Welcome to Pasadena

Welcome, Sun, and thanks for coming

Hello, gentlemen and ladies, and welcome, Sun!

I agree with your mission (“Here comes the Sun,” Aug. 5) that there is room for more and better news coverage for Pasadena, South Pasadena and San Marino, including thoughtful celebration and analysis of the people and topics here locally. Thank you, Joe Piasecki, for your extensive and well-written article on Pasadena Unified School District summer graduation (“Summer grads make the grade,” Aug. 5). I’m a member of the Pasadena Unified school board, and it was great to see this success story of some of our young people. The photographic coverage was great also.

I believe you have a niche of concerned readers who want the kind of information you will provide. So thanks again, and welcome, Sun!

Elizabeth Pomeroy

Pasadena

Paper has found a niche to fill

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was in perusing your new Sunday Valley Sun on Aug. 7! At last, someone in the media is getting it right, i.e., attempting to provide Pasadena with a journalistic compendium of local news.

As a longtime Pasadena resident, I have supported the traditional local Pasadena paper — but more out of the principle of wanting a local newspaper to survive than from enjoying its content. Finding your new Sunday supplement (I haven’t seen the Friday version yet) is like one of those eureka moments! This is the kind of thing my husband and I have longed for.

Let me be specific: When we notice that El Molino is suddenly reconstructed after years of the misbegotten labyrinth of traffic meridians designed to slow traffic, we know there is a story behind that. But where to read about it? When traffic in town is blocked on main thoroughfares for an hour, or there is a high-speed police chase down California, we want to know the story! Similarly, local political and human-interest events have long been neglected in the print media. These kind of things are, sadly, rarely covered in the Star News.

We don’t need a “rag” that attempts to be both a national and a local paper at the same time. We do need one that focuses on the community of Pasadena (and the surrounding communities) with high-quality journalistic skill. I applaud you for taking the plunge (or giving birth, as you say in the Aug. 7 “Start the Presses” column) at a time when print media is struggling. But I do believe there is a niche to fill, and you have found it! I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.

Suzanne Lake

Pasadena