To our valued customers,

As our communities continue to feel the increased impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), we feel it important to share with you what we are doing to help keep people safe and healthy.

At The Alpena News, we strive to take great care of the people in our communities we serve. We care deeply about the health and wellbeing of our subscribers, advertisers, employees, and the community at large.

As part of our protocol, our facilities have increased cleaning and sanitizing procedures to maintain a healthy work environment for our guests and employees. We’ve instructed anyone not feeling well to stay home as to not pass any potential virus they may have.

Many of our employees come into direct contact with the public. We have asked our employees to utilize digital communication and phones to communicate as much as possible during this time. While our offices remain open to the public, we are asking our customers to consider handling their business with us by phone during this time, rather than in person. Classified ads can all be placed by phone by calling our office, and payments for advertising or subscriptions can be mailed or be paid over the phone. And we have a drop box at the front door customers also can make use of to drop off payments or pass along information.

Many activities we cover on a regular basis have been postponed or cancelled and promotion of these same activities has decreased. Due to this, local coverage may change until all the activities that make our communities special resume. We expect Tuesday’s Calendar of Events will decrease in size, for instance, and sports (since all activities have been suspended or cancelled) will look different. We are diligently covering all local angles of the coronavirus and will continue to have state and national coverage, as well.

We appreciate everyone’s patience through this time, and as the community’s newspaper, we are all in this together.

— The Alpena News