I’m Chris Coyle, a Lebanon city resident and reporter at LebTown since early 2019. I’m a boomer. I grew up here in the 60s and 70s, the heyday of the Lebanon Daily News and print newspapers in general. I remember the red headlines.

Research for LebTown stories often lands me in the LDN archives on newspapers.com, and I’m constantly reminded – sometimes astonished – at how thoroughly the Daily News covered everyday life and events in the county through the 1980s. Not just crime, government, politics, and business, but the “little things” – births, obituaries, community organizations, entertainment, schools, weddings, divorces, churches, etc. – that mesh us together and make us a community, not just a place. 

I recently had a real world encounter with the decline in coverage of local “little things.” My 95-year-old mom passed away shortly after Christmas. She knew everybody, but I’m still, almost midway through January, getting emails and texts from people who knew her for decades, saying “I just heard today that your mom died! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see an obit!”

You can’t find that kind of granular coverage in print nowadays, and we’re not there yet, but that’s what we’re aiming for at LebTown. 

Because we’re local and locally-owned, not a remote outpost of a global news conglomerate, you can always reach us with your comments, complaints, tips, and story ideas. We want to be part of Lebanon County.

If you’re a daily reader (don’t wait for your email update, access us directly, five days a week, by pointing your browser to LebTown.com and bookmarking us), thank you.

I like to tell people LebTown is a “low budget operation,” but I’m not trying to be funny. Covering local news is far from free. If you’re a LebTown member ($4.99 a month or $49.99 a year), thank you for supporting us and helping make Lebanon a better place.

If you’re not yet a supporting member, please consider signing up and helping us to continue expanding and improving our coverage.

Become a LebTown member

And if you see me around, let me know you’re a member, and coffee or your beverage-of-choice will be on me.

– Chris

Chris Coyle writes primarily on government, the courts, and business. He retired as an attorney at the end of 2018, after concentrating for nearly four decades on civil and criminal litigation and trials. A career highlight was successfully defending a retired Pennsylvania state trooper who was accused,...