[2] The Courier shared resources with two other nearby newspapers, the Star-Herald and the Hemingford Ledger, both also owned by Lee Enterprises.

A one-time president of the Nebraska Press Association,[9] he was also a breeder of cattle,[10] a state senator from 1924 to 1930, and, like many publishers of that time, the local postmaster.

[13] The Courier was then sold by Van Vleet to the Omaha World-Herald Company in February 2000 as part of a deal where the World-Herald Company turned over ownership of the Sidney Telegraph to Van Vleet (and the Daily Sun and Telegraph were consolidated into The Sidney Sun-Telegraph).

[15] The Courier was part of Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiary BH Media Group, although starting in 2018 it was managed by Lee Enterprises.

[19][20] The Courier has won top honors in the Nebraska Press Association's Better Newspapers contest, including the Loral Johnson award in 2006.