It takes five minutes to run the 1,300 papers that head to Oregon on the first trucks out. The paper count for Oregon is higher than usual tonight because of a Hermiston bus wreck that has a headline above the fold on A1. New page plates then are substituted on pages A4 and A5 so Washington and Oregon readers get different news from their state on those pages. Nearly 40,000 papers will be printed, cut and folded in the next two hours. The ad being slipped between the pages is thin, slick and oversized - a bad combination when every second counts in the race to get the papers out the door on time.
Machines seem to tear one ad for every four or five they insert.
But tonight, we'll probably have a tough time of it. As soon as bundles are stacked and tied, they are shipped out the doors to a waiting line of cars and trucks that take the bundles to carriers in seven counties. It's not raining, but McKenzie knows the sprinkler systems there goes off each morning and will leave dozens of soggy papers if she's not careful. By about 5 a.m. they will have delivered 628 papers. It takes about a minute to deliver each paper on the route handed down to him by two brothers.