News returns to Thursday print time

Delivery of The Albany News through the mail and at news racks is returning to Thursday mornings this week after printing presses at the Abilene Reporter-News are now back up and running.

A major fire at the Abilene newspaper in November forced the News to switch to printing the weekly paper in Lubbock until the Abilene press was operational.

Newspapers should be on local news racks by 6:30 a.m. on Thursdays, and local mail subscribers will also find the newspaper posted on Thursday morning like it was prior to the fire.

The distribution of the paper was delayed until Friday mornings during the two-month period while printing was moved to Lubbock due to a busy printing schedule at the plant there.

Reporter-News officials announced last week that printing had resumed at the Abilene location, although they will be relying on a large generator to provide electrical power. The fire started at the electrical entry point of the historic downtown Abilene building, requiring several hours to extinguish and causing a large amount of water damage.

The press room and mailing rooms were not directly affected by the blaze but did suffer some damage from water. The newsroom, advertising, and business departments suffered the majority of the damage from the fire, and those spaces are still undergoing repairs.

“We are certainly glad to be printing back in Abilene,” publisher Donnie A. Lucas said. “We should be able to get our distribution back on schedule. We certainly appreciate the patience our customers have shown during this period when the paper was a day late.”