The Rogue Valley Times passed 10 million page views on its website on Monday, and we’d like to thank our loyal subscribers and all the newcomers for helping make us a success in our first year. It’s actually one year and a little over two months since we launched our site Feb. 6, 2023. Ten million is a big number for a start-up newspaper, and it’s something we’re proud of.

If you are a subscriber, you already know what we offer, from local news, sports and entertainment stories to national news and regional opinion. If you haven’t subscribed to the Times, which can include digital-only or a full print edition/digital subscription, we invite you to sign up at http://rv-times.com/subscribe or by calling us at 800-781-3214.

Facebook posts return Saturday: We apologize for any inconvenience this past week as our Times’ Facebook page was disabled. The problem is being remedied, and you should start seeing new posts on Saturday, April 13. Please like our page and follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

Pear Blossom coverage: It’s Pear Blossom Festival time in the Rogue Valley, and we’ll have a full staff deployed to cover the parade, running races and all the highlights of Medford’s largest annual event.

Our coverage kicked off more than a week ago with a preview in our GO! Rogue arts & entertainment section, but now that the festival is here, it’s time to go out and capture photos and write our stories. And there will be no shortage of things to cover.

The Pear Blossom Parade through downtown Medford starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13.

Other events include the continuing Pear-A-Fare Saturday downtown, centered on local beer, wine and artisan foods, plus the festival’s street fair that continues Saturday until 6 p.m. in Pear Blossom Park downtown.

With the theme of “The Perfect Pear-ing of Communities,” this year’s festival will feature the Medford-Alba Sister City Association as the parade’s Grand Marshal, bringing four intercontinental visitors from Medford’s sister city Alba, Italy.

It honors 64 years of student exchange trips, a sharing of culture and community and building relationships spanning a distance of more than 5,000 miles between the two cities.

The four visiting Italians are Pino Dutto, Carlotta Boffa, Luisella Vernone and Luisa Dutto. Each has a connection with Medford and the sister city program.

Pino Dutto was Alba’s first ambassador to Medford in 1962 and visited the Rogue Valley often; Boffa is Alba’s deputy mayor and former participant in the student exchange program; Vernone is the current president of Alba’s sister city program; and Dutto will be visiting Medford for the second time.

Earlier Saturday, the annual Pear Blossom Run, organized by the Rogue Valley Family YMCA‚ took to the streets of the city.

For more information on the festival and its events, visit pearblossomparade.org. See rv-times.com for the latest coverage.

— Troy Heie, editor