Want to help local journalism? We could use a little help in the eyes-and-ears department

Happy New Year.

We’re going to keep this holiday weekend column short and to the point:

I want to thank all of you for reading this newspaper -- using it to be a little better informed about your community, your friends and neighbors. Whether you read it on paper or online, we hope you find something useful in each edition.

It’s been a tough row to hoe for the newspaper industry, that’s for sure. And we’re not trying to hide the fact that we’ve had to do a lot of maneuvering to remain at your service.

Some of the cause is because of economic forces and changes in the industry that have been brewing for decades; some of it is attributable to the pandemic, just like all other businesses.

Back near the beginning of the plague year called 2020, we made some changes -- made additional cuts to staff, to pages, to features and to publication days. We believe we’re providing a good measure of the news that’s ripe for the harvest in Yuba-sutter and surrounds. We intend to keep on slugging away.

The staff here is game. We come to work and we work until it’s time to quit and we’ve looked for ways to be as productive as possible and efficient as possible.

Frankly, the main resources we’re missing? Eyes and ears. We don’t have as many people out and about and monitoring different areas and concerns of the community. You can help. Is there an issue that you’re worried about? That you’re happy about? Concerns of you or your neighbors? Interesting people whose stories are waiting to be told? Feel free to let us know.

Send us your suggestions at Adnewsroom@appealdemocrat. com.

Thanks.

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Ugh: We’re going right to the bad jokes. We needed to clear out the files a bit ... just as you might consider sending us story suggestions, please consider sending us jokes to be told in this space. Don’t worry if your jokes are at the professional grade ... as you’ll read, that’s not much of a concern (and you can stay anonymous if you wish).

-- The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Circumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

-- No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.

-- A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

-- Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

-- A backward poet writes inverse.

-- Did you know that if you have What, When and Where and then replace the “W’s” with T’s the questions are answered?

-- What are you vacating when you go on a vacation?

-- How come Noses run and Feet smell?

-- Why do we put cups in the dishwasher and the dishes in the Cupboard?

-- Why do doctors ‘practice’ medicine? Are they having practice at the cost of the patients?

-- How do you get off a nonstop Flight?

-- If a Vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a Humanitarian eat?

-- How come Lipstick doesn’t do what it says?

A few oldies but goodies (OK, they’re not that good):

-- A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, ‘I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.’

-- Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says ‘Dam!’

-- There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Steve Miller is Editor of the AppealDemocrat