West St. Paul Reader is expanding. We’re moving beyond the borders and reporting local news from the surrounding communities of Inver Grove Heights, Mendota Heights, South St. Paul, and the West Side. 

And before you ask, no, we’re not changing the name. 

That’s a lot of work and expense before we’ve even proven it will work. Plus, plenty of newspapers have a city in their name but report beyond that city. 

For the longest time, I was adamantly opposed to expanding beyond the city limits. It gave me a convenient excuse to say no and allowed me to have real boundaries that were literal boundaries. 

Of course those limits are artificial. Nothing magic happens when you cross the city line. Something happening  across the street doesn’t go away just because that street happens to be a city or county line. So it was always kind of arbitrary. 

A big reason we’re doing it is because a lot of these communities have so much going on right now. Crowded, impactful elections. Major redevelopments. Big city projects. They need local news. 

I’m hopeful it can work, but it needs a lot of support. We just launched our member drive yesterday, and I’m eager to see how it goes. Can we build support in these new communities? Am I biting off more than I can chew? Will people step up and make local news possible? 

Since I started this local news endeavor, I’ve always believed in being present. You have to be there, go into the community, do the work. I’ve been doing that since the summer. We’ve proven we can cover stories in these surrounding communities without neglecting West St. Paul. I’m showing up in the communities (literally—I’m typing this in the Inver Glen Library in Inver Grove Heights doing a drop-in meet and greet event—to which nobody has dropped in, but that’s besides the point). 

What matters is simply showing up. In doing that, I ran into a county worker I know from other stories. She told me about a trail project they were working on. I already knew of it, but she gave me details and pieces that will one day be another article. It’s tiny connections like that, made possible by showing up in person. Sure, I could have found the details online. But hearing the excitement is something else. 

I love that. It’s what local news is all about. It’s what makes sharing West St. Paul so much fun, and now I hope we can bring that same energy and excitement to our neighbors.