Hey all, a lot has happened since my last letter to you. I hope you’re doing well and enjoying this free weekly newspaper. Let’s see if I can give you an update on all the things happening behind the scenes.
Public Appearances
Last month I got to serve as a panelist at Tacoma Lit Fest at Tacoma Armory. My fellow panelists were David Fischer from KNKX and Stephanie Pedersen, editor of The News Tribune and The Olympian. We were speaking about the importance of local media. One thing we all agree on is that journalism is under attack and underfunded. It’s never been more important to support the free press, and there are lots of ways to do that for Weekly Volcano. You can thank our advertisers. You can subscribe to our mailing list and/or our free email newsletter, Happy Friday. You can like and share our posts on social media. You can visit our website. You can tell your friends about us. You can recommend us to potential sponsors and advertisers. You can volunteer to help us. You can email your events for our free calendar to calendar@weekly-volcano.com. You can send us your news tips to newsroom@weekly-volcano.com.
On the weekend of May 16 and 17, I served as chief judge for the Washington State Chili Cookoff at Ocean Shores. They put me up at a lovely beachfront condo at the Grey Gull with my labradoodle companion. On Sunday I got to announce all the winners and give away the trophies and prizes. If you know me at all, you know I love giving away stuff!
If you would like me to come and speak at your upcoming meeting or event, email me at Angela.Jossy@Weekly-Volcano.com.
Building the Team
Ever since October of last year, I have been serving as editor of Tacoma Weekly in addition to Weekly Volcano. You may have noticed that my same team of writers has been writing for both newspapers. I also hired several new writers recently to help us with our expansion plans. Look at this impressive roster: Matt Kite, Meg Van Huygen, Aarde Writes, Ande Dunn, Brittany Danielle, Yayoi Lena Winfrey, Sara A. Jones, Jack Cameron, Matt Stevens, Barb Rock, Suzy Stump, Alan Gorsuch, Jackie Fender, Keelin Everly-Lang, Avery Goodstine, Merrick Parnell, Brian Kidd, Najah Monique Todd, Anderson Hobbs, Maureen Parker and Steve Hickey.
Paying the Bills
Support for Weekly Volcano comes from the following: McMenamins, Community Healthcare, Ted Brown Music, Blue Mouse Theatre, Emerald Queen Casino, Grand Cinema, Marconi’s Chiropractic, BJ’s Beauty and Barber College, Courthouse Square and Hosmer Business Association.
If you would like to advertise with us, email Advertising@Weekly-Volcano.com.
We have our rates posted on our website at weekly-volcano.com/advertise-page. It’s part of our mission to support locally owned independent businesses, so I am usually open to negotiation. Don’t hesitate to ask for a consultation.
We are also looking for section sponsors for the Recreation Section, Financial Section, Resources Section, Art Section, Food Section, Film Section and News Briefs Section. It’s only $231 per week to be a section sponsor, and our cheapest ad is $150 per week, so becoming a sponsor is very affordable in comparison. Sponsorship comes with perks like web banners, digital ads and bragging rights.
Long-Range Goals
As some of you may know, we set a goal to become the Newspaper of Record for the City of Tacoma. The requirements were not easy, but we are very close to qualifying now. One of the most challenging aspects was getting a Periodicals Permit from the United States Post Office. For starters, it costs over a thousand dollars to apply. It also requires that 50% of your distribution be paid mailing subscribers. For us, that would mean 1,000 people would have to subscribe.
But then I found out that instead of paid subscribers, we could have requestors. We thought we could count the copies we dropped off all over town, but they rejected that. They said they needed individual names, so we did a callout in the newspaper and online, and within 18 days, we had 1,000 people signed up!
But in order to apply as a requestor, we needed to have a publication with at least 24 pages, and we were in a cash flow crunch. We had scaled back to eight pages while waiting for payments to come in. This week, dear reader, is the week we begin printing 24 pages so we can reapply! It could take up to two months to get the permit, but I will be sure to let you know as soon as we find out!
We are also working on our short-form video game. Some of my new hires are really good at it, and we hope to showcase their talents on our TikToks and Reels real soon. One day we hope to create a weekly news show for you.
Personal Life
In December I noticed I had lost 12 pounds and decided to keep it going, so I started microdosing GLP-1 injections. Did you know that 1 in 8 people are on a GLP-1 as of late 2025? I’ve lost 43 pounds since December, and I have been having the best time buying replacement clothes from yard sales and flea markets!
My daughter and I love to go thrift shopping like this. Don’t you hate how the clothes you buy online all seem to be the same plastic-feeling fabric? It’s funny how much more appealing used clothes are now because you can find more natural fibers and clothes that have that cozy, lived-in feel to them.
We recently visited Tacoma Flea Market and Thriftapalooza in addition to using the Yard Sale app to find individual sales around the neighborhoods. Viva the hunt!
This weekend we are having our own yard sale to get rid of all the stuff we don’t need anymore. If you would like to be invited, email me at Angela.Jossy@Weekly-Volcano.com
