2015-11-06

Read the Latest Simi Valley Acorn!

Click below to read the latest edition of The Simi Valley Acorn!

Enjoy the new online reading experience!

Subscribe to the Simi Valley Acorn

Acorn online content now offered free

'Paywall' removed

The new millennium has been a transformative time for newspaper publishing.

Changing reader habits and the advent of new technology have placed big demands on companies in the print news business.

The Acorn and its parent company, Times Media Group, understand that their biggest responsibility is not only the delivery of credible, relevant information in a timely fashion, but making sure residents have easy access to the publication when stories become available.

That’s why we’re super excited about the news being shared today.

Following a five-year stretch in which Acorn readers were given the option of purchasing online subscriptions to the paper, that so-called “paywall” is coming down.

“Mr. Publisher, tear down this wall,” the late President Ronald Reagan might have once said.

And so we did.

Starting immediately, all online content from our five Acorn publications will be available at no charge to the reader, meaning a paid subscription is no longer required to click and read articles. The weekly Acorn has always been delivered to your driveway at no cost—that more than 40-year tradition will continue—and from now on The Acorn on the internet will be free as well.

Why the change?

The Acorn is your community newspaper, and we want to make sure it stays that way. We believe it’s important that residents feel a connection to the stories we write and also learn about the businesses that advertise in their community. The absence of a paywall is the best way to ensure this free-flow of information remains.

We also invite readers to sign up for the new, easy-to-read Acorn newspaper e-edition delivered weekly to your e-mail. Viewed on mobile, desktop or laptop, the pages are super easy to navigate and, free, just like the print paper.

Local journalism is first gear in the engine that drives America’s free press, and a free press it shall be.

Archives

Foundation accepting scholarship applications

Up to 20 students will receive $10K scholarships renewable for three years

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and GE have launched the fifth annual 2016 GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program. The annual program selects up to 20 recipients to receive a $10,000 scholarship renewable for an additional three years, up to $40,000 total per recipient. Qualified applicants will be evaluated on leadership, drive, integrity and citizenship. The program was launched in 2011 to […]

Synagogue hosts guest speaker



Congregation B’nai Emet will host guest speaker Simcha Butchart from Zimabwe at the Shabbat service led by Rabbi Michele Paskow and Cantor Michael Russ at 8 p.m. Fri., Nov. 13 at the synagogue, 9 W. Bonita, Simi Valley. Butchart, an artist and educator, will talk about her life growing up in Harere, the capital of Zimbabwe; her journey to Judaism; […]

Houses of Worship



Abundant Life Church, Pastor George Taggart, 1555 Simi Town Center Way, (805) 603-4427. Angel Fire Christian Center, Pastors Bill and Barbara Peters, 27 W. Easy St., Suite 401, (805) 581-7079. Antioch Church, Rev. John Amstutz, 4555 Runway St., (805) 581-1628. Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church, Rev. Markos Hanna, 1122 Appleton Rd., (310) 420-9819. Blessed Hope Chapel, Rev. Joe Schimmel, 23 […]

Methodists tackle gay marriage

Minister loses credential for officiating at gay son’s wedding


The Rev. Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist Church pastor, was at a crossroads in his life on the issue of gay marriage. After officiating at his son Tim’s same-sex wedding in 2007, Schaefer struggled for years over whether he should explain what he’d done and why to the members of his religiously conservative congregation in eastern Pennsylvania. “We have a […]

The Movie Nut



What an amazing piece of work. “Steve Jobs” isn’t constructed as a typical movie. Instead, it’s a series of revealing episodes, taking us backstage before three major product launches. In every case, it’s Jobs (Fassbender) berating and bullying everyone to achieve his view of perfection. “Artists lead,” he insists. “Hacks ask for a show of hands.” Those who contend that […]

Lifestyles of the creepy and kooky

PLAY REVIEW ‘The Addams Family’


The Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Simi provided its opening night audience with a Halloween treat Saturday night with the debut of its production of that spooky, ooky musical, “The Addams Family.” If there ever was a production that inspired more laughs at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, we haven’t seen it. This show isn’t just amusing, it’s roaringly funny, […]

Local Boys & Girls clubs receive national honors



The Boys & Girls Clubs of America recently honored clubs in Oxnard, Conejo Valley, Camarillo and Simi Valley with awards for increased club membership and outstanding board leadership. The Gateway to Impact goldlevel award was given to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley. The Boys […]

Jogger blazes a unique path

She depends on workout partner for directional cues


Toni Smith enjoys her active lifestyle. An avid hiker, camper and white-water rafter, the Simi Valley resident decided to push herself further by adding running to her list of pursuits this year. What makes the 46-year-old runner’s story unique: She does all her outdoor adventuring without her sight. Blind since birth, Smith said she only has “light perception,” which means […]

THOMAS E. HEALEY

Thousand Oaks, California

Tom Healey, 77, died Friday morning, October 23, 2015, peacefully at home with his family in Thousand Oaks after a 1-year battle with lung cancer. Tom was born on July 13, 1938, in Jersey City, N.J. He graduated from Xavier High School in New York City and St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J. He worked in advertising and marketing […]

Tricks and Treats