Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Every new year brings a time of reflection — of what we’ve accomplished, what our new goals will be, and for what we are grateful.
For over 100 years, the STAR has been publishing the news, information, and opinions which are important to our community and readers. News, information, and opinions are shared, with the intention that they will help to inform and shape sound decisions in our personal lives, and that of the community as a whole.
And in our commitment to try to inform about issues which affect our lives, today, and tomorrow, sometimes we have succeeded and sometimes we haven’t.
That we have tried to raise the bar and provoke thought and reaction at another level is deliberate, and for that we make no apology; though it would seem that our popularity is not translated in reviews of numbers of copies sold.
In the coming year, we will continue to try to do the best that we can. That is our New Year’s resolution.
Even though we are a newspaper with limited resources, we will continue to strive to bring you the information, analyses and opinions we think have the largest impact on the community, so that you can judge for yourself.
As we close out 2022, we would also like to thank you, the readers, for your continued support and readership. We also thank the many people who have approached us personally to tell us how much they appreciate our efforts, and to offer their support.
That sentiment is appreciated more than we can ever express in words, and more than they will ever know.
We also say a big “thank you” to our advertisers, who continue to support us financially in our efforts to publish this newspaper.
Newspapers at times seem to be fighting a losing battle. Too few people read newspapers. They prefer getting their news from television, telephones, and computers. However, there’s nothing like holding a newspaper in your hands and reading it. We hope there will always be newspapers, and we hope that you will continue to read the STAR in 2023, and urge you to feel free to share your opinions on local and state issues. Unless we hear from you, we will never know for sure just what issues and topics are important to you, our valued readership.
In the spirit of renewal, with 2023 only a day away, we find ourselves thinking of how certain stories — a good number of them, in fact — might seem complete when they’re first published but are only one draft or chapter of what soon becomes a more expansive and deeper story. As reporters and editors, we must continually refresh what we think we know about a story as new events, information and perspectives emerge. And this need for refreshing extends to readers, too.
We think about weather-related events of the past year; those who have been taken from us in traffic-related events, crimes, and the election of new government leaders. They are stories worth telling.
Now, with all of that said, we wish our community the best in 2023 — our schools, churches, businesses, elected officials, and the people who live and work here every day. You are what makes our community. Every community is a valued piece of real estate. The Elizabethton community is different from the Hampton community, and thus, Hampton is different than Roan Mountain and Happy Valley. Like families, every community is unique and special. Just like families — no two families are a like. Your story is different from any other person’s, and we want to share it in the coming year.
All this is to say we are looking forward to bringing new stories to light — and adding new layers to existing stories — in the weeks and months to come.
Thank you for inviting us into your home.
Happy New Year, Carter County and Elizabethton