It’s been a while since we sat down and chatted long enough for me to fill you in on what’s going on here at your favorite online news magazine. For everyone at A News Cafe.com, it’s been a productive summer as our staff has been busy creating some new features that we hope you will like.
The biggest project is your “Autos & More” section that’s brand new to A News Cafe.com. To check it out, look up to the nav bar that’s on every page. Click on the tab that that says “Auto” and you’ll find it leads to a larger, Autos & More page, a place designated solely for vehicle dealerships and vehicle-related businesses.
We are delighted to roll out this page with local tech-savvy dealerships Redding Subaru, Redding Kia and Corning Ford, companies that realize that online is one of the best ways to reach customers.
“Autos & More” allows readers to see auto dealerships’ ads, and then click to see their websites and learn about their inventory, products and specials. Plus, it’s a place for auto-related businesses, such as detailers, muffler businesses, transmission shops and tire companies.
This “Autos & More” page is yet one more way that we strive to serve our family of readers and advertisers. As always, we ask you to join us in patronizing our advertisers’ businesses as a way to demonstrate appreciation for the support they’ve provided A News Cafe.com, which makes it possible to keep his site going.
Special thanks goes to A News Cafe.com sales and marketing representative Canda Williams, and webtender Joe Domke, and programmer Jim Gore – for the time and effort they put into creating this page.
But we extend the most appreciation and admiration to the tech-savvy north state auto dealers who joined the Autos & More section as a way to give customers an online way to learn more about their companies’ options: Redding Subaru, Redding Kia, and Corning Ford. We look forward to adding other dealerships and auto-related businesses to this section in the coming months.
Second, I hope you are enjoying the Menu Mecca section as much as I am. I love being able to click on restuarants’ links and see their hours, prices and other details, such as whether they have a conference room, or if they offer take-out.
Most recent additions to Menu Mecca are the following restaurants: For the Love of Pie, Gironda’s, Moonstone Bistro, Tapas, The Savory Spoon and The Sand Trap. Welcome, restaurants, to Menu Mecca!
Speaking of delighted, I am constantly amazed and awed by A News Cafe.com’s pool of talented columnists, such as popular regulars Doug Mudford and his Reflections in a Mirror While Shaving,” Femme de Joie’s “Menu, Please,” Jennifer Jewell’s “In a North State Garden,” Adrienne Jacoby’s “Just Sayin’ “, Valerie Ing Miller’s “Mistress of the Mix,” Chris Fontana’s “Weather,” to name just a sample of the more than 50 community writers, bloggers and photographers on A News Cafe.com.
Keeping with the high quality of A News Cafe.com’s contributors, we are proud to announce some new talent: Robb LIghtfoot’s humor column, “Or So it Seems …,” Doug Craig’s serious column, “Free Therapy,” Bill Siemer’s human-interest series, “Grabbing God,” and Hollis Pickett’s health series, “Your Liver, Your Health,” and Don William’s “Once Upon A Brew Pub“.
As an aside, some of you may have noticed some random photos – mainly in the Week in Review – that pop up from time to time on the site with such words as,”This is a test pix of adorable Austin” or similar phrases. Sorry for the confusion. The test photos were needed to test out an upcoming feature that I’ve wanted for – gosh – as long as this site has been alive, almost five years. I don’t want to spoil the surprise by telling you more about it now, but my prediction is that once this is unveiled, it will be one of the coolest, and most popular parts of A News Cafe.com.
How shall we celebrate all this goodness? A party! I will write more about this soon, but please save the date of Sun., Oct. 7, so you can attend A News Cafe’s Harvest Sampler party, geared especially for A News Cafe’s fans and supporters, and the north state’s most dedicated locavores. More details to follow. Hint: It’s in conjunction with Slow Food Shasta Cascade, and the Harvest Sampler party will introduce the culinary talents of a French chef, Reynald Tel, who’s new to Redding. Oh, and the party has something to do with my being chosen as a delegate to represent Central California in October at Slow Food’s Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy. Yes, it’s true. I’m going to Italy and I will, of course, blog about the trip for you on A News Cafe.com. Pinch me.
Stay tuned for additions to the “Auto & More” and Menu Mecca pages. And keep your eyes and ears open regarding the skinny about A News Cafe.com’s Harvest Sampler party on October 7. I hope to see you all there.
Until then, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for being part of A News Cafe.com’s growing family of tens of thousands of loyal readers who support your locally owned, locally interested online news magazine: A News Cafe.com. I’m glad you’re here.
Independent online journalist Doni Chamberlain founded what’s now known as anewscafe.com in 2007 with her son, Joe Domke of the Czech Republic. Prior to 2007 Chamberlain was an award-winning newspaper opinion columnist, feature and food writer recognized by the Associated Press, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and E.W. Scripps. She lives in Redding, CA.
