SEASON OF SHARING DONOR LIST
Fund total as of December 26, 2019: $8,792,591
Benefactor ($1,500$1,999): Stephen Sperber & Roberta Silverstein.
Advocate ($1,000$1,499): George & Zita Boyson, in memory of Kenneth, Ruby and Brooks Crosier and Edward & Alice Boyson.
Supporter ($500$999): Aloha Uke Squad; Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence J. Ludgus; Karen & Dennis May.
Collaborator ($250$499): Ms. Charles Zetta Baker; Anonymous, in memory of Lynn Blackie; Franchelle Howes, in honor of Linda Hwang & Ted Howes; Nancy & Gary Lee; Jeff Lochner; Mary Louise Nelson; Roger Poyner.
Booster ($150$249): Jeffrey Jones, in memory of Marsha & Jerry Jones; Kathryn Kearney, in memory of Larry Curtice; M. Kerry; Daniel Liberthson; Marianne Poblenz.
Contributor ($100$149): Charlotte Addington; Anonymous, in memory of Elsie Van Dunk; the Arlas Family; Lance & Cathy Bayer; Genevieve Duboscq & Lynn Prime, in memory of Ralph Raymond Prime; Anonymous, in memory of Ara Joe; Gibbens Family; Victor M. Horlick; Mary Ellen Prime, in memory of Ralph Raymond Prime; Lynda Taylor Romero, in memory of Meribeth Taylor Cummings; John Solomon, in memory of
Karin Solomon; Claire Straka, in memory of Anne Eastland.
Friend ($50$99): Elizabeth Alexander; John & Rosi Arnaudo; Patricia Bulloch, in memory of Christopher Bulloch; Rosemarie Keupp, in honor of Jack Hendrix & Gizmo; Joan Kovach; Susan Orvis.
Additional donations: JoAnn Biasotti & David Crowder; Pierre & Kathleen, in honor of Fester; William & Rita Dunlay; Laura & Matt Griffis, in memory of Harold & Joanne Rice;
Mary & Steve Hackett, in honor of Owen Hackett, a native of Palo Alto; Barrett Pivnick Lucero, in memory of parents, Janice & Charles Pivnick; Jerry & Diana Robinson; Susan Rutberg, in honor of the Monday Night Eating Club; Suzanne Thompson; Molly & Ben Young, in memory of Lee, Murray & Jackie Lowenstein and Bill & Mary Young.
Anonymous donations in memory of: Próspero Asen Loo; Peggy “GiGi” Butler; Pacita Curimao & Joaquina Onate; Morrie & Annette Heifetz and Leslie & Lorraine Jordan; Saron James; Coralie & Fred Mayer; Alejandrino Nerona; Florence K. S. Pang; Rol Risska; Shridhar Shirgaonkar.
share and exchange opinions with others who have the same enthusiasm for something, but it’s not the same as looking at the same paper every morning and reading about hyperlocal stories on politics and crime, as well as announcements and features specific to life in Martinez.
“There’s not really a replacement institution emerging,” Wasserman said. “It’s not the same thing as having a paper that chronicles a shared reality for a given community.”
The NewsGazette began publishing in September 1858 and is said to have endorsed Abraham Lincoln’s presidential bid. Former state Sen. William Sharkey bought the paper in 1906 and combined it with another local paper, calling it the Contra Costa Gazette, according to the former owner’s 89yearold grandson, Bill Sharkey III.
In the middle of the 20th century, the paper had about 50 employees and covered the county and city of Martinez, while also offering national and international news through the Associated Press and United Press International wires.
“We were a local newspaper with all the services,” Sharkey III said.
Advertising revenue began to dwindle in the 1960s, so the family sold the newspaper to former state Sen. Luther Gibson in 1963, said Sharkey III, who was managing editor at the time. Since then, the newspaper has continued to reduce its staff.
Sharkey III, who has written a column in recent years and will have penned more than 350 by the end of 2019, saw the decline from a fivedayaweek publication to the more recent twiceaweek schedule.
“I hate to see it,” said Mayor Rob Schroder, who also writes a column for the paper. “We had at least one dedicated reporter all the time, and they’ve gone away in the last five years.”
Journalism serves a watchdog role in any community, Schroder said, but in a city like Martinez the paper also acted as a conduit between residents and their local representatives. The NewsGazette was among the first outlets to report on a man who allegedly attempted a citizen’s arrest on Schroder this month, leading to a kerfuffle with the mayor and another man on Main Street.
“I think we are going to lose some connection to our community,” Schroder said. “Journalism ties us all together a little bit.”
The paper also reported last month on officials greenlighting a recreational marijuana shop near a school, infuriating two school officials.
“Who is going to get those things out to the public?” Jones asked.
Weeks after news of the paper’s demise was announced — in a corner of the front page of a November edition, a small box declared in all caps: “MARTINEZ NEWSGAZETTE TO CLOSE” — concern has spread among loyal readers.
Gibson Publishing, which owns the paper, has not given any details on the future to staff, Jones said.
A relative of David Payne, the chief executive of Gibson Publishing and Westamerica Bancorporation, said the family would not comment on the NewsGazette.
Ramona Lappier, who’s been a reader for about 25 years, recalled yelling in her living room when she read the brief note about the shuttering. She remembered unfurling the paper over the years. Despite a typo or two that would make her and her mother laugh, the paper was still informative.
A newspaper, just like a school, is part of the fabric of a community, Lappier said.
“When those pieces are pulled out, it’s like a house of cards — what do you have left?” she wondered.
One reader, Jennifer Chan, pleaded in a letter to the editor: “Please, what can be done to save this paper?”
Jones said a few people expressed interest in purchasing the paper, but none have been successful in reaching the current owner. Jones said he has not been able to contact the owner, either.
“For the most part, there is no one covering the news in Martinez,” he said. “There is going to be a void there.”
The paper’s staff shrank in recent years, and essential staffers who left, such as an ads salesperson, were never replaced, Jones said.
“We do nothing to gain new subscribers, and we are not selling ads,” he said.
But life in Martinez will continue, even if the paper does not.
“It’s like a member of the family is going to be gone,” Sharkey III said. “After all these years, it’s suddenly not going to be there.”