Our Viewpoint: A different Fourth of July

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This July Fourth will be unlike any other.

The three months leading up to this holiday week have brought a stark confluence of news events, from a terrifying worldwide pandemic to the brutal killing of a Black man in Minneapolis that has lit a firestorm of protest and brought urgent calls for police reform. And this president fuels the fires that already are burning hot.

It’s been a challenging time for all of us, including here at the Phoenix. As a start-up publication, we were just beginning to make progress with readers and advertisers when the pandemic struck in mid-March. Advertisers dropped out, and shoppers fled the stores where the paper is distributed.

Our challenges are not more difficult than those faced by most small businesses, and we appreciate the good luck that has enabled us to continue. That’s chiefly because we have a wonderful staff, who are committed and working hard on this project, but who also are stretched thin to produce the newspaper and website every week.

For that reason, we will be taking a vacation for the week surrounding July 4, giving them a chance to recharge. We will not have an issue dated July 8, but will return on July 15. As always, all of our previously published stories and back issues are available on our website at portlandphoenix.me.

These are troubling times, which could not have been predicted when we started the Phoenix last fall. But these events affirm our belief that an independent alternative news publication is important, and we will return July 15 with refreshed energy for this project.

As always, we are grateful for the support of our advertisers and readers, who have helped us reach this point in our first eight months of publication.  

We wish everybody a happy and safe Fourth of July. We’ll be back soon.

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