While we have many readers who pick up their weekly newspaper at a rack or store around Ellsworth County, the bulk of our readers receive the paper by mail.

Lately, the mail has been less punctual than usual. We apologize for the delay. This feels a little bit like deja vu. Last fall we experienced unexpected and uncontrollable delays due to press issues. Not even 12 months later, we are back in the same boat, but this time it is the U.S. Postal Service, not the printer, that is holding things up.

Our paper goes to press faithfully every Tuesday afternoon. Usually, the paper arrives in Ellsworth via a courier early Tuesday evening. At that time, our drivers fill newsstands and racks around the county.

Wednesday morning, the dozens of tubs containing both the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter and Marquette Tribune are delivered to the Ellsworth Post Office. They arrive before the daily cutoff and are then sent to Wichita.

This is where the trail goes cold. Some weeks, the Tribune will arrive (as scheduled) in our mailbox on Thursday. It is baffling that the I-R, which was mailed at the same time from the same location, will arrive the following Tuesday.

As we work to track down solutions, we want to offer a few options to assist as you wait for your paper.

The I-R offers in-office pickup for any reader. We have several dozen readers who swing by the office Wednesday morning and pick up the paper. For those who live or work in Ellsworth, this is an option.

For those out-of-town readers (or anyone who wishes), another option is to sign up for digital delivery in addition to our print product. There is no additional cost to our regular subscribers.

To begin an online experience, you may go to our website, https://www.indyrepnews.com/, and click on the “subscribe” tab on the left-hand side of the navigation bar. Then, click on “Existing Print Subscriber? Register” button on the left-hand side of the screen. You will be prompted to enter your first and last name, email and create a username and password. Once submitted, our office will verify your account and extend the digital delivery through the end of your regular subscription.

We want to reiterate, our local Ellsworth Post Office employees are fantastic. They are the picture of customer service and assist us weekly with sending out our newspaper. We ask for patience as we continue to dig into the delay.

If your paper hasn’t arrived by Saturday, please feel free to send an email to office@indyrepnews. com and we will confirm that you were on the mailing list. We are making an effort to track how late some of our papers are, in an effort to find solutions with the post office, so it’s helpful for us to know if your paper is late.

Thank you for your patience as we work toward answers.

Karen Bonar Publisher