“It’s the real news.”—Doug Stanton, New York Times best-selling author and cofounder of the National Writers Series

News of, by, and for Elbertians (and the Elberta curious)

The South Frankfort Alert, later the Elberta Alert after the village changed its name, was first published in February of 1911, and had a brief run of perhaps only two years. In February of 2011, it rose again in the form of a free paper available at local businesses and distributed to residents on the fourth Friday of each month. The Alert operated in this way until the end of 2012, when it moved entirely to its Facebook page and website. In July of 2022, it became a Substack newsletter. On February 25, 2026, the new Elberta Alert newsletter turned 15. In June of 2026 it moved to Ghost.

Through all these moves, its mission has been to provide news, information, entertainment, and a forum for all voices in the community. Submit letters to the editor, rants, articles, images, cartoons, suggestions, stories, hearsay, and doggerel to emilyvotruba@yahoo.com.

Join the human crew

The Elberta Alert is a hand-crafted, artisanal local digital and print publication made without the use of AI (except for spellcheck, internet searches, and the occasional manipulated photo [always noted]) and respects its own and others’ intellectual property. If you’d like to write or provide imagery for the Alert, email emilyvotruba@yahoo.com.

A note on editing (1/22/23)

I want to be transparent when a post is edited after initial publication. Unless it’s a spelling error, typeface change, or punctuation change that doesn’t alter the sense of a sentence, changes will be noted and dated. Deletions will be struck through rather than eliminated, and in some cases additions will be set in italics. If the font does not allow for italics, the addition will be made inside slash marks: // …. //

Our Tremendous Paid Subscribers and Founding Members

I would like to acknowledge here all those of you who have ever decided to pony up for a paid subscription, and to those of you who ponied even higher for a Founding Member or Old M-168 Club contribution of $168 (one of you did it twice!). It all helps cover webhosting, software (Adobe, Canva, and Proton), and content management system fees, ink and other equipment expenses (really hoping to upgrade from my iPhone SE to one with a better camera)[done! 6/20/24]—and your help just takes a bit of the edge off as I toil away after hours of my day job. Profit sharing with more contributors will also happen. And who knows, there’s always a chance I can slough off a few of these freelance editing jobs and devote more time and energy to this project. There’s so much more to cover!

The new Old M-168 Club gift is a set of the 2011 run of original print issues, while supplies last.

Ye Olde Tags and Masthead

These were the category tags from the old print issues and website and the masthead of contributors that appeared in the print issues.

The Alert Reader Letters, comments, suggestions, and corrections from our dear readers

Blast from the Future The teen/youth column, in which a local kid waxes prosodical about a topic of his or her choice

Foghorn Anonymous rants, chvelling, or public service announcements on any subject, profanity bleeped or deleted

On and off the Apron Local commerce, business, and money matters

Deeply Local Politics/Rep Rap Our little piece of the national conversation, including reports on council and township meetings. The Rep Rap column explores how the work of our elected officials affects Villagers.

Culture Bluffs Art, music, dance, lecture series, festivals ... news from the artsy side of town

The Mess Deck A groaning board of all things food related in the area. Recipes and cooking tips, restaurant reviews, news about local food programs, the Elberta Farmers' Market ... if you can eat it, you'll read about it here.

Infrastructure and Planning The present and the future! Man, Elberta, you've got good bone structure. This is what we're doing with it.

Open Season How we're getting along with Mother Nature: hunting, fishing, bird-watching, Bluff hiking, gardening, and ecological matters affecting Elbertians

You Mist It the First Time/Remember When with Ken The Elberta Alert shines a light on local history—but never at the expense of covering the here and now. Ken Holmes, a treasure trove of stories and photos, presents a snapshot of local history in the paper edition each month.