By Randy Arrington, publisher
Over the past week, many paused to consider the things they are grateful for…from family and friends, to a good home and good health. We here at Page Valley News are thankful for you — all half million of you.
Since our launch on Feb. 3, 2020, PageValleyNews.com has had 528, 096 users who have viewed more than 2.2 million pages, according to Google Analytics…all on our little site covering Page County, Virginia. We have made 4,243 posts and received more than 1,130 comments…and these figures don’t even include our social media exposure through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
PVN has been cited by and linked to national media organizations during some of our community’s dark times, and celebrated and shared by the Washington Nationals when we shed a positive light on a negative situation at Nats Park. We shared daily bits of local history, provided news of current meetings, celebrated victories on the athletic fields, provided platforms for non-profits, furthered debate in key community issues, and generally provided a town square kiosk that serves as a mirror to the who, what, when and where that makes up life in the Page Valley.
In recent weeks, that trend…that commitment…was interrupted by forces beyond our control. Following efforts to upgrade our systems and site to a virtual private server, a series of glitches and technical issues caused temporary service interruptions over several weeks. Some could be seen by users (like when the site reverted back to our first month of content in February of 2020), and others were on the back end that prevented the posting of new material. We regret these issues, but we took the last week to work out all the kinks, take a little down time with family, and now we are ready to hit the reset button.
We truly appreciate your patience during these growing pains. While our limited news staff struggles to keep up with a vibrant and active community, we recommit ourselves to providing your news and telling your stories. Over the next several days, we will be playing catch up…visiting with D-I Radford softball commit Jocelyn Rinker, as well reporting the planned PCHS softball complex improvements; sharing the Governor’s committee appointment of newly elected Luray Councilman Alex White; wrapping up the football season and preparing for basketball — including the upcoming PVN Sports livestream broadcast schedule; revisiting a book on Shenandoah; looking back at a highly successful Turkey Trot; and many other stories that we regret not reporting earlier.
As we continue to grow, we ask that you continue to grow with us. Recommend us to a friend, download the PVN app, or share stories on Facebook. We still have plans for more things to come in the years ahead, and we continue to build toward that goal.
We hope your hearts and your stomachs were filled to contentment over the past week. Our contentment comes through the show of support the community has provided us in our journey. On Feb. 3, PVN will mark its third anniversary — with your help, we plan to celebrate many more to come.
Comments welcome below,
or reach Page Valley News Publisher Randy Arrington at publisher@pagevalleynews.com
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Thank you, Page Valley News. It’s nice to have a local newspaper that cares about issues that affect us all, including national and local politics. The other newspaper bans all political views so that there is no discussion about what goes on in Congress or the Federal Government.
It’s bad enough that we have a local Republican congressman who still supports Donald Trump, is an election denier, and votes over 90 percent of the time against anything proposed by the President or the Democrats.
Last week Congress finally awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to all those police departments who defended the Capital Building last year during the January 6th insurrection to overthrow the government. Ben Cline voted against giving the police the award even though they were protecting legislators like him from harm. Thank you, Congressional and D.C. Police for saving our government.