LAPLACE — It’s an exciting time of improvement for L’OBSERVATEUR and what this community newspaper delivers to its readers.

Beginning with the Saturday edition, home-delivered subscribers to L’OBSERVATEUR will receive their newspapers through the U.S. Postal Service. The change in delivery will also include L’OBSERVATEUR’s Wednesday editions going forward from July 22.

“This switch will allow the staff at L’OBSERVATEUR to focus more on the newspaper’s mission of keeping the public informed while elevating the level of service to our subscribers,” L’OBSERVATEUR Publisher and Editor Stephen Hemelt said.

L’OBSERVATEUR is also standardizing subscription rates in St. John the Baptist Parish, so readers can enjoy the newspaper’s award-winning news and sports coverage and the security of postal delivery at the same low price of $21.99 for six months or $36.28 a year. Out-of-parish mail delivery prices will remain at their current levels.

L’OBSERVATEUR and its staff at the newspaper are prepared for the change, but if you have any questions or would like some more information, call the newspaper office at 985-652-9545.

Focus on you

Our transition to a dedicated delivery process through the U.S. Postal Service is part of a six-month improvement process. Newspaper staff members kicked off an overhaul in January to greater feature and serve St. John the Baptist Parish residents and our home communities across the River Region.

Recently, we’ve heard from community members who want to know more about the public entities and transactions taking place on a daily basis.

To answer those questions, L’OBSERVATEUR began publishing an expanded “public records” section each Saturday on page 2B.

This Saturday, the newspaper will publish the most recent land transfers cleared through the St. John the Baptist Parish Clerk of Court’s Office and a listing of the marriage licenses filed.

On July 25, the public records section will include court case conclusions adjudicated in St. John Parish and divorces filed.

Readers have asked for these features to continue on a regular basis, and they will do so each Saturday.

L’OBSERVATEUR will also continue publishing the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office daily arrests report.

Our Section B Lifestyle coverage has changed to feature more of our most precious commodities — OUR READERS.

Each Wednesday, the Smile page goes “Way Back Wednesday,” highlighting who was featured in our pages 10, 20 and 30 years ago. On Saturdays, we’re publishing a local faces page that highlights the people working and playing in our community today.

Recent features have focused on River Parishes veterans honored July 3 at a luncheon hosted by the parish and the wonderful children participating in New Wine Christian Fellowship’s “Kids on the Move” Summer Camp.

Be sure to check out this week’s feature, which spotlights the athletes of St. Charles Catholic High School’s volleyball camp.

 

Your voice

Thanks to collaborations with numerous local bodies and entities, we’ve answered the call from our readers to include the views of local newsmakers in our standard Opinion Page.

Readers wanted to hear directly from the officials they voted into office and from the organizations that direct action in our community.

A special thank you goes out to the Port of South Louisiana, South Central Louisiana Technical College, River Region Chamber of Commerce, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. James Parish Hospital, St. John Parish President’s Office, St. John Parish Council, St. John School District, St. John Library System and Marathon for agreeing to provide monthly columns to our readers that will appear on page 4A.

There is still space for more, so if your organization would like to be featured or you have a suggestion for another local contributor, please share those ideas with publisher Stephen Hemelt, who can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.

That influx of local commentary has also led to more residents seeking to have their opinions published in our “letters to the editor” section. If you would like to be featured there, please contact Stephen Hemelt.

Local stories

Every effort has been made throughout our circulation, advertising and editorial departments to focus on putting this community first by providing unique services and attention that can only be received locally through our community newspaper.

L’OBSERVATEUR will continue its two front-page features, “Giving Back” (published on Wednesdays) and “Looks Bright” (published on Saturdays).

The stories feature consistent, positive news that has become our answer to the question, “Why don’t newspapers cover the good things going on?”

The features’ content will continue to be driven by you, as our readers have become the leading force in story ideas.

If you know of a local student or young person performing well or community group making a positive impact for youth in our region, please share their story with us so they can be featured in “Looks Bright.”

The same goes for people and organizations making an impact in our region through their contributions. They deserve recognition, and that is why our “Giving Back” spotlight was unveiled.

We enjoy being the only locally-produced option for the best news, sports and commentary. To join in on the coverage of your community, please, give us a call.