It seems like just yesterday that the year 2000 was a big deal. Remember how some people thought the world would end?
Now, it’s 2013. Twenty-thirteen. Here it is. And here’s anewscafe.com, half a decade old. And some said it wouldn’t last.
About 2,700 of you may remember my first “Baby Blog”. Back then it was just one post, a column written by me. Look at it now, a 5-year-old with as many as 60,000 unique monthly visitors and more than 2 million page views, and a readership that stretches solidly from Medford to beyond Sacramento, and scores of readers in the rural surrounding areas, places many newspapers no longer even pretend to reach.
Speaking of reach, I am honored and excited to share one of the most notable additions to anewscafe.com in this site’s history, a section we rolled out yesterday, that will extend our media reach: a KRCR banner section on the home page. This contains live RSS feeds to KRCR’s current stories, and links to KRCR’s website for more information about news and weather. Welcome, KRCR! We’re glad you’re here and look forward to working together.
Another new feature is the Photo Cafe, which went live Christmas Eve, with more than two dozen citizen photojournalists who are already posting photos that inspire and inform us.
While anewscafe.com has about 50 contributors who cover every topic imaginable, we continue to feature projects, series and regular writers.
Some contributors, such as Jennifer Jewell and her gem of a column, “In a Northstate Garden,” and Monty Hight, who writes a traffic safety column, and Barbara Stone, expert sewer and alterationist, have been with us since almost the beginning.
Then there’s Andrea Charroin, who’s now got her hands full with a teaching job, yet she continues to delight us with her columns because of the wonders of the archive, which is how we enjoy her recipes over and over again.
Likewise, we feature another talented Andrea – Eldridge – and her tech column, “Adventures of a Nerd Chick”.
If you want to talk about the weather (accurately) Chris Fontana – aka the Old Forecaster –  keeps us in the weather-know with his Northern California Weather blog that features real time satellite images and weekly posts.
Valerie Ing-Miller
Chris Fontana  joins other contributors, such as Valerie Ing-Miller and her “Mistress of the Mix“, who are such a crucial part of anewscafe.com that I cannot imagine this site without them.Other contributors are relatively new, such as Bill Siemer, who wrote a series in 2012 about suicide, and then he also shared stories about men who live in a Redding halfway house for his “Grabbing God” series. (Bill’s ready, as he said recently, to write about something less weighty, like butterflies or something.)
This year, yours truly reported on Redding’s unsheltered homeless in a series, graphically illustrated by photos provided by Kat Domke (full disclosure, daughter-in-law), and Redding Police Officer Bob Brannon.
Hollis Pickett spent months collecting information for her health series, a comprehensive look at the liver, and hepititis.
And thanks to Femme de Joie’s well-researched restaurant reviews, we continue to get the skinny on area eateries. Which reminds me, this is a good time for me to mention (again) that Femme de Joie is the north state’s only authentic restaurant reviewer. A highly experienced and knowledgeable cook herself, she remains anonymous to readers and restaurateurs alike, and she visits an establishment three times before she pens an opinion about a restaurant. (In case you’re wondering, I’m not Femme de Joie.)
Femme de Joie
On a related note, this year Don Williams, a dedicated brew master and beer judge,  joined anewscafe.com with his column, “Once Upon a Brew Pub”, in which he reviews beers and pubs around the country. And on a related note, Adam Mankoski just started a mixology column, something I’ve wanted for a long time on anewscafe.com.
We enjoy many happy, light, insightful moments here at anewscafe.com, provided by regular columnists Adrienne Jacoby’s “Just Sayin’ “, and Doug Mudford’s “Reflections in a Mirror While Shaving“, and our most recent humor columnist, Robb Lightfoot, and his Thursday column, “Or So it Seems”.
And new talent joins anewscafe.com all the time, such as Catherine Camp and her smart columns, “Reporter’s Notebook”, in which she covers Shasta County Board of Supervisor meetings, and Leah Goold Haws’ advice via her marketing columns, and Robert Rock’s essays that share sage wisdom that comes from living more than 90 years.
New sections are ready to be born, such as Bethany Chamberlain’s movie columns. (Another disclosure: Yes, she’s my sister.)
Content is king in this business, but the glory and credit for anewscafe.com’s success and survival goes to you, and to advertisers who support us, to writers, photographers, journalists and our tiny team, especially the tech guys, Joe Domke and Jim Gore, and Canda Williams and Tonia Munro, our sales and business staff, and Shayna Williams, who writes the death notices.
We also thank law enforcement agencies like the Redding Police Department, the Shasta County Sheriff Office, California Highway Patrol and Shasta County Coronor’s office for keeping us in the loop via press releases.
Finally, to those of you who like anewscafe.com enough to click on that “donate” button and give what you can to help keep this local online media site going, I am forever humbled and grateful. Asking for help is not my strong suit, but gratitude is. Thank you!
While anewscafe.com is no longer a baby, I believe it still has room to grow.
I am so glad you’re here to witness this growth, and be part of it. I look forward to spending 2013 with you. I think it’s going to be good!
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.
