Maupin couple launches local print newspaper in Central Oregon

When former preschool owner Colleen Strohm and her husband moved to Maupin after their retirement, they found a vibrant community, but no local newspaper.

“There used to be a newspaper here, a monthly … It was called the WamPinRock,” she said.

Strohm says it closed right around the time they moved to town. And even though people seemed to miss it, she couldn’t talk anyone into starting another paper. Finally, she realized if she wanted the community to have one again, she and her husband would need to start it themselves.

“When we met with the editor of the WamPinRock, he was very helpful and very encouraging. But he gave us some advice that we didn’t follow. He said, ‘Don’t do any news. You’ll step on people’s toes. People will be upset. Don’t do news.’”

Covering the news of the community was exactly what Stohm and her husband Doug Lowell, a retired advertising professor at Portland State University, wanted to do. They launched The South Wasco Times, a monthly print paper, in October.