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Columbia Gorge News is a weekly newspaper based in Hood River, Oregon. It covers communities throughout the Columbia River Gorge, including those in Wasco County, Oregon and Klickitat County, Washington. It was formed in April 2020 by the merger of The Dalles Chronicle, Hood River News and White Salmon Enterprise after Eagle Newspapers sold them to Chelsea Marr. The paper has a circulation around 7,000 and publishes on Wednesdays. Columbia Gorge News is a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.

History

The Dalles Chronicle was first published on December 10, 1890. The paper had many managers and owners in it's early days. In 1906, Ben R. Litfin arrived in The Dalles three days before Christmas with 20 cents in his pocket. He would go on to "become publisher of a newspaper which he developed beyond the dreams of any of his predecessor." Litfin become a part-owner in 1909. Clarence Hedges acquired the paper in 1915. Litfin became a co-owner again in 1920, and then the sole owner in 1923.

Litfin would be remembered for "gradually turning the pile of junk he found into a living, breathing, fighting newspaper." When advertisers threatened to boycott his paper for publishing a divorce story about a prominent business man, Litfin refused to yield, saying "I'm going to print the news. I'm going to make my paper so widely read that you'll have to buy space in its columns. And if you want to boycott, I'll fill up the columns with Portland advertising."

Litfin sold the paper in 1947 to Victor J. Morgan and died three years later. The Chronicle was then acquired by Scripps League Newspapers in 1949. Pulitzer acquired the company in 1996 and sold the Chronicle later that year to Eagle Newspapers. Eagle then merged The Dalles Reminder into The Dalles Chronicle.

Hood River News was founded in 1905. C. P. Sonnichsen and Hugh G. Ball bought the paper in 1908. Sonnichsen assumed the role of manager and Ball as editor. By 1912 the newspaper had 1,500 subscribers and transitioned from weekly to semiweekly. During his career, Ball headed the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and was on the board of directors for the National Editorial Association. He was skilled at his job, with one paper writing "Editor Ball has brought envy to the eye of many visiting editors with his ability to set editorials directly on the machine without need of copy." In 1961, E. A. Sonnichsen sold Hood River News to Eagle Newspapers.

The White Salmon Enterprise began publishing in 1903. J. H. Ginder owned the paper for four years until selling it in 1908 to the Estee Investment Company. The Meresse family owned the Enterprise from 1912 until it was purchased by Hood River News on July 1, 1976, which was part of Eagle Newspapers.

Due to the COVID-19 recession in the United States, Eagle Newspapers announced plans to shutter the Hood River News, The Dalles Chronicle and the White Salmon Enterprise on March 31, 2020. Instead the papers' publisher Chelsea Marr purchased them. The three combined to form the Columbia Gorge News on April 8.

References

1. "Columbia Gorge News". Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
2. Spatz, Dan (2001). "The Dalles hosted region's first paper". "About Us: History of The Dalles Chronicle". The Dalles Chronicle. Archived from the original (web article) on February 17, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
3. Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Wasco County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords and Mort.
4. "The Dalles Chronicle Sold". The Oregon Daily Journal. September 4, 1915. p. 9.
5. ^ Turnbull, George S. (1939). "Wasco County" . History of Oregon Newspapers . Binfords and Mort.
6. "Litfin Acquires Control of Paper". The Oregon Daily Journal. February 3, 1923. p. 2.
7. "Ben Litfin's Sucess as The Dalles". The Oregon Daily Journal. July 2, 1947. p. 22.
8. "The Dalles Chronicle Sold by Litfin". The Capital Journal. June 26, 1947. p. 1.
9. "Ben R. Litfin Dies at The Dalles". The Bend Bulletin. November 24, 1950. p. 1.
10. "Scripps Steps In At Dalles Paper". The Oregonian. June 24, 1949. p. 1.
11. Times Wire Services (May 7, 1996). "Pulitzer to Purchase Scripps Newspapers". Los Angeles Times.
12. "Changes at the Helms". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. July 13, 1973. p. 4.
13. "Pulitzer in Paper Deals". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 2, 1996. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
14. Edstrom, Judy (August 15, 2012). "Eagle's 76 Years – our history – first installment". Eagle Newspapers Inc. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
15. "Hood River News=letter (Hood River, Or.) 1905-1909". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
16. "Hood River News Modernized". The Oregon Daily Journal. November 2, 1912. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
17. "Hugh Ball of Hood River". The Bend Bulletin. February 2, 1951. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
18. "Editor At Hood River Reviews 30-Year-Job". The Oregon Daily Journal. October 24, 1948. p. 59.
19. "Elmo Smith buys Hood River News". The Bend Bulletin. United Press International. September 7, 1961. p. 1.
20. "White Salmon -- Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. February 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
21. "White Salmon". The Spokesman-Review. August 11, 1908. p. 2.
22. "Yesteryears: The Hood River 'runs out of water' in 1976". Columbia Gorge News. July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
23. "Gorge weekly changes hands". The Columbian. July 15, 1976. p. 33.
24. Nichols, Rodger (January 2021). "Don't Stop the Presses". Northern Wasco County PUD. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
25. "Chronicle under new ownership". Columbia Gorge News. March 31, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
26. "Commentary: Introducing the once-and-future Columbia Gorge News". Columbia Gorge News. April 8, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
27. "Columbia Gorge News wins state recognition". Columbia Gorge News. September 21, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2023.

External links

• Columbia Gorge News (official website)

• Columbia River Gorge
• Newspapers established in 1890
• 1890 establishments in Oregon
• The Dalles, Oregon
• Hood River, Oregon
• Klickitat County, Washington
• Newspapers published in Oregon
• Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association