The LaBelle Star folds after 125 years of service

After nearly 125 years of serving Lewis County, The LaBelle Star ceased publication with its Sept. 26 issue. “It’s really a heartbreaking thing for us to do,” said publisher Mike Scott, who, along with his wife, Sue, bought The Star, The Edina Sentinel and The Media in Kahoka in 2003 from Hazel Bledsoe Smith.
“The sad reality is that it costs much more each week to publish, print and mail The LaBelle Star than it brings in,” Scott said. “We have been losing money with The Star since we bought it, and it’s just time to let it go.”
The newspapers in Edina and Kahoka continue in operation. Subscribers were offered subscriptions to the Edina or Kahoka paper or a refund.
The Star had circulation of about 600 in a community of about that many in the northeast corner of the state.