“I think he’d be satisfied,” ….

“I think he’d be satisfied,” Downs said of the outcome. “He’d be happy that the good ones won.”

There’s new flooring, new wiring, new bathroom fixtures — the same structure, but upgraded.

“We’ve got it nice and the way it should be,” Downs said.

Her fight for the paper has left her more dedicated to the community.

“You know, you do what you have to do to keep it going and so many people have said that they’re proud of me and want to keep it going. They’ve asked, ‘What can we do to help?’” The answer is usually a form of just keep doing what you’re doing — advertise, read, subscribe. And though the industry has been brutal, Downs remains upbeat and confident for the future.

“Hyperlocal news is still important to communities. Very rarely would you get a TV station to come and do a story in a rural area that’s not attached to a larger community,” Downs said. “The community is not directly served, but the residents want to know who is doing what, and that’s important to them. They’re not going to get it from TV, but only from a local newspaper.”

Now, a local newspaper that has the next generation working at it.

“It makes me take a sigh of relief that this is interesting to the next generation,” Downs said. “That she’s here and invested in the community and will be ready to take it over when I retire in 20 years.”

So much from the name to the staff to location has changed, including moving out of offices twice. Still, putting the paper out from the building across the street from the fire station wasn’t odd or painful, even though the battle to keep the paper took several years.

“It feels like home,” Downs said. “Now, I know I can work for its future.”