This weekend a part of my history made a major change; the Madison WI newspaper The Capital Times stopped publishing its print edition and went entirely online. Today’s New York Times highlighted the move, and set me to thinking about a city I used to call “my home town.”

The Cap Times, as it is fondly (or not so fondly, depending on your political orientation) regarded in Madison, was “my” paper. In time of rapidly changing information delivery, the move is not unexpected nor is it necessarily the death blow anticipated by doom sayers.

While I sit next to piles of paper - magazines, books, and newspapers - I find that I read more and more online. I also find that there is a twinge of… what, irritation?… when I read a piece about something that happened days (or weeks) ago. And when I want to know more. The immediacy and ease of retrieving more information that is offered online is something I truly appreciate.

I half expect to see the same announcement - a move to online only - about my “new home town” paper, The Seattle Post Intelligencer, whose path parallels that of the Cap Times pretty closely.

Unfortunately, there is still a considerable body of readers who don’t have the same immediate and continual access to the Internet that I do. While I have an 81-year old friend who is nearly as adept at cruising around the Web as I am, there are others who are either without a computer or are still tied to snail-paced dial-up. That’s a problem I don’t know how to resolve.

In the meantime, I have rediscovered a name from my past; Linda Brazill, who about 25 years ago did some freelance designs for a small retail shop I owned, has been writing for the Cap Times since ‘83 and employed there since 1990. Her “Artful Living” column will continue in a new print publication, 77 Square.

I’ve bookmarked the Cap Times’ new site and will keep an eye on “Mad Town.”