Hurricane Recovery Journal

Katrina

May 11

Written By

A blog of infomration relating to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and its effect on Wick Communications employees.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

On December 19, I visited Bogalusa and enjoyed the Christmas potluck lunch with the employees there. Lou Major Sr. attended as well and was busyorganizing the "Care and Share" food for those less fortunate, a program hebegan in 1982.

I continue to be proud of and appreciative of our managers andour employees. J Kennon, group manager for Team Titanium and publisher inCovington and Bogalusa; Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell; Kevin Chiri,publisher in La Place; Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington and John"J.W." Walker, general manager in Bogalusa, all have my utmost respect andappreciation.

Other employees deserve the same accolades for their hard workand positive attitudes.

Things in LaPlace are normal.

Bogalusa continues to publish three days a week until theeconomy recovers.

Slidell and Covington continue to publish twice a week.

It is our hope to return to daily publication in Bogalusa andwith the combined Slidell/Covington St. Tammany News as soon as ispractical.

This will be my final Hurricane Katrina update unlesscircumstances dictate.

John M. Mathew
President and CEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Monday, October 17, 2005

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Today, I visited our facilities and employees in Bogalusa andCovington. It is now 22 days since Katrina struck.

Progress is noticeable since my last visit about 10 days ago, asmore and more businesses are open in both communities.

I continue to be proud of and appreciative of our managers andour employees. J Kennon, group manager for Team Titanium and publisher inCovington and Bogalusa; Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell; Kevin Chiri,publisher in La Place; Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington and John“J.W.” Walker, general manager in Bogalusa, all have my utmost respect andappreciation.

Other employees deserve the same accolades for their hard workand positive attitudes.

J Kennon and I had lunch with Lou Major Sr. in Bogalusa. Lou’sdoing well and looks good. He’s undergoing physical therapy to regain the use ofa finger he broke cleaning up the day after Katrina.

Covington and Slidell will publish a combined edition twice aweek for now. Bogalusa is publishing three times a day and LaPlace is publishingon its normal schedule.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Today, I visited our facilities and employees in Bogalusa andCovington. It is now 22 days since Katrina struck. Considerable progress can beseen since I visited last Friday. Most encouraging is that power continues to berestored to a number of areas, positively impacting many of our employees whoare now able to enjoy lights, a hot shower and air conditioning for the firsttime in three weeks.

I continue to be proud of and appreciative of our managers andour employees. J Kennon, group manager for Team Titanium and publisher inCovington and Bogalusa; Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell; Kevin Chiri,publisher in La Place; Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington and John“J.W.” Walker, general manager in Bogalusa, all have my utmost respect andappreciation.

Other employees deserve the same accolades for their hard workand positive attitudes. I hesitate to begin listing names for fear of forgettingsomeone, and appreciate all they are doing.

I visited Lou Major Sr. at his office next to the Daily News inBogalusa. He’s looking good and has gotten some rest after the power wasrestored late last week. He plans to pick up his wife, Peg, in the Washington,D.C., area in a week or so and then go on a short vacation prior to returning toBogalusa.

We learned that a truckload of emergency supplies beingcollected in our Ontario, Oregon, community will be trucked to Slidell in thenear future, and Terry Maddox arranged for the supplies to be accepted anddistributed by a church there.

Good news:

• We printed the Daily News of Bogalusa on our press today andplanned to print sections of a combined Slidell and Covington edition inBogalusa later today. The printing plant should soon be back to its normalschedule soon. Our profound thanks for the help provided by the printing plantsat our New Iberia, La., location and Boone Newspapers’ Natchez, Miss.,location.

• The mobile home for additional office space in Covington hasarrived and will house Covington and Slidell circulation later this week.

Covington and Slidell will publish a combined edition twice aweek for now. Bogalusa published its first edition last Friday and will printtwice a week for now. LaPlace is publishing on its normal schedule.

I continue to tell those we work with that we will do what wecan to help them, help their communities and repair the physical damage. It willtake time, but we will get the job accomplished.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Friday, September 16, 2005

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Today, I visited our facilities and employees in Bogalusa andCovington. It is now 18 days since Katrina struck. Much progress can be seensince my Monday visit.

I continue to be proud of and appreciative of our managers andour employees. J Kennon, group manager for Team Titanium and publisher inCovington and Bogalusa; Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell; Kevin Chiri,publisher in La Place; Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington and John“J.W.” Walker, general manager in Bogalusa, all have my utmost respect andappreciation. They are all in good spirits and working hard to get us back tonormal.

J and I visited Lou Major Sr. at his home, where he has powerand air conditioning after 17 days without. He is doing fine.

Other employees deserve the same accolades for their hard workand positive attitudes. I hesitate to begin listing names for fear of forgettingsomeone, and appreciate all they are doing.

Good news:

• Power is back on in Bogalusa and we expect to be able to printthere next week.

• The mobile home for additional office space in Covington hasarrived and is being readied.

• The computers ordered to replace those damaged by the winddriven flooding in Slidell have arrived in Covington.

The Covington office is a busy hub of activity housing bothCovington and Slidell staffers. So is Bogalusa. A number of employees who hadevacuated are now back in both locations.

Insurance adjusters have visited Covington, Bogalusa and Slidellfacilities and our clean up in Slidell should begin in a matter of days. Theinsurance issue in Slidell is whether the water damage was caused by wind drivenstorm surge [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"][which is our belief] or flooding from rising water. This is thesame issue facing many of our employees at their homes and, indeed, people allalong the Gulf Coast.

Covington and Slidell will publish a combined edition twice aweek for now. Bogalusa published its first edition last Friday and will printtwice a week for now, in Natchez. LaPlace is publishing on its normal schedule,printed in New Iberia.

Today I delivered a cooler full of 14 half gallons of ice creamto both the Bogalusa and Covington offices for the employees to enjoy. DebbieMarple and Pattie Aguirre of our Sierra Vista office arranged for the ice creamand cones. Ice cream has been a rarity in the Katrina-impacted area due to thewide spread power outages and difficulty of re-supplying those food stores thatare open.

I told our people that we will do what we can to help them, helptheir communities and repair the physical damage. It will take time, but we willget the job accomplished.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Tuesday, September 13, 2005
9:00 a.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Monday, I visited many of our employees and our facilities inCovington and Bogalusa. It is now two weeks since Katrina struck. Progress canbe seen since my Thursday, September 8, visit as to clean up and the restorationof power, but much work is still needed.

Other employees deserve the same accolades for their hard workand positive attitudes. I hesitate to begin listing names for fear of forgettingsomeone, and appreciate all they are doing.

The Covington office is a busy hub of activity housing bothCovington and Slidell staffers. Unfortunately, on Monday the power, phones andinternet went out in the afternoon, which is not unexpected due to thecircumstances.

Louisiana employees hope to produce their own Thursday payrolllocally after needing help from our Sierra Vista office two weeks ago. That’sprogress.

We hope to have Bogalusa power back within a matter of days.Duke Power workers who came from North Carolina were three poles away from ourbuilding when J Kennon and I visited there Monday, and John Walker had lobbiedthe group’s leaders to get us power so we can inform people of sources ofhelp.

Power in the rural areas where a number of our employees livemay take weeks to restore, we are told.

J and I went by Lou Major Sr.’s house but he was not home. Weexpect he was simply out running errands. His sister is staying with him andJohn Walker, friends and family check on him frequently.

We did not visit Slidell due to massive continuing clean upefforts there. Slidell’s building is a mess, as an earlier note from TerryMaddox detailed.

Our biggest challenge with the building will be findingqualified workers to clean the lower level as everyone in Slidell is seeking thesame help.

Our second challenge is finding places for our employees whowant to work but lost homes in the storm and have no where to live. Allavailable housing in St. Tammany and Washington parishes has been spoken for, itseems. Our hope that some of the temporary housing being ordered by FEMA will beavailable, and we are asking employees with space at homes that are inhabitableto consider taking in a displaced co-worker or two in the interim.

We expect a mobile home to arrive in Covington Wednesday thatwill be used for additional office space, as well as a shipment of computersordered the day of Hurricane Katrina in anticipation to damage from the storm.Fortunately Terry Maddox had the foresight to take the Slidell servers andbackup tapes with him.

I told our people that we will do what we can to help them, helptheir communities and repair the physical damage. It will take time, but we willget the job accomplished.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

2. An employee relief fund, into which Wick employees elsewherewill be invited to contribute and Wick will match on a dollar-for-dollar basis,is established to help those with housing and other needs. Check our website forinformation on how to contribute or apply for assistance.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Thursday, September 8, 2005
7:00 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Today I visited many of our employees and our facilities inCovington, Bogalusa and Slidell. It is Day 10 since Katrina struck, and massivework has been done to clean up areas and restore power. Much work is stillneeded.

I’m terribly proud of the determination, courage, hard work andresolve displayed by our managers and our employees. J Kennon, group manager forTeam Titanium and publisher in Covington and Bogalusa; Terry Maddox, publisherin Slidell; Kevin Chiri, publisher in La Place; Sandy Cunningham, generalmanager in Covington and John “J.W.” Walker, general manager in Bogalusa, allhave my utmost respect and appreciation. They are all in good spirits andworking hard to get us back to normal. John Walker just recently joined Wick inBogalusa and has become a key part of the team through the adversity. Otheremployees deserve the same accolades for their hard work and positive attitudes.I hesitate to begin listing names for fear of forgetting someone.

While in Bogalusa today, J, Terry and I visited for about 30minutes with Lou Major Sr., my predecessor and Wick board member, at his home.Lou is OK despite having broken a bone in his right hand cleaning up after thestorm. He has food, water and a generator and employees, friends and familychecking on him. As usual he offered several good ideas for rebuilding ourbusinesses and being better prepared in the future. It was good to spend thetime with him.

Terry asked Lou Sr. to compare Hurricane Katrina with HurricaneCamille in the late 1960s. Lou said Katrina was three or four times worse.

Covington and Slidell will publish a combined edition twice aweek for now. Bogalusa will publish its first edition since the storm on Friday,to be printed in Natchez. I have been unable to confirm but believe La Place ispublishing on its normal schedule, printed in New Iberia.

La Place, furthest of our newspapers away from HurricaneKatrina, suffered the least amount of damage.

Our Covington building is OK and power is on. We will need toreplace the roof, but a tarp has been installed to stop any leaking for the timebeing. Due to conditions in Slidell, available Slidell staffers are housed inthe Covington office; Terry Maddox has established an office there and theclassified call center formerly housed in Slidell is being moved toCovington.

The Bogalusa building has some damage, mostly to the front brickfaçade and distribution area roof. The pre-press equipment, press equipment andnewsprint are not damaged. Newsroom work was being done with power provided bygenerators and fans are keeping the building quite tolerable. Employees havedone a great job of pitching in to help clean up from flooding in thedistribution area that will not be a long-term problem.

Some of Bogalusa has power, and power crews are working hard toget the rest back. The Red Cross, FEMA and the National Guard are all on scenein Bogalusa after it went days without outside help. Civil order, once aconcern, now seems to be under control thanks to the National Guard.

Slidell’s building is a mess, as an earlier note from TerryMaddox detailed. It appears to be structurally sound but the flooding on thelower level will require major cleanup. The power of the flooding was obvious byfurniture strewn everywhere and a garbage dumpster being forced between a truckand the building. Some of Slidell is beginning to get power back, and it looksas though a good portion of its vibrant retail areas will not have long-termdamage.

Terry, J and I had a Red Cross hot meal in the SlidellSentry-News parking lot, where the Red Cross has set up one of numerous feedingstations. It was lots of rice, green beans and pineapple. J and Terry say theRed Cross wants people to consume lots of starch to keep energy levels high.

We drove to the canal and lakeshore area south of the officetoward the Twin Span bridges. The devastation here was indescribable due to boththe high winds and storm surge. Houses in the area will simply have to bebulldozed into piles of rubbish, and that work has begun.

I told our people that we will do what we can to help them, helptheir communities and repair the physical damage. It will take time, but we willget the job accomplished.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

2. An employee relief fund, into which Wick employees elsewherewill be invited to contribute and Wick will match on a dollar-for-dollar basis,is being established to help those with housing and other needs. Check ourwebsite for information on how to contribute or apply for assistance.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4. Employeeforums are live on our website, as well as message boards on the individualnewspaper web sites for the four impacted newspapers. They can be accessed byclicking on Wick Properties on our website and selecting Louisiana and then theindividual sites.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Monday, September 5, 2005
6:00 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Our LaPlace newspaper, under the leadership of Kevin Chiri,publisher, pubished a 16-page edition Saturday. It was printed in New Iberia.This is the firs step back for us and our employees in the area impacted byHurricane Katrina.

A combined edition for Covington, Slidell and Bogalusa is to beprinted Tuesday in Natchez, Miss. My thanks to my good friend Todd Carpenter,Natchez publisher, for his assistance.

Power and phones are back in parts of Covington.

Power, phones and gas are still out in Bogalusa and Slidell. Apost on our website indicates the National Guard has arrived in Bogalusa, but wedo not have confirmation.

J Kennon, group manager and publisher in Covington and Bogalusa,is doing an excellent job of leadership for those employees who have returned toCovington, where power and phones are operational.

Terry Maddox, Slidell publisher, is working as the publicaffairs officer for the St. Tammany Parish disaster relief agency and haslimited email capabilities. He sent us the following message Friday:

Just returned from a trip to Slidell. Was able to get to thepaper and it appears that the sustained water in the building was about threefeet deep. The floor is covered in mud, and furniture and other items arescattered all over the place, some in different rooms from where they were priorto the storm. On the bright side, it looks as though the wind damage wasminimal.

I also visited my house in Eden Isles and am sad to report itappears the water level there reached about eight feet. Strange things happenedthere as well: my refrigerator is upside down; my washer and dryer, once in thelaundry room are now in the garage; and other furniture is scattered inside andout. Wind damage was severe too. The roof of my patio is on my dock, my garagedoor looks like an accordion, my back door was blown completely off, and all ofthe windows on the side of the house facing the water were blown out.

But the important thing is that all of my family, friends, andemployees appear to be safe. I thank God for that, and also for yourconcern.

J also said there is damage to the Bogalusa building, but thewindows and roof are intact.

Will Chapman, publisher in New Iberia, which was not damaged byHurricane Katrina, has organized three shipments of a portable generator, casesof bottled water, batteries, flashlights and other necessities to the impactedareas. His help is appreciated.

Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington, is OK and backin Covington. She went to Bogalusa today to check on employees and Lou Major,Sr., who is still OK.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4. Employee forums are live on our website,www.wickcommunications.com, as well as message boards on the individualnewspaper web sites for the four impacted newspapers. They can be accessed byclicking on Wick Properties on our website and selecting Louisiana and then theindividual sites.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Saturday, September 3, 2005
10:30 a.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Power, telephone and cell phone service remain out in Slidell,Bogalusa, Covington and LaPlace for the foreseeable future, although we haveheard power may be back in parts of LaPlace.

Terry Maddox, Slidell publisher, is working as the publicaffairs officer for the St. Tammany Parish disaster relief agency and haslimited email capabilities. He sent us the following message Friday:

But the important thing is that all of my family, friends, andemployees appear to be safe. I thank God for that, and also for yourconcern.

J Kennon, publisher in Covington and Bogalusa and group managerfor Team Titanium, is OK. She has been back and forth to Baton Rouge, which haspower and supplies. The Covington building appears to be OK with many treesdown, but apparently not on the building itself. J visited Lou Major Sr. at hisBogalusa home on Friday, and reports Lou is OK and determined to stay home untilpower is restored.

J also said there is damage to the Bogalusa building, but thewindows and roof are infact.

Kevin Chiri, publisher in LaPlace, is OK. I received telephonevoice mails from Kevin on Tuesday. He reports the LaPlace building is OK andtold Tom Riebock in a call today that parts of LaPlace are beginning to getpower restored. Although I have not talked to Kevin, I understand from WillChapman that he is attempting to get organized to publish an edition of theLaPlace newspaper that would be printed in New Iberia.

Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington, is OK and inTyler, Texas. She called our office today and said she was in Covington andBogalusa after the storm, and that our Bogalusa building has damage, but theroof and windows are intact. Apparently Bogalusa has severe problems with treesdown.

Wednesday night I had a call from Lou Major Jr., who is insuburban Washington, D.C. Lou Jr. reports his father and mother are OK inBogalusa, with minor damage to their home. Mrs. Major is going to evacuate butLou Sr. is determine to stay in Bogalusa. I believe they have no power orphones. Lou Jr. is headed to Bogalusa with food, water, gas and generators.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Saturday, September 3, 2005
9:00 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Our LaPlace newspaper, under the leadership of Kevin Chiri,publisher, pubished a 16-page edition today which is on the streets and to homedelivery subscribers. It was printed in New Iberia. This is the firs step backfor us and our employees in the area impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Power and phones are back in parts of Covington.

Power, phones and gas are still out in Bogalusa and Slidell.

Terry Maddox, Slidell publisher, is working as the publicaffairs officer for the St. Tammany Parish disaster relief agency and haslimited email capabilities. He sent us the following message Friday:

But the important thing is that all of my family, friends, andemployees appear to be safe. I thank God for that, and also for yourconcern.

J also said there is damage to the Bogalusa building, but thewindows and roof are intact.

Sandy Cunningham, general manager in Covington, is OK and backin Covington. She went to Bogalusa today to check on employees and Lou Major,Sr., who is still OK.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Thursday, September 1, 2005
12:30 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Power, telephone and cell phone service remain out in Slidell,Bogalusa, Covington and LaPlace for the foreseeable future.

J Kennon, publisher in Covington and Bogalusa and group managerfor Team Titanium, is OK. She spent Tuesday night at her home in Mandeville,which is OK. She is working to get ice, water, food and generators. TheCovington building appears to be OK with many trees down, but apparently not onthe building itself.

Will Chapman, publisher in New Iberia, which was not damaged byHurricane Katrina, has organized a shipment of a portable generator, cases ofbottled water, batteries, flashlights and other necessities to be delivered toCovington today and is seeking additional generators. His help isappreciated.

Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell, is OK. I received an emailfrom him Tuesday evening.

We learned today from Kevin Chiri, who had been to the Slidellbuilding, that it has three to four feet of water in the building but that thebuilding appears to be OK from a structural standpoint.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4. Employee forums are live on our website,www.wickcommunications.com.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

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Thursday, September 1, 2005
10:00 a.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans following the devastation caused byHurricane Katrina.

Power, telephone and cell phone service remain out in Slidell,Bogalusa, Covington and LaPlace for the foreseeable future.

Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell, is OK. I received an emailfrom him Tuesday evening. Reports of severe flooding in Slidell alongPontchartrain Drive have us concerned about the building there.

Kevin Chiri, publisher in LaPlace, is OK. I received telephonevoice mails from Kevin on Tuesday. He reports the LaPlace building is OK.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4. Employee forums are live on our website,www.wickcommunications.com.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
9:00 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans.

Power, telephone and cell phone service remain out in Slidell,Bogalusa, Covington and LaPlace for the foreseeable future.

Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell, is OK. I received an emailfrom him Tuesday evening. Reports of severe flooding in Slidell alongPontchartrain Drive have us concerned about the building there.

Kevin Chiri, publisher in LaPlace, is OK. I received telephonevoice mails from Kevin on Tuesday. He reports the LaPlace building is OK.

We have not heard from Lou Major Sr., a director of WickCommunications and our former CEO. We understand he stayed in Bogalusa duringthe storm.

Tonight I had a call from Lou Major Jr., who is in suburbanWashington, D.C. Lou Jr. reports his father and mother are OK in Bogalusa, withminor damage to their home. Mrs. Major is going to evacuate but Lou Sr. isdetermine to stay in Bogalusa. I believe they have no power or phones. Lou Jr.is headed to Bogalusa tomorrow with food, water, gas and generators.

More as we know.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4.An employee forum will be set up on the website,www.wickcommunications.com, in the near future, for those displaced to exchangetheir whereabouts and communicate with co-workers.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

John M. Mathew
President andCEO
john.mathew@pb8.ef5.myftpupload.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
1:30 p.m. CDT

Our prayers are with our employees, their families, our readersand customers in the area around New Orleans.

Power, telephone and cell phone service remain out in Slidell,Bogalusa, Covington and LaPlace for the foreseeable future.

Terry Maddox, publisher in Slidell, is OK. I received an emailfrom him Tuesday evening. Reports of severe flooding in Slidell alongPontchartrain Drive have us concerned about the building there.

Kevin Chiri, publisher in LaPlace, is OK. I received telephonevoice mails from Kevin on Tuesday. He reports the LaPlace building is OK.

We have not heard from Lou Major Sr., a director of WickCommunications and our former CEO. We understand he stayed in Bogalusa duringthe storm.

Items of note:

1. Louisiana employees who are unable to retrieve direct depositpayroll this week should contact our office, 520-458-0200. We are working on asystem to wire funds where practical.

3. We have ordered computers in anticipation of damage in thevarious locations.

4. An employee forum will be set up on the website,www.wickcommunications.com, in the near future, for those displaced to exchangetheir whereabouts and communicate with co-workers.

We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we learn more.Please keep our Louisiana employees and their families in your thoughts andprayers.

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