Hi again!

It’s Tom Hardesty, editor of your new Stow-Munroe Falls-Silver Lake news thing, which is getting closer and closer to launch but still has no name!

Although we don't have a name, we’re getting closer to one — thanks to you. We solicited suggestions and received great feedback from about two dozen people. Some of the names are solid candidates, some not so much, and some are downright funny.

Here is a sample of the names you suggested:

Crossroads

This one refers to the three communities we will cover — Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake — which converge not far from the intersection (crossroads) of state routes 91 and 59 in Stow. The name ties the communities together, so it’s a geographical winner. The three towns don’t actually share a border at that particular intersection, but it’s close enough.

The Stow Bullhorn

A play on Bulldog (we got that suggestion, too). Clever, but clever enough? You tell us.

The Summit (and related suggestions: The Summit News, SMFS Summit, Everything Summit)

At first I thought using Summit in the title was too audacious because we’re only talking three towns in the northeast corner of Summit County, but the more we thought about it, the more we like the audacious aspect. But is it too audacious? Again, you tell us.

Stow Spotlight

Another good one, with the suggested subtitle of “Focusing on Stow, Munroe Falls, & Silver Lake.” The imagery of a spotlight focusing on our communities puts this name right in the mix.

These are just a few of the names you’ve pitched us. There are others in the running as well. In the next newsletter, we’ll list our finalists and put it to a vote. If you have thoughts, as always, just reply to this email.

Some other names that deserve mention for various reasons are:

News You Can Use

You’ll know exactly what you’re getting! This name just comes right out and says it.

The Neighborhood News, Hometown News

Same premise.

And for those who like to think out of the box, there’s this:

LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING!!!

Kinda grabs the attention, doesn’t it?

Now here’s the next question we want to know as we plan our coverage

What issues are important to you? Everyone has their “thing,” so what’s yours? We want this publication to be relevant and to keep you connected to our community, so give us your wish list. Another way to ask the question is: What’s something somebody really ought to be writing about?

Before I go, another important reminder to share this link with everyone you know:

https://www.stowmunroefalls.com/subscribe

You could post it on your Facebook page with a note about what we're doing, or you could share it with work colleagues or your family group chat. Every dollar we don't have to spend on marketing can be spent on journalism.

OK actually one more reminder, and this one relates to our business model. 

As with all of our news sites, we’ll always give the option to subscribe for free. Why? Because access to local news should not be contingent upon having money to spare. But obviously we also can’t do this without revenue. We're already spending over $2,500/month and we haven't even started paying reporters yet. We’ll share more details about how we think we can pay for all this when we launch our paid subscription drive later this summer.

But this is a core value of ours: The publication will always be free for those who truly can’t afford it. No questions asked.

With that, thank you to everyone who has subscribed! We’re cruising toward 700 subscribers, and I suspect we’ll hit 1,000 before we even start covering the news. It really speaks to the kind of community we are and to the need for this project.

Let’s keep it going!

Tom [email protected]