I always breathe a sigh of relief when another issue of the paper comes off the press. The truth is, getting this newspaper into your hands is quite a task, and one that gets more challenging - and more expensive - continually.

The North Platte Bulletin reported that on July 13, 2025, the U.S. Postal Service raised First-Class stamp prices by 5¢ (now 78¢) and hiked package rates by 6–8%, marking the fifth increase in just two years even as delivery performance continues to decline. Local postal workers in North Platte face understaffing that has resulted in 10–12-hour shifts, mandatory overtime, and occasional role-swapping between delivery and administrative duties.

Meanwhile, delayed mail - such as certified vendor letters taking over a month - has disrupted essential services such as property tax notifications and election ballots, leaving residents and local government scrambling.

Though the USPS is pushing forward with a 10-year “Delivering for America” plan, performance continues to deteriorate. Critics fear privatization could worsen delivery issues for rural communities, and there are ongoing calls for reforms such as pension funding reform and halting service cuts - all amid scrutiny of leadership tied to major private carriers.

What this means for our community: – Higher costs for stamps & packages – Slower, less reliable delivery—even of critical mail – Growing pressure for legislative and business reform The price of newsprint, ink, plates, and other consumables has also surged in recent years, while subscription prices have barely budged compared to the cost of living. Newspapers are expected to deliver more - with less - and many simply can’t make the math work.

All of these factors cause us to always be looking for ways to remain viable while continuing to serve our readers and advertisers in the most effective way possible. Here is what the process of getting the Courier into your hands looks like.

After all of the articles, photos, ads, and public notices are placed on the pages - which is similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle - the draft of those pages is printed and proofread by three different people. I then make final corrections and edits to the copy, create PDF versions of each page, and drop those pages directly to the printer online. All four of Syndicate Publishing’s papers are now printed in Sheldon, Iowa, by a company called White Wolf Web. We made that transition shortly before the presses shut down in Kearney, as have quite a few Nebraska papers.

Our press deadline is 2 p.m. on Tuesdays. Then early Wednesday morning our driver hops on I80 and heads east to Milford, where he meets the White Wolf truck and picks up all the papers. Our driver stops in Minden to drop papers, then heads through Kearney to Callaway in order to get to the post office in time to get the Courier out on the publication day, Thursday.

We were recently notified, however, that the mail truck will soon begin leaving the Callaway post office by 9:30 a.m., which obviously means there is no way the paper can be there in time to go out on Wednesday and be delivered on Thursday. We also understand that many of our out-of-town subscribers do not receive their paper for several days. That is not something we are happy about.

Therefore, we have recently taken another step in an effort to provide a better experience for our readers. By implementing a system of having the papers delivered straight to the Omaha post office from our printer, it is our hope that you will see an improvement in the timeline of receiving the paper in your mailbox. It has been a process that has had our business manager pulling her hair out for the past week, but in the end we believe it will be totally worth it.

I always appreciate feedback from you, our readers and customers. Let us know how we are doing. Feel free to reach out to me anytime at ellen@syndicatepub. com. Meanwhile, we will continue to strive to provide the best quality product in the most effective way possible to keep you informed about what is happening in Callaway. Thanks for reading!