In a few short weeks, our world has changed. Today we are facing unprecedented challenges as the Puget Sound and the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trusted local news has never been more important. At the Courier-Herald and courierherald.com, our journalists are on the front line bringing you the most up-to-date information and breaking news.

To help the citizens of King County and specifically the Plateau in this time of crisis, we have lifted our online paywall to give essential news to the greatest number of people. This allows full access to stories about the coronavirus free of charge. If you are a subscriber, you have access not only to this information but to all of our other content as well.

We are proud that our advertisers have chosen us as the way to connect with you about what they are doing during the unprecedented circumstances, but like many other businesses, this pandemic is exerting financial pressures on the Courier-Herald we’ve never before experienced.

As a result, we’ve had to make some tough choices including temporarily reducing the size and hours of our staff. In the future, this may include reducing the printed product to an online-only version until we weather this storm. You will still see news and information that is relevant to you and your lives, but the delivery method could change.

Our biggest priority in making these changes has been to preserve our ability to perform our public service mission and to keep our community informed.

We hope that you value the critical role and can support us in this important mission by becoming a subscriber today. To become a Courier-Herald print subscriber visit courierherald.com and click on subscribe in the subscribe center on the main menu.

Like many others, to curtail and stop the spread of COVID-19, most of our team is working remotely so it may take us more time than usual to respond and we thank you for your patience.

We wish you all of the best in this difficult time.

Rudi Alcott

Vice President & Publisher