A positive change in the way you read your local newspaper is being announced today by the Taylor Newspaper Family, owners of the Flint Hills Express.

Starting next Wednesday, Sept. 3, the newspaper will be called “Prairie Star” and it will add several new features, according to Rudy Taylor, publisher.

“I think everyone knows that for many years we have published two newspapers from our Sedan office,” Taylor said. “With our new name, we are combining the news from Chautauqua and Elk counties which will result in a larger newspaper with a lot more to read. It also will double the circulation for our advertisers, and that will be a big benefit to them.”

Deadlines and production procedures will remain the same as those currently followed by the newspaper staff. Printing will continue to be done late Tuesday nights.

The telephone number, email address and website address will remain the same.

“I am fully confident that this change will be accepted by our friends in Elk County,” said Taylor.

“Heck, you’ve been merged, combined, sold out and squeezed in between newspapers for the past 40 years. Even the name Flint Hills Express is less than 10 years old. But we see this as an advancement — and we will look forward to covering more events in Howard, Moline, Grenola, Longton, Elk Falls in the future.”

Prairie Star will be mailed from Sedan each Wednesday and the newspapers will arrive in local readers’ homes on Thursday, just as they now do. Prairie Star will be sold by single copy in the same locations as always in Howard, Moline and Longton.

The revamped newspaper will feature full color photographs on the front page of many editions, and several improvements have been made in the way news is found when browsing through Prairie Star.

Jenny Diveley, editor, commented, “We have been working on this change for several months and our entire staff is excited about making some great improvements.”

Regarding the name, Diveley said, “Prairie Star has no limits. It can be paper, internet, cell phone or whatever else comes along.”

It also follows a trend started by others, the most obvious was the recent merging of the Farm Service Agency to include Chautauqua, Elk and Greenwood counties. The newly formed Rolling Prairie Extension Council now comprises both Elk and Chautauqua counties. Both counties are served by the same state representative and state senator.

“More than anything, this is a business decision,” Taylor said. “With today’s fuel prices, we simply can’t afford to print two separate newspapers, duplicate much of the same news, mail the papers separately and operate two businesses.”

Diveley commented, “On my computer, I keep three files with stories for each edition and they are: Sedan Times-Star, Flint Hills Express and Both.”

Diveley has noticed in the past year that her ‘Both’ file has grown to become the largest and most popular one. In short: readers want their news to reach readers in both Chautauqua and Elk counties.

“We are excited about this change and we see it as a win-win opportunity,” Diveley said. “Everyone will receive a larger newspaper to read each week, our advertisers will reach twice the previous audience and the newspaper itself will get a new look, new focus and lots of new energy.”

Even the newspaper office itself has been refurbished in conjunction with this expansion. The building at 226 E. Main in Sedan has been repainted and a completely new roof added. Interior improvements also have been made to create a more pleasant presence when our customers walk through Prairie Star’s front door.

Taylor said, “We need freedom to grow, serve and energize those who keep us in business — our readers and advertisers. We chose a name that can be used in future years to advance communications across the southern Flint Hills, and we fully expect it to transcend the printed page.
Who knows how we will be collecting and reporting information in future years?”

This is primarily a name change and a redesign of the newspaper layout which will include larger type, more writers from area towns and better communication between readers and the newspaper office.

Veda Siebuhr and Margie McKenna will continue to work in the newspaper office at Sedan and Jerry Wagner will keep writing from Elk County.

Diveley will continue as manager and editor, and Taylor will oversee the operation as he does for two other newspaper companies in Montgomery and Labette counties.

Andy Taylor, who is editor of the Montgomery County Chronicle, will continue to write sports for Prairie Star. Sports fans will still find school and sports coverage for three school districts: West Elk, Elk Valley and Sedan, as well as reader-submitted articles from Central of Burden.

Co-publisher Kathy Taylor will contribute her “Life’s Little Lifesavers” column and manage the business and payroll aspects of the business.

The office and telephone number will remain the same: 620 725-3176. Prairie Star will be prominently featured on the “taylornews.org” website which the Taylors launched earlier this year.

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