Cascadia Daily News

In 1997, Tim Johnson co-founded The Every Other Weekly, an alternative newspaper based in Bellingham, Washington. Its final issue was published on Nov. 27, 2002. Following the closure, Johnson entered into partnership with Douglas Tolchin to launch The Bellingham Weekly on April 24, 2003.{{Cite news |last=Kjeldsen |first=Jim |last2=McCallum |first2=Bill |date=April 2017 |title=Free County Publications Proliferate |url=https://whatcomwatch.org/wpww2/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Free-Publications-2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102211027/http://whatcomwatch.org/wpww2/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Free-Publications-2.pdf |archive-date=November 2, 2021 |access-date=December 26, 2024 |work=Whatcom Watch |pages=11}}

The two co-owned the paper's publisher, Atomic Telegraph, LLC, and constantly feuded as the business faced financial difficulties and failed to pay federal taxes. Tolchin fired Johnson on Dec. 13, 2005, alleging he was scheming to force the company into dissolution and liquidation as a means to become its sole owner.{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=J.J. |last2=Thompson |first2=John |date=2005-12-31 |title=Bellingham Weekly fracas ends in ‘hibernation’ |url=https://bbjtoday.com/blog/bellingham-weekly-fracas-ends-in-hibernation/849/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120041613/http://bbjtoday.com/blog/bellingham-weekly-fracas-ends-in-hibernation/849 |archive-date=November 20, 2010 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The Bellingham Business Journal |language=en-US}} Tolchin laid off the entire staff and scrapped the paper's last issue. Johnson took him to court and was granted a temporary restraining order against Tolchin so he could print the paper's last edition. However, the judge required Johnson to post a $22,000 bond, which he declined.{{Cite news |last=Gallagher |first=Dave |date=December 16, 2005 |title=Dispute disrupts Weekly {{!}} One owner wants to replace staff |work=The Bellingham Herald |pages=9}}

Tolchin published a four-page issue on Jan. 6, 2006, announcing The Bellingham Weekly was going into “hibernation." This led Johnson to start a third altweekly on March 15, 2006, called the Cascadia Weekly.{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=J.J. |date=2006-02-28 |title=Another paper to join the fray |url=https://bbjtoday.com/blog/another-paper-to-join-the-fray/965/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930185040/https://bbjtoday.com/blog/another-paper-to-join-the-fray/965/ |archive-date=September 30, 2019 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The Bellingham Business Journal |language=en-US}} The paper garnered controversy in 2019 when in it was caught stealing movie reviews. The paper took articles and republished them without permission or compensating the authors. Johnson issued an apology and the practice stopped.{{Cite web |last=Herzog |first=Katie |date=September 19, 2019 |title=Cascadia Weekly Publisher Apologizes for Stealing Film Reviews... Kinda |url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/09/19/41427878/cascadia-weekly-publisher-apologizes-for-stealing-film-reviews-kinda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925051639/https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/09/19/41427878/cascadia-weekly-publisher-apologizes-for-stealing-film-reviews-kinda |archive-date=September 25, 2019 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The Stranger |language=en}}

By 2020, businessman David Syre was the sole owner of the Cascadia Newspaper Company, which published the Cascadia Weekly. Syre commissioned a study to uncover ways to revive the paper amid the COVID-19 recession in the United States. One option was to shift coverage from arts and culture to hard news.{{Cite web |last=Dudley |first=Brier |date=2021-08-13 |title=New local newspaper emerges in Bellingham |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/new-local-newspaper-emerges-in-bellingham/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}} So he hired former Seattle Times columnist Ron Judd to lead the paper,{{cite news |date=August 11, 2021 |title=Cascadia Weekly: Locally owned daily news publication coming to Bellingham |url=https://www.cascadiaweekly.com/cw/currents/cascadia_newspaper_launches_daily_news_publication_in_bellingham |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102134201/https://www.cascadiaweekly.com/cw/currents/cascadia_newspaper_launches_daily_news_publication_in_bellingham |archive-date=November 2, 2021 |accessdate=March 4, 2022 |work=Cascadia Weekly}} which was rebranded as Cascadia Daily News.{{cite news |last=Benoit |first=Matt |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Bellingham to be a two-newspaper town again — in a brave new information world |url=https://salish-current.org/2022/01/21/bellingham-to-be-a-two-newspaper-town-again-in-a-brave-new-information-world/ |accessdate=March 4, 2022 |work=Salish Current}} The paper's website launched on Jan. 24, 2022, followed by its first print edition on March 2.{{Cite web |last=Judd |first=Ron |date=2022-07-13 |title=We're in this fight for the duration, but can't do it without you. |url=https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2022/jul/13/were-in-this-fight-for-the-duration-but-cant-do-it-without-you/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Cascadia Daily News |language=en-US}} Six months later after launching the paper added a paywall to its website.{{Cite web |last=Judd |first=Ron |date=2022-07-13 |title=Read all about it: CDN's new website pay service |url=https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2022/jul/13/read-all-about-it-cdns-new-website-pay-service/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Cascadia Daily News |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://www.cascadiadaily.com/}}

{{italic title}}

Category:2022 establishments in Washington (state)

Category:Mass media in Bellingham, Washington

Category:Newspapers established in 2022

Category:Newspapers published in Washington (state)