Editorial: We’ve completed 25 years of bringing local news to you

Jan. 5, 1995 was the day we first published the Belleville-Area Independent and distributed it, free of charge, to readers in the tri-community. We have just completed 25 years.
We invite you to share in our celebration by coming by for a newspaper on Thursday, Jan. 9, and enjoying a cup of coffee or bottle of water, and sweet treats to mark the years. There also will be little gifts to share.
We remember how the paper started. I had resigned from The View because it got to be so one-sided. Maxine and George Heifner had gone to their vacation home in Arizona and my son gave me a computer to use. I wrote up a little report on what was going on in Van Buren Township meetings and took it to Belleville Print Shop to fax it to the Heifners. Ron Manley made some copies to put out on his counter for customers to read – and they loved it. That’s how it all started. Maxine got together investors, both Republican and Democrat, and we were on our way. Now, 25 years later, we are still telling everyone what’s happening.
Over the years – this time thanks to the efforts of Diane Madigan — we added reporting on local felonies at 34th District Court. A half-dozen other papers have tried to take us out over the years, but failed. We keep on keeping on.
This paper has always been for you and we’d like you to help us celebrate.