michael Antonelli (left) and Jonathan
Crane (right), back in the Coupon Tabloid days.

 

I think it’s only fitting that on our 7-year anniversary issue I announce that I’m stepping aside as Publisher of Tualatin Life. As most of you know, I started Tualatin Life in Spring of 2009, during a very dark and scary period in our economy and our history. Housing foreclosures, high unemployment, record bankruptcies, the mortgage industry turned upside down were all occurring at once and I felt the need to do something positive for my community and myself. I think it all went very well and things have really come full circle in our economy, as well as the overall confidence of consumers.

Another mission I had, and stated every issue, was the goal of promoting a sense of community in Tualatin. To that end, I feel the most success was achieved. Many people were connected, micro local news was featured in a way that created a greater bond between local people, organizations and important local causes that needed a boost to get the attention they needed. I feel great satisfaction about the gains on this front more than any other aspect of the paper.

I’ve transferred control of Tualatin Life to a longtime friend and colleague, Michael Antonelli, who I’ve known for over 20 years. He has done the graphics for every article and every ad for Tualatin Life since its inception. While Michael’s great strength has always been graphic design, he’s also been interested in the content and flow of Tualatin Life the entire time. It was very important to me to transition TL to someone who cared about it like I did and had the best chance of keeping it alive and strong. I am highly confident that Michael is just that person. I wish Michael nothing but the best and we will, as we always have, be in great contact moving forward. I’m not going away completely, but my role will be in the background and only on occasion. I’ll be turning my attention to my staffing business, which also has grown as our economy has rebounded.

One bit of news that I’m very encouraged about is that Jessi Thorne will be getting the life-saving surgery she needs to remove the cyst from her brain. Check out her article on page 3 for the details that she sent to me last week. Shedding light on efforts like this and so many others has been incredibly satisfying.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the regular (and occasional) contributors to Tualatin Life who made the paper worth reading, delivering articles rich in texture and care, showing the diversity of our readership and our citizenry. Having content supplied by local people who cared was not a typical publishing strategy, but I tried it and it worked out unbelievably well.

Lastly, I would like to thank the many advertisers who have never wavered from their support of this paper. They believed in this project and in this community.

So I will sign off with a great sense of satisfaction, gratitude and joy. Thank you, Tualatin.

Jonathan Crane
Past Publisher