All about the Local Lowdown Podcast

By Murray Montgomery

Staff Writer

Several years ago, I and another staff writer for Lavaca County newspapers decided to start a video podcast called the “Lavaca County News Review.” My co-host on the podcast was Hans Lammeman and all the programs were produced in a video format. After a little over a year, Hans decided to move on and he landed a reporting job for a Minnesota newspaper. He wanted to get away from the Texas heat anyway, so it was a good fit for him to move north, and he is happy with that decision. We have phone conversations, occasionally, and he promises me that he has not frozen, yet.

After Hans left, I converted the format to strictly audio and continued to do the podcast by myself bringing on a guest now and then. My most frequent guest was another colleague who I work with at the Hallettsville Tribune-Herald, Michelle Price. It did not take long for me to decide that Michelle would be a perfect co-host for the podcast; as luck would have it, she was not hard to convince, and that is how things stand today.

We changed the name to “Local Lowdown” and also created a group on Facebook under the same name. I decided to write this because people see our newspaper ad and the posting on the group, but some are a little unsure of what it is all about. Our company owns all the newspapers in Lavaca County which includes the Hallettsville Tribune-Herald, Yoakum Herald-Times, The Shiner Gazette, and The Moulton Eagle. The company also owns the Luling Newsboy, along with various other publications.

I want to make it clear that although Michelle and I work for these newspapers in Lavaca County, the podcast is not the property of the company and is owned by myself. So, the company is not responsible for comments or opinions made on the podcast. Michelle and I enjoy doing the broadcast and the sole purpose for doing it is to make folks aware of what they can expect to see in their weekly paper before it hits the streets. The podcast is usually up by Thursday afternoon. It appears on the Local Lowdown group, first, and then on all the newspapers' Facebook pages.

We like having guests come on and talk about things of interest around the county. We highly support our schools, local businesses, service organizations, and any fund-raisers that are for a good cause. We will not discuss politics or promote anyone’s personal agenda; we intend for the podcast to be fun and informative - the same goes for our group.

If you have something that fits the topics listed above, we would love to have you as a guest. The same goes for the Local Lowdown group on Facebook and you are certainly invited to join us there. Those who follow the podcast know that we often have Nicole Smith join us on the program. She is a staff writer for the Luling Newsboy and also helps out the rest of the papers by sharing interesting articles that she has written and we include her paper in the review. Sports Editor Chuck Grafe comes on from time to time, keeping us informed on high school sports. Henry Joe Jasek is here occasionally educating us about all things Czech. Senior Reporter Jimmy Appelt is also a big help when we need a co-host. We also appreciate our office manager Ani Zak who operates the office, solo, while Michelle is podcasting.

Finally, I hope our readers will listen to the podcast. If you are not on Facebook, you can find it by doing a search on the iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Apple Podcast platforms. You can go directly to the podcast host https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/local-lowdown--5670998 and see past and current editions. If you would like to be a guest on the show, call the office at 361-798-2481. Also remember that all our newspapers have a Facebook page, and do not forget our website that covers just about everything; www.lavacacountytoday.com.