🤝 Help fund The Lookout!
Only a tiny fraction of the people who read The Lookout actually pay for it. If you’re able to afford it, I hope you’ll consider upgrading today to sustain this work:
The Lookout’s regular coverage is always free to read thanks to support from the neighborhood. Help offset the cost of producing independent local journalism by becoming a paid subscriber today. Upgrade here.
Happy Labor Day Weekend, Lookout readers. Up the workers, up the unions—and particularly the workers of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Union, who are striking for a first contract. Their strike fund, launched as they hit the picket line in Lakeside on September 1st, has already raised over $15,000 at press time.
As you (hopefully) relax this holiday, allow me to turn your attention to another: Halloween. It’s coming up fast! But it’s still far enough out that there’s time to close East Broad Street for Halloween. Let’s actually do it this year!
For those hundreds of readers that have signed up for The Lookout since last October, here’s what the hell I’m on about:
After filing that column too late to pull anything off for Halloween 2025, I presented the idea to the Church Hill Association, but its events committee eventually declined to pursue it for Halloween 2026. Which is fine! That said, I’m only a humble newsletter editor, and not much of an organizer, so if you like this idea and would like to help manifest it into reality, please get in touch: [email protected]. The clock is ticking!
In the meantime, stay cool out there (Ride and Dive, anyone?), and turn up the Billy Bragg. Solidarity forever, see you on the other side.—Dave.
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Rest assured, The Lookout is not making a pivot to #influencer any time soon. Expect the same journalistic rigor and ethics on social media that you’ve come to expect from the newsletter and website. Support that mission today.
🛝 Newbille, Parks officials defend Chimbo Playground reversal at testy meeting
I filed a special report from Tuesday’s meeting at Lucks Field Community Center about the next steps in l’affair pétanque. You’re not going to believe this, but things got a little tense:
I hope to have more reporting on this meeting—including more clarity on the out-of-state votes that were apparently cast in the city’s survey—next week. Stay tuned.
👀 A look at The Lookout’s growth
Welcome to all the new readers who have signed up over the summer, and thank you to all the old readers who’ve been here since the beginning. The best thing you can do to help The Lookout continue to grow is tell your neighbors to subscribe:
In previous holiday editions I’ve highlighted some topline metrics, but they’re always kind of the same, and nobody seems to care besides me and maybe a couple other newsletter nerds (laudatory), so I’m not going to bother moving forward. Suffice to say, The Lookout newsletter continues to perform very well.
Something to note: since launching social media channels for The Lookout earlier this summer, they have become significant referrers of sign-ups to the newsletter. Particularly Instagram, which has been a welcome surprise. I’ll continue using those channels to promote The Lookout’s coverage in posts, video essays, and the like. Be sure to follow if you haven’t yet!
🛍️ The Lookout Shop is now open!
Score a sweet Lookout hat and support independent media about your neighborhood! Shop now.
🐈⬛ Meet this purry, short-legged “void”
Courtesy of Lookout reader Amanda Milligan, the latest edition of East End Animal Friend is live now, and cute as hell:
As a reminder, East End Animal Friends is a recurring feature spotlighting the many creature companions of Church Hill and its surrounds. Fill out this form to introduce your beloved animal(s) to the neighborhood in a future edition of The Lookout!
✂️ And now, to the clips!
Here are the top five most-read editions of The Lookout since the Fourth of July. In reverse chronological order:
