Absence of Local Newspapers Equals Higher Taxes

I watched a fascinating documentary this week called All the Queen’s Horses. It’s about Rita Crundwell, who was able to embezzle more than $53 million dollars while she was comptroller and treasurer of the small town of Dixon, Illinois between 1983 and 2012. During those years, she stole about $2.5 million per year from the city of about 15,000 people. She concealed her crimes partly by claiming budget shortfalls were due to the state being late in paying the city its share of tax revenue. As a result of her fraud, city departments had to make extreme cuts to public services, and employees went years without raises. Dixon’s police went without essential equipment like radios and few of the town’s streets were repaired.

Dixon had a local paper called the Dixon Evening Telegraph that operated from 1886 until 2008. After 2008, the townsfolk got their news from a large news company covering 24 cities in the region, and Rita Crundwell began embezzling even more money.

Watching the documentary reminded me of a new study I’d seen showing that when local newspapers close, the result is higher costs for taxpayers.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Notre Dame, who conducted the study, explained that this happens because one of the roles of small town newspapers includes being “watchdogs of local government.” This role keeps local governments on their toes and increases efficiency.

So exactly how does the lack of a local newspaper translate into higher taxes? Lenders to municipal governments understand the role of newspapers with regard to local government efficiency. If they see that a town has no local newspaper, they consider this weakness and tend to ask for higher interest rate when lending for things like public buildings, roads, schools, etc.

The study, “Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on Public Finance,” found that municipal borrowing costs increase by 5 to 11 basis points in the first few years after a local newspaper closed its doors. This means taxes go up roughly $70 for the average taxpayer, according to the study.

I’m not making a case against taxes here – public buildings, roads, parks, schools, etc are wonderful and essential and I am happy to pay taxes for them. My point is that local newspapers are an important part of making sure our taxes are used in the most effective ways possible to secure the public goods our communities need to thrive.

Side Note: In 1876, the Lyon County Times newspaper was being published in Silver City, Nevada as a daily. It was reduced to a tri-weekly publication after three months, and to a semi-weekly by 1877. The paper was sold in 1878, and sold again shortly after. Finally, in 1880 the newspaper owner, John M. Campbell, moved the press to Dayton, Nevada where he continued the Lyon County Times as a four-page Republican weekly. Fred W. Fairbanks joined Campbell as a partner in 1883 and took over as sole owner and editor in 1885. Fairbanks continued publishing the newspaper in Dayton until 1901 when he moved the paper to Yerington. Fairbanks remained the editor until he sold the paper in 1907 to R. Leslie Smith who changed its name to the Yerington Times. That paper passed through a number of owners until J.A. McCarthy bought it in 1919. The paper finally stopped publishing in 1932.

*First published as a column in MVN by Quest Lakes in Aug. 2018

Photo by journalist Peter Krogh Andersen of Denmark

2018 Photos - Silver City's Summer Fun for Adults and Kids

Silver City - Throughout the year, Silver City's many groups and volunteers help bring public programming in art, music, history, science and more to the local park, outdoor stage and School House, with something to appeal to every age group, from toddlers to elders. And the community really puts in the extra effort during the summer. Scroll through the photos below to see summer fun in Silver City 2018.

Sean Laughlin offered a well-attended Thai cooking class at the School House in June.

About 2 dozen kids and their parents attended the annual engineering mini-camp at the Silver City School House again this summer. The camp was led by the Society of Women Engineers, FLL Team VC Silver Bricks, FTC team Cyber Mafia, and F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). This year, the camp focus was on coding robots to move, with competition among each team's robots.

Cortney Bloomer of Healthy Communities led the annual Bicycle Safety Rodeo for ages 5-12 on the Silver City basketball court again this summer.

Jim Barcellos of University Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE) taught his annual interactive science classes at the School House again this summer.

The Silver City Volunteer Library had lots of visitors this summer.

Thanks to Robert Elston, PhD for the May- June display at the local post office titled Progress in a Multi-year Archaeological Project. Dr. Elston was among those awarded a National Science Foundation award for the Grass Valley project.

United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra hosted their annual pre-K fun fair for preschoolers and their parents this summer.

Professional floral designer Lynnette Edmondson offered a free floral design class for adults at the School House this summer.

Mylo McCormick offered a free concert in the park this summer.

Lisa Godenick offered a free somatics workshop for adults at the School House.

The Society of Women Engineers, FLL Team VC Silver Bricks, FTC team Cyber Mafia, and F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) offered their annual engineering mini-camp again this summer, with a focus on coding robots to move.

Free Engineering Mini-Camp in Silver City Tuesday August 14th

Silver City, Nevada - Boys and girls ages 7-13 will build and code robots to move during an annual engineering mini-camp in Silver City on Tuesday, August 14 from 10am-noon.

The free activity will be led by the Society of Women Engineers’ Sierra Nevada section, in partnership with FLL Team VC Silver Bricks and FTC team Cyber Mafia.

About the Silver City Summer Program: Each summer, the historic Comstock community of Silver City partners with local and regional groups and community volunteers to offer public programming in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM), with events at the town’s park and community center. The engineering mini-camp is sponsored in partnership with Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties.

Location: The Silver City School House (community center) is located at 385 High Street, Silver City, Nevada. The historic town is on located within a national historic landmark 3 miles from Virginia City, 7 miles from Dayton, and 12 miles from Carson City.

For more information about the annual summer program and additional upcoming events, contact Quest Lakes at (775) 287-7598.

Engineering 2017

Engineering 2016

Engineering 2015

Free Gentle Movement Class at the Silver City School House Aug 7th

Silver City, Nevada – A free Clinical Somatics class for adults will be offered at the Silver City School House at 385 High Street on Tuesday, August 7th, 2018 from 10am-11am.

Clinical Somatics engages the nervous system in an active learning process that consists of very slow, focused, conscious movements. The movement techniques used in Clinical Somatics teach the nervous system how to release chronic muscle tension and stand and move in natural, efficient ways.

Somatic movements are very gentle, and not forced. The class will begin with standing and walking awareness, then move to the floor. For most of the class, participants will be in a relaxing comfortable position, lying on their backs, with knees upward, feet planted behind sitting bones.

Lisa Godenick of Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties, who will teach the class, explains that she “always tells clients to do the movements to their peaceful end point – rather than going into stretching or strengthening mode. If the position is not comfortable, we will adjust as need be. I am excited to share and help people move towards freedom and away from pain and tension.”

Participants should bring a yoga mat or large towel.

Please RSVP to quest@theodata.com.

About the Instructor: Healthy Communities’ Programs Coordinator, Lisa Godenick, has a Master’s degree in Public Health and works with Healthy Communities’ school-based Resource Coordinators throughout Lyon County School District. With a background in teaching yoga, she’s very interested in the mind-body connection. She practiced at her local yoga studio in South Carolina throughout her college years. Then in 2012, she completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in India. Today she also serves on the Board of Directors of Urban Lotus, a Reno nonprofit whose mission is “to serve and empower at-risk and underserved youth and young adults through trauma-informed yoga and meditation practices.”

Where is Silver City? Events like this one are opportunities to discover Silver City, one of the hidden gems of the Comstock. Silver City is located within a federally designated historic landmark, 3 miles from Virginia City, 7 miles from Dayton, and 12 miles from Carson City. Throughout the year, the town's many groups help bring public programming in art, music, history, science and more to the local park, outdoor stage and community center (School House), with something to appeal to every age group, from toddlers to elders.