| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner | CherryRoad Media |
| Founder | Marcus A. Bates |
| Editor | Max Silverson |
| Founded | 1918 (as Payette Lakes Star) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 1000 1st St, McCall, ID 83638 |
| Website | mccallstarnews |
The McCall Star-News is a weekly newspaper published in McCall, Idaho. It is owned by CherryRoad Media.
Marcus "Mark" Ayres Bates worked at a newspaper in Caldwell before launching the Parma Herald in 1903 in Parma. [1] [2] In 1915, Richard Ralph Womack moved to Cascade, Idaho and launched a weekly newspaper called the Cascade News. The printing plant was manufactured in Portland, Oregon. [3] [4] Two years later Womack sold the News to Burt Venable. [5] In 1918, Bates relocated his Parma print shop to McCall and then launched the Payette Lake Star. [1] [2]
In 1921, Venable sold the News to Ray E. Coleman. [6] Bates suspended the Star in 1925 due to a lack of patronage. [7] A few months later, a stock company was set up to run the Star and allow Bates to retire. [8] In 1933, former Star publisher J.C. Allen died from lead poisoning, which he contracted while working on the Payette paper. [9]
In 1934, the Star was sold at auction by Valley County sheriff R.L. Wilson for delinquent taxes to the paper's editor, W.C. Peer. [10] In 1937, Coleman retired and sold the News to Gordon Squires, who previously operated the Power County Booster in American Falls. [11] A year later Squires acquired the Star from Peer. [12] Squires published both papers until his death in 1962. [13] His widow Doris Squired then sold the News and Star to Don McMahan of Council and Glen Youngblood of Cascade. [14] [15]
At some point, Youngblood exited the business and the two papers were merged to form The Star-News. Jan and Bob McMahan sold the paper in 1977 to Michael D. Parfit. At that time the paper had a circulation of 2,500. [16] Two years later the Parfits sold the Star-News to A.L. "Butch" Alford Jr., publisher of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, and Tribune business manager Bill Brigs. [17] CherryRoad Media acquired the Star-News from them in 2022. [18] [19]