“May you live in interesting times” isn’t necessarily always an old Chinese curse. At least not here at the Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune.

As you may have already read on our website, or heard through the grapevine, the G-T has been purchased, or should I say traded, for the Wenatchee Business Journal to Sound Publishing by our former publishers NCW Media Inc. One of my friends who was in town this weekend putting on the Tumbleweed Film Festival asked me if I was going to get a new baseball card with my picture and stats on it because of the trade. Let’s see,over the last 24 years I’ve worked for four teams now – Bob Davis, the Emrys, NCW Media (formerly Prairie Media) and now Sound Publishing.

Although we’ve made some great friends and working relationships with the staff of NCW,overall I feel the purchase is a positive one. Everyone on the G-T staff is still here and we’ve already had some major upgrades in equipment. A look at the list of community newspapers that Sound publishes, mostly on the west side of the state and northern Oregon, proves that they are serious about community journalism. They bring a lot of experience and tools to the table that can only improve our little newspaper.

Our relationship with NCW Media is not at an end though as we will still be printed in Chelan at the Lake Chelan Mirror and it looks like we will continue to partner on some advertising and when the occasion arises and one of our Tonasket or Oroville sports teams is playing in their coverage area they will be able to send us photographs from the games and matches and visa versa.

We are in a transition period moving over to the Sound Publishing System. This week’s issue is the first being published under the auspices of Sound Publishing and fingers crossed everything will go just as smoothly as it has with NCW Media.