How To Send Us News & Other House Keeping Items We Need To Cover
An fun administrative post with a sneak preview of upcoming stories ...
Hi.
This Monroe Gazette thing is quickly taking on a life of its own.
So, I want to corral some things before I drown in a sea of unanswered emails, story submissions, and getting murdered like former Clovewood property owner, Marvin Greene did.
And I don’t mean like, how Mr. Greene was officially murdered. I mean in the, “Don’t tell any True Crime Podcasters to look into Marvin Greene’s murder, because then they’ll never leave” kind of way.
You know what I’m saying?
How To Send Us News
Online: I highly recommend you use Signal. Signal is a secure message app. Everything is encrypted, and messages self-destruct after a pre-set time period. You can reach me on Signal at 646-331-8341.
Signal is very easy to use, easier to download, and works on virtually every device. You can get it here for free.
I appreciate everyone sending me tips through Facebook, but it’s also very easy for me to lose things within Facebook. Plus, Facebook isn’t secure. And I take the whole privacy and security thing seriously.
PLEASE use Signal whenever possible for your safety and mine.
Offline: The Monroe Gazette, PO BOX 452, 88 St. Rt. 17M, Harriman, New York, 10926. You do not need to provide a return address. It’s actually better if you don’t, and the information to contact you is within the letter that you’re sending.
I received a terrific essay this week in that was sent in this manner. I’m still reading through it, but this is a great way to send stories and it’s also fairly safe and secure. (Without a return address, a warrant would be needed for that mail to be intercepted by authorities.)
If you are going to send mail offline, don’t send it from a post office. Find your nearest sidewalk mailbox and toss it in there.
Following these steps help ensure the safety of sources wishing to remain anonymous. For example, I know a lot of people who won’t speak publicly because they’re afraid of Supervisor Tony Cardone retaliating against them like the way he did Bill Brown.
That’s why the steps I outlined here are important to follow.
Posting Schedule
Lately I’m posting every day, including weekends, and that’s not sustainable. So I’ll only be posting Monday through Friday. There are some freelance assignments I need to do on occasion to help pay the bills (more on that in a second), and so I need the weekends to work on those things.
If something major happens, for example, if I can confirm the Joel Stern in Woodbury gathering signatures for Tyler A. Etzel Jr. (You know, the ACE Farms guy?) and John U. Kelemen is the same Joel Stern that founded the hate group, United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, THAT would be a story I’d run on the weekend. It’s breaking news.
Right now, it’s iffy if the Woodbury Joel Stern is the same as the South Blooming Grove Joel Stern. There’s two different addresses, and although the Brooklyn and Woodbury address could belong to someone else, and he’s just using it, I can’t prove that yet.
Facts matter.
And yes, everyone’s least favorite Woodbury Village Trustee, James Freiband, is one of the people behind the push for Mr. Etzel Jr and Mr. Kelemen to run for Woodbury Village Board.
So, unless you want Woodbury to turn into South Blooming Grove, you all better get ready for that fight. Sooner rather than later.
If it were me? I’d start knocking on doors and gathering emails right now.
The End?
I started The Monroe Gazette because of what happened with The Photo-News. Something that will likely end up in court. So I don’t want to say too much.
What I will say is that, when I started it, I had a goal: 100 paying monthly subscribers by August 1st.
If I didn’t reach that number, than it wasn’t a viable business and I would shut it down while I did the whole law school thing.
If I did reach that number, than no matter where I was or what I was doing, The Monroe Gazette would be my full time job.
Right now, there aren’t too many benefits to subscribing. You get to leave comments on posts. That’s about it. The reason for the paywall is to help keep away sockpuppets, weirdos, and antisemites.
I have been thinking of adding an audio version, where I read these posts, and only paying subscribers would get that audio edition. But that’s just an idea for now.
The bottom line is, if you like what I’m doing and want to help keep the lights on, I encourage you to become a monthly subscriber. You can do so here.
If I don’t hit that number, I may continue running this newsletter, but it will probably be at a reduced posting schedule so I can fit in other things that pay the bills.
That’s still TBD.
DON’T FREAK OUT. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just making sure I’m completely transparent with you. This way I can focus on reporting and not have to think about other things.
Like how State Senate Canddiate, and Town of Monroe Councilwoman Dorey Houle, is using her official Town email to insult fellow Councilwoman Maureen Richardson instead of, you know, literally doing anything else.
A vote for Dorey is a vote for Cardone in the Senate. He tried the same thing with Luciani in the Assembly last year.
The dude is power hungry, but you and I can stop him.
More on how soon.