Delayed newspaper issues are beyond our control

“Am I going to get my paper on time this week?” a lady called and asked Friday. “Well, they’re not here yet,” Allen answered.

“Where’s my newspaper? I haven’t gotten a newspaper on time in four weeks!” a man bellered on the other end of the line on Monday.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, for probably the 40th time that day, and it was barely afternoon.

Readers, here’s the scoop. Your newspapers have been delayed due to holidays, weather and/or driver illness four weeks in a row, and we understand your concern.

In fact, we appreciate that you look forward to your local news so much. It’s the best form of compliment you can give, even if it’s disguised as a complaint. Ha!

I have spent more time on the phone with the printing company, post office and trucking company over the past few weeks than I ever have in six years of business.

Folks, we’re trying. We are dealing with circumstances simply out of our control. Needless to say, I was quite frustrated on Saturday morning when I got the news that the trailer hadn’t made it back to Jamestown for the second day in a row. It was expected to be delivered in the wee hours of Friday morning!

I was determined to take matters into my own hands to make sure that you, our loyal readers, had a newspaper in your mailboxes Monday morning. I even convinced my husband to drive me to Fargo on Saturday to retrieve newspapers from the trucking company’s dock. In a blizzard…

I remember saying, “Do you want to answer hundreds of calls from readers on Monday when they don’t get their newspapers?” While he was certainly not at all interested in driving in poor weather conditions, he obliged his fraught wife.

While it was a little icy, and the visibility was near zero, we managed to make it to Jamestown. Just two miles after we got onto I-94, we came across the scene of a fresh accident. The single cab pickup was well into the ditch off the westbound lane, and parts were strewn across the median and the westbound lanes.

My husband and I looked at each other nervously, and he continued to drive. He asked if this trip to get newspapers was worth our lives, and I was speechless (which, if you know me, never happens).

We were traveling well under the 75 mph speed limit, but as we crossed the bridge near mile marker 270, the vehicle in front of us slowed way down. As my husband clenched the steering wheel with both hands and pressed firmly on the brake, I glanced over to see a crossover SUV on its top in the median. It had apparently flipped over the guardrail.

My heart was racing, and my head was spinning. My husband said, “We’re turning around at the next exit.” He said a few other choice words, including “is it worth it?” I replied, “No, it isn’t.”

Once we had safely exited the interstate, I called the trucking company in Fargo and told them we would not be picking up newspapers that day. He then informed me that the trailer was scheduled to come back to Jamestown Sunday morning, and that I could retrieve our precious cargo from the dock there in the afternoon.

To make a long story short, we were able to pick up the papers Sunday and get them to the post office in time to go out locally in New Rockford and Carrington on Monday (the official publication date), but readers anywhere else likely had to wait a few more days for theirs to arrive.

Also, we learned Sunday that the driver of the pickup who had rolled across the interstate, a 69-year old man from Wyoming, died from injuries he sustained in the crash. His passenger was taken to the Jamestown hospital for treatment.

Another employee of the Independent traveled to Jamestown on Saturday, about the same time we did. We both agreed that we never wanted to travel in those kinds of conditions again.

So bear with us! As I write this Wednesday, I’m looking at models for the next winter storm, which of course is scheduled to hit our area tomorrow night and into Friday (which is when the newspapers are supposed to be delivered to Jamestown). If the weather is as bad as forecast, there will more than likely be delayed newspapers yet again.

Stay safe and warm, and thank you for your loyal readership!