Central Oklahoma Weeklies purchases The Blanchard News

By Tony Strickland

Longtime Blanchard News owner/editor Ross Coyle announced the sale of the paper this week to Central Oklahoma Weeklies, the Mustang-based owner and publisher of the Mustang Times, the Tuttle Times, the Choctaw Times, Minco-Union City Times and the Midwest City Beacon. Coyle has owned and run The Blanchard News since 1972, when he purchased it from another longtime owner, Bill Van Wie.

This week’s edition of the Blanchard News is the last under Ross’ historic leadership before he begins a well-earned retirement. The Blanchard News, however, is set to continue weekly publication under the new ownership and will soon see the addition of a Blanchard News Facebook page and a new weekly online version of the paper alongside the time-honored print edition.

Central Oklahoma Weeklies is led by co-publishers Steve Coulter, Steve Kizziar and Jeff Edwards.

“Blanchard is such a great community and such a growing community,” Coulter noted this week. “We are close by with the Mustang Times and the Tuttle Times, so we were very familiar with the area, and we did not want to see Blanchard not have a newspaper. We are looking forward to being here and to serving the community as we hope to build on the foundation of what Ross has built over all these many, many years. We want to thank him for his service to the newspaper industry and what he has done for this community over a long period of time. He leaves a lasting legacy and we wish him a happy and rewarding retirement.”

Coulter also noted that Blanchard News regular readers and subscribers can count on uninterrupted service and continued quality content.

“We are looking for a smooth transition and for everything to keep going as it’s been going. We’re going to honor all subscriptions – if you’ve been taking the paper, you’re going to keep getting it. The paper should also continue to be available each week on Thursday, beginning next week.”

The new owners of the Blanchard News also bring their own multidecade, award-winning legacy to town.

“I’ve been in the newspaper business for over 25 years and I was recently, this summer, inducted into the Oklahoma Press Association Quarter-Century Club,” Coulter noted. “We started Central Oklahoma Weeklies in 2004, but I had previous experience. I started at the Mustang News as the advertising director for 5 years, then became the publisher before we started the Mustang Times in 2004. We then went on to start the Minco-Union City Times, bought the Tuttle Times, started the Choctaw Times and bought the Capital Hill Beacon which became the Midwest City Beacon.

“Our papers have won a lot of awards over the years and we pride ourselves on quality coverage of news and sports, great advertising opportunities and great layout and design. We have won the Sequoyah Award many times now, which honors the best-of-the-best newspapers in the state. It’s the highest honor given by the Oklahoma Press Association.

“The new online edition of The Blanchard News will link in with our website (www.centraloklahomaweeklies.com). Readers will be able to go there and click on it and it will look just like the original paper as you click through the pages. We know lot of people still like the printed edition of a good, quality hometown paper, but we also realize that a lot of people like an online version instead. We will offer both. Readers will be able to pick the length of their online subscription through the website, whether you just want a week or a month or six months or a year.”

Coulter also noted that the new Blanchard News is also planning on opening a business office in town, but it will not be located at the current Blanchard News site, as that building has already been sold. The site of the new office is still to be determined.

To be continued (Tony’s Note)

Wow! So that happened! I know the paper ownership change might seem a little surreal to some of us, but I think you’ll probably agree with me that if anyone deserves a little time off and a little relaxation, it’s Ross Coyle. Week in, week out, year after year, decade after decade, he has churned out The Blanchard News to serve this community. Stalwart, dedicated, unwavering — lots of adjectives I could use describe my friend who has been letting me write for him for over 16 years now. Lots of wonderful things to say about the man.

But I’m not going to do that. Not this week, anyway. You see, the new Blanchard News ownership, Central Oklahoma Weeklies, has been so kind as to retain my meager services (nicest fellas, they really are) and they were super-supportive of me writing up a nice “thank you” to Ross in NEXT week’s edition of the Blanchard News.

Now, I’m going to thank Ross then, rather than right here, for a couple of reasons. Number two is that I hope it will make a nice transition piece to encourage you to check out the new Blanchard News. I believe some great things are in store for our paper under the Central Oklahoma Weeklies umbrella. Was over to their offices in Mustang this week and they are experienced and award-winning and excited about the new opportunity. But my number one reason for holding off on thanking Ross until next week is that he is still in charge of THIS edition and if I write glowing things about my friend, I’m not entirely sure he will print them. The big man doesn’t like to talk about himself but tune in next week and I will do a little of that for all of us. Promise. I’ll talk a little about Vickie and Cheryl too. They are amazing ladies.

But this week, I do want you to know that you will still be able to contact The Blanchard News through the same email address: [email protected]. You can also contact me at [email protected] or at 405-640-7403 with any questions or items you might have for the paper. I might not know the answer, but I can get you to those who do. Oh, and by the way, the new deadline for weekly contributions is Monday night. Please note!

Anyway, for now (and for this era) of The Blanchard News, I’ll sign off.

Okay, you talked me into one good Ross story. As you might know, The Blanchard News deadline each week is (was!) noon on Wednesdays. So Wednesdays, particularly the mornings, can be a little tense. For obvious reasons, the staff is in pretty constant communication in those hours, in person or via phone, text or email. On one such summer Wednesday morning not so many years ago, I had completed all my stories and emailed them the night before. So I decided that Wednesday morning to mow the backyard of my little abode on South Jackson. Didn’t take my phone outside with me, didn’t think I’d need it. I had mowed exactly half of that yard by about noon-thirty when I sensed someone watching me. I mean, really watching me. That’s when I turned to find my boss standing in the back door of my house with a scowl on his face. That’s right, he let himself in. To my house. Didn’t know he knew where I lived.

I swallowed hard and prepared myself to be out of a job. But he wasn’t even angry. He knew I lived alone and was just concerned that I hadn’t checked in. “You alright?” he asked in that gruff old voice of his. “I was worried when we didn’t hear from you. Don’t do that again.”

And I did not. But that’s the kind of guy Ross is. Good man, good friend. Just in case you didn’t know.

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