The viewership has increased to around 900 hits a week now and still growing. Not exactly a Chicago Tribune but not bad for a community of 2000 people.

You have probably noticed that the news on Minonk Talk is brief and to the point. People do not want to linger too long on a subject on a web site. If people need more detail analysis, they read the newspaper. The advantages posed by a web site is that it can respond immediately to any outbreak of news and report it to the viewers.

You may have also noticed that some news goes unreported. The reason for that is that as a one man web site I do not have the time to cover everything. If, however, someone wishes to send me a news article, I am willing to put it on the web site.

The most detailed coverage is given to city council meetings. I feel that this should be the most important local news to cover. People should be made aware of what's going on in city affairs. Since people don't go to city council meetings they can learn what went on in the council meetings 2 hours afterwards on Minonk Talk.

It is pretty hard to come up with a new editorial every week. Viewers are welcome to submit a guest editorial for publication on Minonk Talk. Albin Johnson and Barth Weistart have contributed editorials this year and were well received. I know that some people have taken offense to some of my editorials. But like Lincoln said, "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all the time." I take the editorials very seriously and try to be as impartial as I can. I am trying to present what I perceive to be the voice of the people in this community.

I wish more people would write letters to this web site on the issues that face the community. This is probably the most important function of this web site - to give viewers a forum for discussion of issues. The city fathers cannot be influenced if you don't let them know how you feel about something. Silence is assumed to be supportive by the city council.

I hope to eventually include other people who can help retrieve and record the news for this web site. I have purchased the former Odd Fellows building at the corner of Fifth and Walnut and hope to someday have an office there for Minonk Talk.

A section devoted to Minonk businesses is being planned for later this year.

Starting this week a new section called Stories is being promoted. This section of Minonk Talk will contain stories submitted by our viewers. Everyone has a story to tell. The Stories section gives the viewers a forum to tell their story. It may be a story on what it was like to grow up in Minonk, or an unusual experience from the past, or just a funny thing that happened on the way to the forum. A good example of this is the story of threshing dinners recounted by Trudy Denson, a former Minonk resident. You might even want to interview your grandfather and record his experiences as a youth. The possibilities are endless. Don't be afraid to write down your thoughts. So much of our history is recorded by historians and reporters. Don't worry about whether you feel you are a good writer. I think firsthand knowledge put down on paper (or computer) is more refreshing and authentic. I also think it will be fun for our viewers. Send in your story and it will be displayed on Minonk Talk permanently.

I also encourage viewers to send old photos. The photo section and the old photos in the history section are very popular among the viewers. Just attach the photo as a JPEG file in an email. If you don't have a scanner, contact me and I will make arrangements to have the photo scanned into a computer file.

As a way of improving this web site, I invite you to send me your comments on Minonk Talk by completing the survey box at the bottom of this page. Tell me what features you like the best. Also, tell me what you don't like about Minonk Talk. Finally, tell me what features you would like to see added to this web site. You do not have to submit your name. I will publish the findings at a later date. Confidentiality will be maintained because I will not have access to your email address. This is your chance to take a potshot at me without revealing yourself.

Finally, I wish to thank everyone who has viewed Minonk Talk this past year. I hope that you have found this web site to be informative and also entertaining. I have thoroughly enjoyed developing this web site and, with your help, hope to make it bigger and better.