Royal City receives its own newspaper

ROYAL CITY - Starting Tuesday, The Royal Register becomes

available for south Grant County readers to fill a need created by

the closure of an area weekly newspaper.

ROYAL CITY - Starting Tuesday, The Royal Register becomes available for south Grant County readers to fill a need created by the closure of an area weekly newspaper.

The Hagadone Corporation decided to start its own weekly for the area after meeting with area stakeholders in Royal City, Mattawa and Desert Aire, said Harlan Beagley, publisher of The Royal Register.

"We were very impressed by the business climate and community leaders," he commented. "I believe small towns need their own paper. A newspaper galvanizes and unifies a community like nothing else can ... The newspaper reports when we're born, helps us find our first jobs and reports the successes of our lives and of our children."

The Royal Register will serve the communities of Royal City, Mattawa, Beverly and Schawana by offering news, sports, features and advertising.

"Our whole lives are laid out through newspapers," Beagley said. "Somewhere between birth announcements and obituaries are our lives. That's what we want to do for Royal City."

The publication contains Associated Press content and color throughout.

The newspaper costs 75 cents when bought off of a rack on Tuesdays.

Free subscriptions are sent to 3,600 addresses in south Grant County. Subscribers should receive their papers on Wednesday afternoon.

If a resident doesn't receive a paper, call 509-765-8882 to start delivery.

With an additional 400 and 500 papers sold off the rack, the paper is expected to reach more than 4,000 homes.

The Royal Register's editor is veteran Yakima Valley journalist Ted Escobar.

Escobar, 65, was last employed as editor of the weekly Crescent Bar Chronicle, a seasonal Hagadone publication. He also worked as a farmer and Spanish interpreter.

He is married, has four grown children and six grandchildren.

Escobar has already built relationships with area schools and discussed student internships at the newspaper, Beagley said.

"I have met a tremendous amount of people in Royal City that are fun and forward-looking," Escobar said.

He enjoys sitting down with people and finding out their stories.

"People's life stories are the most fun," Escobar commented.

He's looking forward to covering Royal City football, which he described as a "state powerhouse year after year."

"I'm from Granger, we know about Royal City," he commented. "It's going to be fun."

Bob Richardson, 35, is the paper's advertising director.

He previously worked for the weekly Grant County Journal in Ephrata and The Columbia Basin Herald.

 "I just want to do something everyone is proud of," Richardson said.

He's met with business owners and city officials to sell advertising and touch base.

"They really want local coverage, local sports coverage, city council news and school board news, like any other paper," he commented.

There are plans to place The Royal Register online early next spring.

To submit news ideas, photos and articles, Escobar can be reached at 509-760-7870 or via e-mail, at tedescobar@aol.com.

For more information about classified advertising, call Richardson at 509-760-7870 or e-mail him at brichardson@hagadone.com.