It took a few weeks but a Christmas miracle is coming true near the Canadian border, in Washington’s Whatcom County.

The Northern Light, a weekly newspaper serving more than 10,000 households in Blaine and Birch Bay, was saved by a remarkably generous gift over the holidays.

It was about to close until the family owners decided, after a last-minute conversation, to donate their business to a fledgling nonprofit newspaper operator.

Publication paused briefly but resumes this week, with jobs intact and the profitable paper’s financial position stronger than before.

“They were going to shut the door entirely,” said Ellen Hiatt, executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. “For them to be able to connect and keep the doors open while they figured out how to make a transition final, it’s a small miracle.”

Outcomes like this are a reminder that despite disruption, consolidation and closures over the last two decades, local newspapers can remain viable if they maintain quality, evolve their operations and have supportive communities.

The trick for some is finding people to continue publishing when longtime owners decide to retire, like Patrick Grubb and Louise Mugar. They tried through much of 2025 to sell The Northern Light, along with a monthly paper, the All Point Bulletin, serving Point Roberts and parts of British Columbia.

They got lots of bites but no keepers. Grubb said the business was valued at $200,000 to $300,000 and one offer came close to that, but they declined it over terms and concerns about how the papers would be operated.

Just before Christmas they decided to close down and pay staff through January, ending their 35-year-run as publishers and a masthead that first appeared in 1858.

Then word reached Kari Mar, a former journalist and tech veteran who led the resurrection of La Conner’s weekly newspaper last year.

Mar reached out to Hiatt, who said she connected Mar and Grubb on Dec. 23.

A deal came together quickly. Grubb published a column Dec. 31 announcing their retirement and that they were in “final negotiations” to turn the paper over to a nonprofit.

“There may be a lapse of a couple of issues, but we are hopeful that our readers and advertisers will soon be seeing a familiar friend next to their coffee cups,” he wrote.

Grubb and Mugar chose to give the paper outright to Mar’s group. They’re also providing a head-start by covering January wages.

“We had hoped it would have been sold,” said Grubb, “but the most important thing for us was that the papers continue on and that our employees would continue to have a job.”

Combined, the Whatcom papers employ six people full-time, plus freelancers. That includes two writers, 2.5 sales people, a part-time office manager and a graphic designer.

Grubb, 73, said they are profitable — “not hugely so but enough so that they’re not losing money.”

Annual sales are nearly $1 million, Grubb said, largely from advertising. The papers are mailed to everyone in the local ZIP code for free and there’s no paywall on its website.

An hour south of Blaine, Mar and community members tried to buy La Conner’s weekly when its owner, Ken Stern, retired at the end of 2024. But he opted to close it down instead.

The community members joined forces with Mar and launched a new, nonprofit publication, La Conner Community News. Its website debuted last February and a print edition, initially with 3,000 copies, began in March.

An acquisition is a bold move for a startup barely a year old.

Lynn Beebe, a retired teacher and president of the nonprofit, said “it’s a big challenge to take on” but fits with their “belief system.”

“We all really believe in local newspapers, and that it’s important for people to read stuff about themselves written by people who are in the community,” Beebe said.

Mar said the plan is to operate the papers for three months and then decide whether they should remain with the La Conner paper or another entity, such as the Salish Current, a Bellingham-based nonprofit news outlet. Her for-profit company, Daffodil Press, is managing the paper under contract.

“My ultimate goal is having the most sustainable outcome for the publications,” she said.

In a way, the cycle is repeating. The All Point Bulletin was about to close when Grubb and Mugar, enthusiastic and midcareer, acquired it in 1991. They started a new version of The Northern Light in 1995. He became publisher, and she was co-publisher and advertising manager.

They had moved to the area a few years earlier, after working in magazine and book publishing in New York.

In addition to the newspapers, they produced adventure magazine Mount Baker Experience and a wedding guide, Pacific Coast Weddings.

The publications were walloped by the Great Recession but Grubb and Mugar built them back, reaching a high point just before the bottom fell out again during the pandemic.

While it’s profitable, the business was likely going to need cost-cutting that wasn’t palatable to Grubb and Mugar.

Grubb said Mar should be able to avoid those cuts because she moved the operation to a smaller office and will get lower postage rates available to nonprofits. He said the office move will save $35,000 a year and mailing costs, of around $2,500 per week, will decrease 46%.

Grubb and Mugar have grown children who aren’t interested in running the business.

“They saw us working long hours and it didn’t appeal to them — I don’t blame them, either,” Grubb said. “We really enjoyed what we did. The time went by really quick.”

Mar’s technical savvy will help but Grubb said printed editions are key to the papers’ success.

“You’re always fighting the feelings out there — you know, ‘print’s dead’ or ‘you’ve got to do it on Facebook,’ ” he said. “But the fact is, when you go to every house in your circulation area it really is a valued part of the community. Everybody knows what’s going on in the city, everyone knows what’s going on in the school district. You can’t guarantee that with these other methods of reaching people.”

Asked about memorable accomplishments, Grubb said the community’s appreciation stands out.

“The media gets a bad rap a lot of the time. But I’ve never worked for a business where we’ve received more thanks and gratitude for doing what we do,” he said. “We tried to be as unbiased as we could be and be straight shooters and people really appreciated that. There’s various stories over the years that we’re happy that we did but I would say that would be the thing that would stand out the most.”

I share Hiatt’s sentiment: She’s “surprised and delighted” that Washington avoided the loss of more newspapers.

“Miracles, they don’t just happen, right?” she said. “It takes good souls, with good intent, to make it happen.”

This is excerpted from the free, weekly Voices for a Free Press newsletter. Sign up to receive it at the Save the Free Press website, st.news/SavetheFreePress. Seattle Times’ Brier Dudley is the editor of the Free Press Initiative, which aims to inform the public about issues facing newspapers, local news coverage, and a free press. You can learn more about the Free Press Initiative, or sign up for a newsletter, at https://company.seattletimes.com/save-the-free-press/.