We’ve received some calls and comments from concerned readers and advertisers lately about the quality of the print and page trimming of the magazine. Please know that we are aware of these issues and are working with our printer to improve the quality of the publication.

The pressmen have been in the process of replacing and updating equipment which has caused some issues along the way.

We have also had some issues with the post office in getting out magazine to readers in a timely manner.

Believe me, when I say, nothing is more frustrating to us than sending out a magazine late that is less than professional in appearance.

We will continue to work on these issues and hope you will be patient with us.

I’ve probably told you this before but printing presses are not an easy animal to run. In a previous life when I worked for a daily paper our building flooded and burned to the ground and along with it our precious press.

We had to build a new building and buy a new press and it took a couple of years for us to get that press working correctly. We even had to bring in pressman from other newspapers who had experience setting up the massive, noisy machines. Once the press was set up there were numerous tweaks and adjustments that had to be made. And every time one issue was fixed another one popped up in response.

We understand the problems that the pressmen are dealing with, so we are trying to be patient as they work through these issues.

If you missed my previous editor’s note about Baxter Black’s status, he has retired and will no longer be providing us with a weekly column. We are currently trying to see if we can publish his older columns possibly monthly but we have to be careful and make sure his family is okay with that.

If you would like to send some kind words to Baxter, you can do so at Baxter Black, 1251 S. Red Chile Rd., Benson, AZ 85602 or at cindylou@baxterblack.com. I’m sure Baxter would be happy to hear from his loyal fans and to know how important his work is to all of you.

He is dearly missed here at The Fence Post and some readers have commented on how the back end of the book is empty without him.