Dear On-Line Subscriber:

It is indeed a new era when you can read your Idaho Press-Tribune “on-line” in nearly the same format that most people get delivered to their front door. It’s just “paperless.” 

We are excited to be able to finally offer this electronic version — eTRIB — for people who find it convenient or those who can’t get a paper delivered daily because they don’t live in our circulation area.

You’ll be able to pull up whole pages, read the headlines and see the photos and supplemental information on screen just as it looks if you held the front page in your hands.

Our regular readers enjoy the local news that makes our newspaper different than the rest of the media outlets that don’t make Nampa, Caldwell and neighboring communities in Canyon and Owyhee counties their primary news focus.

The Internet has shortened the distance from “home” and now we’re making it easier for you to stay in touch with family, friends and neighbors.

This service is available for a monthly charge of $5.50. It also is free to our subscribers who are on EZ pay (automatic debit or credit card payments) or who pay for one year in advance.

So what do you get with your electronic subscription? Everything that we actually print locally. That means advertising inserts, Parade Magazine (but there’s an on-line version of that, too at parade.com) and the Sunday comics won’t be available. But everything else will be there, including all the advertisements that are printed on the pages along with the news.

If you’re familiar with the Idaho Press-Tribune then you know that we provide plenty of local news — from schools to government, road construction reports to what’s fun to do in our area. We also carry an abundance of news from Idaho, the West, the nation and the world.

You’ll find the daily news, sports, community and Xtra stories as well as the weekly and monthly special sections including our newly launched entertainment magazine, PLAY, Valley HomeSTYLE and Total Health.

Ida Chatter followers, editorial page readers and news junkies will delight in the fact that you can finally get all the stories instead of just the top headlines of the day.

Whether you’re a home delivery or computer delivery customer, you’ll find it’s easy to submit news. We count on it because some of the most important news in our daily paper comes from you, our readers. You do not have to be a trained journalist to provide the basic information: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.

Our Web site at idahopress.com provides all the links and forms to submit your news.

I’m proud  to say I’ve worked for the Idaho Press-Tribune since 1979 and have watched this valley and newspaper grow simultaneously. We have a committed staff of reporters, photographers and editors who diligently capture the daily news about Canyon County.

It is exciting to make the Idaho Press-Tribune available in this new electronic format.

If you have any questions about the Idaho Press-Tribune or its editorial policies or you want to offer suggestions, please call me at 465-8110 or e-mail me at vholbrook@idahopress.com.

We take our readers seriously and have incorporated many of their ideas. And we welcome yours, too.

Sincerely, Vickie Holbrook

Managing Editor