Editorial: Auburn Journal's news coverage is your business

Whether you enjoy your Auburn Journal in newspaper or online form, you've noticed an increasing amount of business stories in the past few months. Part of the fun of being the managing editor, for me anyway, is trying to generate story ideas and weighing stories and subjects our readers need to read – and want to enjoy. Our team at the Journal has spent the past 13 months writing about Auburn-area businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: how they audibled at the onset, how they struggled to stay open and welcomed relief funding. Businesses closed, sometimes quietly. Some longtime Auburn business owners, open for decades, decided it was a good time to retire. Others decided it was a good time to sell. But since America and the world collectively chucked the 2020 calendar into the toxic waste bin, we've increased our business coverage. Businesses opened in Auburn DURING the pandemic. That's when I realized the Journal needed to make business a focus of its coverage in the here and now. Businesses are opening now, and others are in the planning and building stages. These include veteran business owners and newcomers – men, women and families; restaurants, boutiques, salons and nurseries. Auburn residents are proud to shop locally and eager to remind others to do the same, so our readers need to know who's opening when and where and what they're selling. I wrote several business stories during the pandemic, and reporter Traci Newell has taken the lead on this current push, including the latest updates on The Lincoln, a bistro on Lincoln Way, and Old Town Pizza's new location on High Street on page A1 of the April 28 edition. Though we haven't given this beat an official name, we tend to refer to the next story as "Biz Buzz." And it is buzzing. If you know of any businesses in the talking, planning or construction stages, please reach out to us. My contact info is listed at the end of this column (so read the whole thing, please). You can email Traci Newell at tracin@goldcountrymedia.com. Where can I find a newspaper? As important as newspapers remain, notably in small towns where TV crews don't show up unless the news is tragic or scandalous, I spent last week on vacation (my first in 16 months, YAY!) along the Central Coast (YAY! again), but for the life of me, I couldn't find a newspaper anywhere. I walked into three grocery, convenience or liquor stores in Pismo Beach and left with no newspaper, though I managed to hit the jackpot at a convenience store in lovely Cambria. I grabbed a Los Angeles Times (still a great newspaper, in my opinion, with a championship sports section) and The Tribune, based in San Luis Obispo. The Trib's front page was dominated by the Kristin Smart case. The Stockton teenager disappeared from the Cal Poly campus, where she was a student, in 1996. Authorities have had a suspect since Smart's disappearance, and Paul Flores finally was arrested two weeks ago. The feature story on The Trib's front page focused on Chris Lambert, who was a child when Smart went missing and since became enthralled by the case. He started digging into his own investigation, conducted several revealing interviews, and his podcast, "Your Own Backyard," debuted in September 2019. In eight episodes totaling eight hours, "Your Own Backyard" has 7 million audio downloads, according to The Tribune. Lambert is a musician and sound engineer, but it would also be fair and appropriate to tag him as a top-notch journalist because his podcast is simply phenomenal and better, honestly, than much of the work I see produced from the mainstream media these days; again, in my opinion. If you have followed the Kristin Smart case, you'll want to listen to Lambert's podcast. And if you've never heard of Kristin Smart, you'll want to listen to Lambert's podcast. My sidekick and I listened as we rolled up and down Highway 101, from Paso Robles to Arroyo Grande. Seeing landmarks mentioned in the podcast, hearing "Shell Beach" mentioned a day after we walked there, just brought the case more into focus. Thank goodness I found a local newspaper informing me of Lambert's podcast. Finally, professional baseball in person I spent Sunday, my last day of vacation, at Sutter Health (I still want to call it Raley Field) Park in Sacramento watching the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants play what is known as an "alt-site" game. It was my first live professional baseball game since the 2019 season, and what joy I felt, even if it did drizzle a bit. Sound effects were at full volume, the sound of glass breaking when a foul ball left the yard. Concession stands cooked up all those yummy foods we all love but don't at all need. Kids in the seats caught baseballs lobbed by coaches and players on the field. Fans wore the jersey of their favorite player. An employee booed my Yankees sweatshirt. Yes, with fans in the stands again, it truly is baseball season. Bill Poindexter is managing editor of the Auburn Journal. Contact him at billp@goldcountrymedia.com or 530-852-0256.