Small towns are eager for news, and everything printable is news. That is true to this day in this small town of Richland, MO where I live. I have seen columns who reported," I called (insert name here) but they were't home.!! How is that for news. However, as you pointed out, larger cities require payment by the column inch, or whatever. Anyway, you might get lucky in a small town newspaper, but if searching a town of any size, it pays to search further. The "gossip Columns" are great sources for news of illness or death of locals. My point was not to give up if an obituary is not found. There are ways to work around a lack of obituary. I write a genealogy column (Digging for Roots) for our local newspaper, and I don't even get that "free" newspaper! If you ancestors had any contact with Pulaski County MO, send me your query and I will publish it. Doris Doris F. Williams [email protected] http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/i/l/Doris-Williams-MO/