As we look to 2026, our team at Village News and Valley News is filled with genuine excitement and gratitude, and yet we are at a pivotal point. For nearly three decades, we have worked to offer a trusted source of independent, local journalism in a world that grows noisier, more polarized, and more confusing by the day. I was amazed at the number of stories I saw this week that are just clearly created to entertain and get traffic at the expense of the truth. We will never do that. You can trust our stories to be as accurate as possible, and yet, even we grow weary as we work day and night, often without compensation.Our mission has not changed. Our commitment has never wavered. When people ask, “Why does real, local journalism still matter?” our answer is simple: because truth ma
