We've been talking with our readers. We've been attending meetings, hearing how many people are made nervous by opinion pieces and letters that mention politics, while others find our care in selecting such things worth supporting. We've learned that there are many who miss the old correspondent columns that used to track who had tea with whom, or was away visiting relatives, or simply in need of a visit themselves because they hadn't been feeling well. We've started to realize in this age of instant social media, itself a thing of gossip and light "news," people want more, albeit more local, too. And in a print publication so they can hold on to it, and be able to read it without straining their eyes or getting a crick in their phone-addled hand.

We've been talking with other newspapers, and people who've worked in various forms of media, looking ways to move forward, to be able to afford this thing we do. And all agree it's important, but also in troubled times. Everyone supported us in our challenges, and hoped we could find a way through because there's a growing sense among a majority of people out there that news still matters, especially on a community level. Even when we don't agree with it, or have differences, it holds us together by being a shared medium.

Of course, all this may be moot. Our needs continue, as does our plea for help. We've gotten some pledges of support, some expressions of worry, some confusion. But we're maintaining hope... and working as best we can to move together with you into a great 2017.

Speaking of which, we've noted a few things in need of some opinion this week.

First off, did you hear about the new French laws against employers texting or emailing employees at home during down time? The new employment law requires French companies with more than 50 employees to begin drawing up policies with their workers about limiting work-related technology usage outside the office. The motivation behind the legislation, it's been explained, is to stem work-related stress that increasingly leaks into people's personal time — and hopefully prevent employee burnout.

Is this a good idea or something to be lambasted? We suggest simply looking at the issues behind the new law, which has about as much chance of being passed here now as some law allowing for a basic wage for all. How do YOU find ways to stem stress in your life, especially as it regards work, or electronics for that matter.

Secondly, there's the whole hullabaloo released this week about our President-elect. Where do we leave off partisanship and begin to worry about basic behavior, and when it might be endangering to greater democratic principles. Is all this Russia stuff a hoax, and our intelligence community really as bad as they're being painted. More importantly, is there a way to get at deep truths, as occurred during the Watergate era so many decades back. Or are we only to base decisions on opinions from here on in?

See Bob Prener's column on this very question inside these pages...

But enough current affairs. It's the first big holiday weekend of the new year, and one we feel deeply about. Yes, controversies continue to follow Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy in some circles. And yet the seriousness of his speeches and writings continue to grow, and impact all, nearly 40 years since his tragic death.

The man was more than just a dreamer, we want to remind everyone. He was brave, he was flexible, and he wasn't afraid of pushing ideas out of their boxes into areas where they could be really tested for eternal truths and fallacies.

That's something we should all celebrate... something that we believe is utterly American, on the one hand, but also truly universal.

May such force go with all of you!