The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief was a weekly newspaper published in St. Helens, Oregon, United States.
It was formed in December 2023 by the merger of The Chronicle in St. Helens and The Chief in Clatskanie, both published by Country Media, Inc.
[6] Flagg resumed ownership by 1913 and at that time changed the paper’s name to the St. Helens Mist.
[16][17] In 1933, Longston and Miss L. Berenice Anderson merged the Mist and Sentinel together to form the St. Helens Sentinel-Mist.
[18] In 1963, Longston and A. T. Brownlow sold the paper to John M. McClelland Jr., owner of the Longview Daily News.
[20] The Crouse brothers and McClelland bitterly feuded for years until merging their papers together in 1968 to form The Sentinel-Mist Chronicle.
[5][23] That same year the newspaper was sold to Country Media, Inc.[24] The Clatskanie Chief was founded in 1891 by F. T.
"[26] In its early days the paper offered a bundled subscription with Better Fruit, a publication in Hood River, Oregon.
[37] Hyde's health declined which led her and Scibird to sell the paper in 1922 to Earle Richardson and W. Arther Steele.
[38] Richardson went on to buy the Elgin Recorder later that year,[39] and sold his Chief shares to Steele.
[45] That same year Hazen sold the newspaper to Country Media, Inc.[46] In December 2023, Country Media announced The Chronicle and The Chief will merge to create a new weekly newspaper called The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief.
[47] The change was made due to declining revenue and difficulty recruiting and retaining experienced staff.
Country Media president Steve Hungerford said: “Combining the two newspapers into one was a last-ditch effort to reduce expenses and reestablish profitability."