Mailbag - April 19, 2002

Our family has lived in Laguna Beach for 35 years and we have seen

local papers come and go. We read that the Coastline News is now a

publication of the Times Community News. Congratulations! You have bought

one of the finest local weekly community newspapers in the country.

The Coastline’s longevity and success can be attributed to truly being

a local, small town, community paper, written by local Laguna Beach

residents who know the people and understand the issues. That’s why we’re

so grateful that you have wisely kept much of the staff.

The residents look forward to reading the paper every Friday because

of the policy of printing all the letters regardless of one’s point of

view, and timely announcements of upcoming local events. Those who work

out of town especially rely on the Coastline for this news.

News writer Barbara Diamond, a resident of Laguna, has covered the

local scene for years, which gives her the background and knowledge to

add a touch of history to an article to help the reader fully understand

the issue.

Barbara’s weekly column, “Our Laguna,” is very popular with the local

folks. She not only includes news of the event, but many of the names of

the people attending. She often introduces the names of new people in

town. This adds a personal touch and reflects the spirit of Laguna Beach.

This, along with Barbara’s fair, thorough and timely coverage of City

Council activities and local events, is greatly appreciated by our

community.

We were worried that an outside publisher might try to come in and

change everything. What is the saying? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

We believe this applies here. It is our hope that the Times Community

News will continue to publish the Coastline News as a strictly local

community paper and carry out the tradition of it being “written by

locals -- for locals” in the years to come. We welcome the new publisher,

Times Community News, to Laguna Beach.

CAROLYN AND ANDY WOOD

Laguna Beach