We are completing our 30th year of service to the local community. On Jan. 5, 1995, the Belleville-Area Independent published its first paper and has continued every Thursday since then.
On Jan. 5, 2025 we will mark completion of the 30th year of service and the start of our 31st year. We’ve seen a lot over the years and shared most of it with our readers.
Some readers we talk to say they have been reading the Independent their whole lives and they remember their parents showing them where to pick it up at the Red Apple restaurant or various gas stations.
The weekly newspaper was formed by about a dozen local residents who thought The View newspaper in town was biased in its stories. I was the only one they knew who had experience with newspapers. I had just moved back here from Colorado where I was Sunday editor at a daily paper. We’ve had the same editor for the entire life of the paper.
The investors, who are both Republican and Democrat in ideas, wanted people to know what was going on whether they could pay for a paper or not, so the paper has always been free.
Thank you for supporting the Independent over the years and sharing your letters, stories, and pictures.
We hope to continue to keep you informed for many years to come.
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