Upstart Newspaper to Hit Angleton

Rigor mortis had barely set in on the corpse of the Angleton Times before plans for a new publication were set into motion.

The Times, 109 years old when it finally croaked, was shut down by Southern Newspapers, its corporate master, which decided that it simply didn't make financial sense anymore.

Southern Newspapers figures the Clute daily can keep the county seat covered.

The twice-weekly paper's circulation had dwindled to a pathetic 1,000 or so subscribers by the time the bean counters at Southern pulled the plug.

The working title of Angleton's new publication is "The Angleton Observer." It plans to launch the first week of May and has one advertiser on board, says Micheal Boddy, the editor.

Boddy has been around the block. We knew him back in his salad days when he was a photographer at The Houston Post, another newspaper that died a slow, agonizing death. He was a photographer at The Facts for awhile and most recently has been writing stories for the Chronicle's Brazoria County edition.

The principal owner of the new paper is Eric Riley, owner of Safi Grafix and Firefly Productions, Boddy said. The newspaper will have its office at Safi Grafix, 115-A East Mulberry.

" The Observer will be a traditional newspaper with real news, sports, and features about Angleton in it," Boddy said.
"We plan to deliver the first two editions to every household in Angleton. After that we'll be taking subscriptions for home delivery and will be available at participating businesses for 50 cents a copy," Boddy said.

"Anyone interested in subscribing, or purchasing an advertisement, should call us at 979-848-1497. Classified ads of four lines or less will be free to residents of Angleton, on a space available, first come, first served basis, for the first two editions. Any resident of Angleton who subscribes before the first edition hits the driveways can get up to a year for half price. Early subscribes will be eligible for a drawing for 10 free lifetime subscriptions."

The Brazosport News wishes Boddy and Riley well. Angleton deserves its own newspaper.

We don't know Riley, but Boddy has a nose for news. He knows where all the skeletons are. We just hope he has the backbone to lay it all out there in print.

Expect the Clute daily the pay extra special attention to Angleton news in the coming weeks to curry favor with residents of the county seat. There will be feature stories on Angleton residents who are engaged in interesting hobbies, a takeout on Angleton city finances and maybe, if we're real lucky, one of those interesting Kelly Hawes columns with an Angleton angle.

But do not be fooled. Angleton needs its own paper run by people who live in and pay taxes in Angleton -- people who are intimiately familiar with its problems and challenges, failures and successes. If you live and work in Clute, you don't really care that much.