Our local news is supported by members, and we need your help. Starting in August, School Board and City Council meetings conflict, so we need more support to expand our team.
- Goal: We need 20 new members by August 10.
- Why: Starting in August, ISD 197 School Board and West St. Paul City Council meetings will be on the same night. We can’t be in two places at once, so we’re hiring a new team member.
- What will it cost?: Supporting local news starts at just $5 per month or pay annually and save 5%.
School Board Coverage
We started covering ISD 197 School Board meetings in late 2023 after a successful member drive. But earlier this year, the School Board decided to shift their meetings from the first and third Mondays to the second and fourth Mondays—which directly conflicts with West St. Paul City Council meetings. We can’t cover both meetings without help.
Introducing Joshua Przybylski, our new education correspondent. He’s covered meetings for us in the past, and now he’ll be doing it on a regular basis.
Since our start in 2019 we’ve been a one-person, part-time operation—aside from occasional contributors and a couple short-term interns. We’ll still be a part-time effort, but for the first time we’ll have a regular, ongoing team member. That means making sure Josh gets paid on a regular basis, which is why we’re asking for help.
Rewards
Being informed is its own reward, but we’ve also got some bonuses:
- Stickers: Get our newest, exclusive stickers that aren’t available in any store.
- Member forum: An invite to our members-only education forum on July 30 featuring ISD 197 School Board Member Morgan Steele plus new West St. Paul Reader Education Correspondent Joshua Przybylski.
- More: Plus all the regular benefits of membership—postcard by a local artist, weekly members-only updates, 15% discount in our store, and more.
Existing Members
If you’re a current member, thank you. We wouldn’t be here without you. But if you still want to do more to help our member drive, here are three ways:
- Tell your friends and neighbors. Send an email, post to social media, have a conversation over the back fence. Even sharing our social posts is a big help.
- Gift: More than telling your friends and neighbors, you can give them a gift membership—just buy it for them!
- Upgrade: You can upgrade your support and you’ll help us pay Josh, plus you’ll get those member drive rewards.
FAQs
- How does neighborhood news even work? It’s a group effort. We’re supported by neighbors like you. Everyone pays a few bucks a month and it snowballs to make this possible.
- Why does ongoing monthly or annual support matter? That ongoing support means we can count on it like a paycheck. It means we can plan for the future.
- Why should I pay for this? You need to support the things you value. Otherwise they go away. Plenty of news outlets have disappeared or scaled back in recent years, leaving us less informed. If you want to know what’s going on in your community, join now and support local news.
- What if I want to give one-time support? We really appreciate that (and here are details for how to do it). Unfortunately, it won’t help us toward our member drive goal or get you any rewards. But we’ll take all the support we can get. Thanks!
- I’m having trouble with Patreon—help!: No problem, reach out and we can help. We’ve been known to meet folks at Amore Coffee (or some other public location) to troubleshoot any issues.
Thanks
We’ve been doing neighborhood news since 2019 with the support of our members. We couldn’t do it without them. Thank you.
