One era ends, another begins

HARLINGEN - The newspaper in your hands marks the end of an era in newspaper publishing in the Rio Grande Valley and the beginning of a new one.

It's the last edition of the Valley Morning Star to be printed at the newspaper's Harlingen plant.

Look for a bright change in Monday's Star.

Today, Freedom Communications Inc. will begin printing the Star at the McAllen Monitor's plant, where a new press will improve the quality of the newspaper that will continue to be produced in Harlingen.

"It's a much newer press with greater color capability," said Tyler Patton, the Star's publisher.

The McAllen press, about five years old, offers state-of-the-art technology, Patton said.

"It will be a lot more colorful and easier to read, which will be good for the advertisers and our readers," he said.

Saturday marked the Star's last press run in Harlingen, before switching to the McAllen press.

The old press had printed the Star for nearly 35 years, said Gary Maley, the newspaper's production director.

On May 13, 1974, the press replaced hot-lead type printing, the technology used to print newspapers since the 1880s.

"It was the latest and greatest thing," said Maley, who started his career at the Star as a Teletype operator in 1969. "It was the freshest thing on the market."

The move to the McAllen plant will improve the Star's printed quality and save money, Patton said.

"One reason for the consolidation will be some long-term savings," Patton said. "At one time, our press was going to be replaced. We won't have to put out the capital outlay for a new press."

Freedom Communications will add the Star to a roster of four daily newspapers printed on McAllen's new press, Patton said.

Readers will see a brighter, more vivid newspaper come to their doors every morning, Patton said.

The Star's line of carriers will continue to deliver the newspaper to customers' door, Patton said.

"As copies come off the press, they'll be loaded onto trucks and taken back to Harlingen," he said. "Once they get here, they'll be distributed as always."