The polls are open

Over the last four months, here's what I've learned about Royal City, Mattawa and Desert Aire - every reader cares deeply about their weekly community newspaper The Royal Register. So we're going to think outside of the box and see if we can interact and find a way to keep our paper thriving.

As a reader, you'd never guess how expensive it is to write, design, layout, print and then distribute 5,400 newspapers on a weekly basis. Nor would I expect you to, which is why I'm looking for your voice.

Within the next few months, we will need to make a decision on the fate of your weekly newspaper. Since I know how valuable this voice is, I'm going to allow our readers to provide some guidance on the "hypothetical scenario" below.

There is a poll on theroyalregister.com. The poll will be simple and give you three options, all under the assumption that The Royal Register may no longer be your weekly community newspaper.

First option - You pay $59 a year for a subscription to The Royal Register, knowing that editor Ted Escobar will continue to showcase your wonderful communities.

Second option - We incorporate your community news into the Columbia Basin Herald, and you pay 75 cents at the newsstand or $12.35 a month, knowing your daily newspaper also included news from the surrounding communities in the Columbia Basin.

Third option - Because you don't read newspapers, you will not subscribe to either (which is obviously not true because you're reading it in a newspaper right now).

As you see, two out of three options require you, as a reader, to pay for your newspaper. But here's what you get when you subscribe to either paper: your newspaper, as it appears in print, viewable in a digital format affectionately known as an E-edition.

Our new E-edition is the Cadillac of digital newspapers. It looks, but does not feel, like your printed paper. Regardless of what you're reading it on - a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, iPad or smartphone - you'll be able turn the page, zoom in and out and even interact with both the content and advertisements.

For one subscription price, you get both print and digital. The only question is which subscription would you prefer?

To vote, visit theroyalregister.com. The polls will remain open until May 31, 2015. Or call 765-8882 to subscribe.