'Money' section is ending; quality coverage to go on

Today marks the end of an era for the Deseret News.

That's because, if you're reading this in print, you are holding in your hands the last Sunday Money section.

As announced last summer, the News has been streamlining some sections to save money during a time of declining advertising revenue. The Money section is one of the victims of those cuts.

Though I haven't managed the weekly production of this section for more than a year — I left the business editor post in August 2007 to return to the City Desk — I still hate to see Money go.

Even after I became business editor for the paper back in 2001, I tried to keep my skills sharp by writing a cover story for the Money section every now and then.

As I contemplate the end of this section, I remember some of those stories.

I remember the piece I did in May 2007 about cobblers and whether they still saw a future in the shoe-repair business. Some were surprisingly optimistic.

And the February 2006 story on the growth of franchising.

And the July 2005 story on 1-800-CONTACTS, based on a rare interview with founder Jonathan Coon.

And the August 2004 article on people with disabilities who work at Columbus Community Center in Salt Lake City. That one inspired me.

Those are just a few of the people I was able to meet and stories I was able to cover in the Money section, stretching back to 1998, when I came to the Deseret News as a business reporter.

Of course, other business writers wrote the lion's share of the Sunday articles during the years that I was editor. Longtime fans of the section will remember the pithy prose of executive business editor Max B. Knudson and fascinating pieces by Jenifer K. Nii and Dave Anderton. Brice Wallace's wrap-ups of the latest technological gadgets and holiday gifts have always been favorites of mine.

More recent contributions from Brice, as well as Jasen Lee, Laura Hancock, Jennifer Toomer-Cook and others, kept up the tradition of Sunday Money stories that made readers think more deeply about the financial issues of the day, introduced them to unique local businesses or gave insight into the tricks of the trade of successful area entrepreneurs.