[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 8940] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO THE KEENE SENTINEL, NEW HAMPSHIRE'S OLDEST NEWSPAPER ______ HON. CHARLES F. BASS of new hampshire in the house of representatives Thursday, May 6, 1999 Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to The Keene Sentinel. 1999 marks the bicentennial of The Sentinel, the oldest newspaper in New Hampshire, and the fifth oldest paper in the nation to be published continuously under the same name. Under the guiding hand of publisher John Prentiss, the first edition of the New Hampshire Sentinel was issued in Keene on March 23, 1799. After 89 years as a weekly paper, The Sentinel began daily publication in 1890, and became a seven-day publication with the launch of a Sunday edition in 1996. With the exception of 30 years in the 1800s, The Sentinel has been owned and operated by only two families: John Prentiss and his descendants, and then the Ewing family, which acquired the newspaper in 1954. The paper has enjoyed local and independent ownership throughout its 200 years. Mr. Speaker, The Keene Sentinel, based in Cheshire County, serves the many communities of the Monadnock Region in southwestern New Hampshire. During the last two centuries, The Sentinel has chronicled the cultural, economic and social history of the region. When John Prentiss first began publishing the paper in 1799, he had just one assistant. As Keene and the towns in the surrounding area have grown, the newspaper has expanded to meet the needs of the community. Today, with a circulation of 15,000, The Sentinel employs more than 100 people. The Keene Sentinel has become a force in the community, advocating for open government, land use planning, and environmentally sensitive economic development in the Monadnock Region. Mr. Speaker, I celebrate the institutional history of The Sentinel as well as the service the paper has provided to the community during the past 200 years. ____________________