The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief

The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief is a weekly newspaper published in St. Helens, Oregon, United States. It was formed in December 2023 by the merger of The Chronicle in St. Helens and The Chief in Clatskanie, both published by Country Media, Inc. It is the newspaper of record for Columbia County.

History
The St. Helens Chronicle originated in 1881 as the Oregon Mist, later renamed to the St. Helens Mist. In 1933, the Mist bought out the St. Helens Sentinel, which was established in 1926, and the paper was renamed the Sentinel-Mist. In 1936, a paper named the St. Helens Chronicle was started. The Chronicle bought the Sentinel-Mist in 1968 and the combined publication became known as The Sentinel-Mist Chronicle, Columbia County's only newspaper. Later the name became The Chronicle and Sentinel-Mist, finally becoming The Chronicle in 2009. That same year the newspaper was sold to Country Media, Inc.

The Clatskanie Chief was founded in 1891 by F. T. Shute. In its early days it offered a bundled subscription with Better Fruit, a publication in Hood River, Oregon. E. W. Conyers, a businessman and a former state legislator, became the controlling owner in 1889. Conyers had been a lifelong Whig, and became a Republican when that party was formed. Arthur Steele purchased the paper in 1922. He was named president of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association in 1953. Arthur and his wife Melvina ran the paper until Melvina's death in 1972, when their son Gail took over. As of the early 2000s the owner was Deborah Steele Hazen. In 2014, The Clatskanie Chief 's name was changed to simply The Chief. That same year the newspaper was acquired by Country Media, Inc.

In December 2023, Country Media announced The Chronicle and The Chief will merge to create a new weekly newspaper called The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief.