Community News

First published in 1921, Community News is the longest published weekly newspaper in the St. Louis metropolitan area and has established a large audience of loyal readers. Community News circulates across North and Northwest St. Louis County  and St. Charles County with newsstands and online subscription. The Community News currently publishes two editions, one for North County St. Louis and another dedicated to St. Charles County. The Community News began weekly publication in 1921 by Bob Huneke’s grandfather in the city of St. Louis.

Bob Huenke bought the paper from his father in the 1990s. At the time, the Community News began sprouting up in newsstands at all of the major local grocery chains in Bridgeton, Hazelwood and on Main Street in St. Charles. This was when O’Fallon was starting to bubble with its population growth. City leaders approached Huneke about including the area in the paper’s coverage and soon a satellite office was established. The two-times a month O’Fallon paper soon grew into a weekly and in 2008 Huneke split the coverage into regions with a St. Louis County and St. Charles County editions and invested into the newsstand-only method of distribution. In October 2023, Huenke sold Community News to Tim Schmidt and his company, Westplex Media Group. Other community newspapers that are owned by Westplex Media Group are the Warren County Record in Warrenton, the Montgomery Standard in Montgomery City and the Mexico Ledger in Mexico.