Legal

Terms of Use

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 21, 2026

1. Who we are and what this covers

TristateNow (“we”, “us”) is a local news and community site for Evansville, Indiana and the surrounding Tri-State area of Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]. These Terms of Use cover the website at https://tristatenewss.vercel.app and anything that links to them (together, the “Service”). By using the Service you agree to these terms, our Privacy Policy and the policies they link to. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Service.

2. What the Service is: a news aggregator

• We link to other publishers. Most of what you see is a headline, a short excerpt, a thumbnail and a link to a story published by a newspaper, TV or radio station, government agency, funeral home, venue or other source (“Sources”). We find them through public RSS and calendar feeds, Google News, Ticketmaster’s public event listings, official alert feeds and public pages. Tapping a story takes you to the Source’s own site.
• We’re independent. TristateNow isn’t affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any Source. Source names and logos are their owners’ trademarks, used only to show where a story comes from.
• We don’t write, edit or verify those stories. Each Source is responsible for its own reporting. Showing a story doesn’t mean we endorse it, its Source, or any opinion in it. Headlines and excerpts are shown as the Source published them, and may be shortened.
• Automated selection. Stories are picked and sorted automatically by date, place and topic. A story can be out of date, miscategorized or missing, and we may change which Sources we use at any time.
• Third-party sites. Linked sites have their own terms and privacy practices, and we have no control over them. You visit them at your own risk.

3. Police & courts items: presumption of innocence

The Police & courts section shows items from official public sources only: police and sheriff’s offices, prosecutors, U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the FBI and courts. We show the agency’s headline and a short excerpt with a link to the original, never a photo, and we leave out items about juveniles. An arrest or charge is only an accusation. Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Items that describe an arrest or charge carry a “Charged or arrested, not convicted” note. These arrest and charge items are removed automatically after 14 days, whichever office published them (police, sheriff, prosecutor, U.S. Attorney, FBI or court). Releases about how a case ended, such as a guilty plea, conviction, sentencing or acquittal, and other announcements stay for up to 30 to 90 days, depending on the source. Cases are often dismissed, reduced or resolved after an item was published, and we don’t track outcomes. If an item is about you, see our Corrections & Removals policy.

4. Obituaries

The Obituaries section links to notices published by local newspapers and funeral homes, with a name and a short summary, and also shows notices posted directly by funeral homes and families. Full notices stay on the Source’s site. Families can ask us to correct or remove a listing at any time; see Corrections & Removals. An obituary may show a “Send flowers” link; how it works, and how it may earn us a commission, is in our Advertising Policy.

5. No guarantee of accuracy; official alerts; not professional advice

We work to keep the Service useful, but we can’t promise that anything on it is complete, accurate, current or available. Nothing on the Service is legal, financial, medical or other professional advice.

Official alerts and weather. The Breaking banner and the weather strip can show alerts copied automatically from official feeds, such as the U.S. National Weather Service, local water utilities, county and city alert centers, sheriff and police offices, and INDOT and KYTC work-zone data. Current conditions come from Open-Meteo. We check these feeds every few minutes, but an alert can be delayed, incomplete, or shown after it was lifted, and we don’t show every alert. The Service isn’t an official warning system and doesn’t replace Wireless Emergency Alerts, NOAA Weather Radio, outdoor sirens or your local emergency management agency. In an emergency, call 911 and follow official instructions.

6. Posting on the community boards and submitting news

You can post classifieds, deals, events, job openings and obituaries, and send us news tips, photos, press releases, corrections and advertising inquiries (“User Content”). You must be at least 18 to post, submit or buy anything on the Service, and the posting and tip forms ask you to confirm it; we reject posts sent without that confirmation.

Your responsibilities

• Post only things that are true, lawful and yours to share, and only real items, offers, events and job openings.
• Contact details you put in a post (name, phone, email, address) are shown publicly. Don’t post anyone else’s contact details without permission.
• Only upload photos you took or have permission to use, and don’t upload photos of other people in private situations without their consent.

Not allowed

• Anything illegal, or offers of illegal goods or services, weapons, drugs, alcohol or tobacco sales, adult content, gambling, or animals where prohibited.
• Scams, pyramid schemes, “pay to apply” jobs, requests for bank details, or misleading prices.
• Job ads that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other status protected by law; housing ads that violate the Fair Housing Act.
• Harassment, threats, hate speech, defamatory statements, or posts that name a private person as accused of a crime.
• Spam, links (posts can’t contain links), impersonation, or someone else’s copyrighted material.

How posts are handled

Posts are published automatically and aren’t reviewed first. They expire on their own (events two days after the event date; classifieds and obituaries after 30 days; deals on their end date or after 30 days; jobs after 45 days), and a post is removed once three different readers report it. We may remove or edit any post, limit posting, or block anyone, at any time and for any reason, without notice. We don’t vouch for any poster, item, employer, offer or event, and we aren’t a party to any deal between users. Meet in public places, and never send money before you see the item.

Rights you give us

You keep ownership of your User Content. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, display, reproduce, adapt (for example to resize photos) and distribute it on the Service and in our newsletter and social media posts that promote it. For news tips and photos you send us, you also let us use them in our reporting, with credit where practical. You promise you have the rights to grant this license.

7. Paid Featured posts

Last updated October 18, 2026

What you buy. When it’s offered, you can pay to “Feature” your own job, deal, event or classified post so it shows at the top of its board with a “Featured · Paid” badge. Current prices: Featured job $99 for 30 days, Featured deal $79 for 14 days, Featured event $59 for 7 days and Featured classified $19 for 7 days, in U.S. dollars. The price and period are shown on the post’s button and on the checkout page before you pay, and the price charged is the one shown. Obituaries can’t be featured.

Price changes. If we change prices, the new prices apply only to new purchases. A purchase you’ve already made keeps the price and the days it was sold with.

When the period starts and ends. The Featured period starts when your payment is confirmed, or, if the post is already Featured, when its current period ends. It lasts the number of days shown, with these limits:

• Events and deals with an end date: the period ends no later than the end of the event’s date or the deal’s end date (midnight Central time), because the post leaves the board after that day. In that case the button and checkout page say “until” that day instead of a number of days, and the price is the same full price. If less than a day would be added, the post can’t be featured.
• Other posts: if the paid period runs past the date the post would normally expire, we keep the post (and its photo) on its board until the period ends.
• A checkout page stays open for one hour; after that, start again so the period shown is current.

Payments. Payments are processed by Stripe under Stripe’s terms. We never see or store your card number or other card details. We keep a record of each order (see our Privacy Policy).

Refunds. Fees aren’t refundable, except:

• if your payment arrives after the post is gone or after its date has passed, so the Featured period can’t be applied, we flag the order for a refund and refund it;
• if the amount we receive doesn’t match the price shown, we don’t apply the Featured period and we review the order and refund it;
• if we remove a paid post during its Featured period for a reason other than a breach of these terms, or the Service fails to show it, we’ll refund the unused portion. When we remove a Featured post, or readers’ reports hide it, we review the removal; if the post broke these terms, no refund is due;
• if you remove your own post, the unused time isn’t refunded.

A full refund ends the Featured period that payment bought (any other period you paid for is kept). A partial refund doesn’t change the period. If you dispute a charge with your card issuer, we record the dispute and respond to it through Stripe. To ask about a refund, write to unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com. Refunds are made to the original payment method through Stripe.

A Featured post must follow these terms like any other post. Paid placement doesn’t affect news coverage; see our Advertising Policy.

8. Newsletter

If you sign up for our email newsletter, we’ll send you local headlines and occasional announcements, which may include a clearly labeled sponsor message. We send nothing until you confirm: after you sign up we email you a link, and you’re on the list only once you tap it and press “Confirm” (an unconfirmed sign-up expires after 7 days). Every newsletter email has a one-click unsubscribe link and our postal address, [MAILING ADDRESS]. You can unsubscribe at any time on our Unsubscribe page, which removes you right away, with the unsubscribe link in any newsletter email, or by writing to unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com, in which case we’ll remove you within 10 business days.

9. Advertising packages

Last updated October 21, 2026

What you buy. Businesses can order Package A, B or C online on our order page. Each one runs for 30 days and shows your ad, labeled “Sponsored,” in these spots:

• Package A: the Sponsored card on one board you pick, and that board’s sponsor line.
• Package B: the ad between News stories, the Sponsored card on two boards you pick, and the sponsor line on the first of them.
• Package C: the ad between News stories, the Sponsored card on all four boards, the sponsor line on two boards you pick, and both side ads on wide screens.

The price for each is on the order page and our rate card. Each spot is shared in rotation with at most two other businesses (one other on side ads), so your ad appears on a share of page views, not all of them. Ads aren’t targeted at readers in any way. We don’t promise a number of views or clicks. Package D, newsletter ads and sponsored features aren’t sold online; sponsored features are coming soon.

Ordering and holds. You pick a start date at least 3 days ahead and no more than 90 days ahead. When you place an order we hold your spots for 7 days while it’s unpaid, or 14 days after we send an invoice. If it isn’t paid by then, the spots may go to someone else and we’ll offer you new dates.

Your ad. You send your ad through the upload page with your order reference and email. We review it under our Advertising Policy. Nothing runs until we’ve approved the ad and the order is paid. If we can’t approve your ad, you can send another; if there still isn’t an acceptable ad before the start date, we can move the start date with you or cancel the order with a full refund.

Payment. When card payment is offered, you pay once for the 30 days through Stripe Checkout, under Stripe’s terms; we never see or store your card details. Until then, we email you an invoice. An order doesn’t renew by itself: to run again, place a new order.

Dates. Your ad runs for 30 days from the start date (Central time). If your ad is approved and paid after the start date has passed because of a delay on our side, it still runs a full 30 days from the day we start it.

Cancellations and refunds. You can cancel for a full refund before your ad starts. Once it has started, the fee isn’t refundable, except that if the Service fails to show your ad, or we remove it for a reason other than a breach of these terms or our Advertising Policy, we refund the unused days. If you dispute a charge with your card issuer, we record the dispute and respond to it through Stripe.

Price changes. If we change package prices or contents, the change applies only to new orders. An order you’ve placed keeps the price and contents it was sold with.

10. Our content and trademarks; copyright complaints

The Service’s design, code, logo and original text belong to [LEGAL ENTITY NAME]. Headlines, excerpts, images and logos of Sources belong to their owners and are used to identify and link to their work. Don’t copy, scrape or republish the Service in bulk, or use automated tools that put an unreasonable load on it. If you believe something on the Service infringes your copyright, see our Copyright & DMCA policy.

11. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS.

12. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] AND ITS OWNERS AND CONTRIBUTORS WON’T BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, THIRD-PARTY SITES, OR DEALINGS WITH OTHER USERS OR ADVERTISERS. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF WHAT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR $50. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

13. Indemnity

If your User Content or your breach of these terms leads to a claim against us, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of dealing with it, including attorneys’ fees, to the extent the law allows.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in [COUNTY] County, Indiana, and you and we agree to their jurisdiction. Before filing a claim, please contact us so we can try to resolve it informally.

15. Changes

We may update these terms. We’ll change the “Last updated” date at the top, and for significant changes we’ll post a notice on the Service. Continuing to use the Service after a change means you accept it.

16. Contact

• Email: unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com
• Mail: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]

Privacy Policy

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 23, 2026

1. Who we are

This policy explains how [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] (“we”), which operates TristateNow at https://tristatenewss.vercel.app, handles information about visitors. Questions or requests: unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com.

2. What we collect and why

We don’t ask for your precise location. The weather uses the town you pick, or Evansville by default.

Ads. Our own ads (sponsor lines, the in-listing sponsored card and side ads) use no information about you: every reader of a board sees the same ads, and when several sponsors share a spot they take equal turns by the clock, the same for everyone at the same moment. They set no cookies, store nothing in your browser, and we don’t record who sees or clicks them. For a paid ad we count how often it’s seen and clicked, in daily totals only: when at least half of the ad is on screen (once per page load) or when you click it, your browser tells us which campaign and which spot, and nothing else. No cookie, ID, page address or anything about you goes with it, and we don’t keep it per person. When you click one, the advertiser’s site may collect information under its own policy. We don’t use analytics tools.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

TristateNow itself doesn’t set cookies, and we don’t use analytics, tracking pixels or advertising cookies. We use your browser’s local storage only for the settings above, which are needed for features you choose to use. You can clear them at any time in your browser settings.

We don’t use any third-party ad network today, and the site has no ad-network or analytics code. If we ever add an advertising network such as Google AdSense, or an analytics tool, we’ll update this policy and our Advertising Policy first and show a consent notice where the law requires one. A network may personalize its ads under its own rules and your choices; our own ads are never targeted.

Affiliate links. The only affiliate link we may use is the “Send flowers” link on obituaries, once we’ve joined a flower-delivery affiliate program (see our Advertising Policy). Clicking it takes you to that service’s site, which may use its own cookies to credit the sale under its own privacy policy. The link carries only our affiliate code, nothing about you or the obituary, and the link on our site adds no script, cookie or tracking pixel. We don’t record who clicks it. A “Send flowers” link that isn’t marked “paid link” (to a funeral home’s own florist page, or to a flower-delivery service’s public page) isn’t an affiliate link and carries no code at all.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. We don’t track you across other sites, so a browser’s Do Not Track signal has nothing to turn off. We treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a request to opt out of any sale or sharing of your personal information; we don’t do either.

4. Services your browser connects to

To show the site, your browser connects directly to some other services, which receive your IP address and browser details under their own privacy policies:

• Hosting: Vercel (runs the site and keeps server logs).
• Fonts: Google Fonts.
• Weather: Open-Meteo (current conditions, and the town names you search for) and the U.S. National Weather Service (alerts).
• Event listings: some events come from Ticketmaster; their “Get tickets” links take you to Ticketmaster’s site.
• Story images and logos: story images load from the publishers’ own servers, and most source logos from Google’s favicon service (google.com and gstatic.com). They load without telling those servers which page you were on.
• Linked sites: when you open a story, ticket page or listing link, you’re on that site and its policies apply.

We also use these service providers to run features: Upstash (database for hearts, posts, tips, signups and ad uploads), Resend (delivering tips and inquiries to our inbox, sending newsletter confirmation emails and the newsletter) and Stripe (payments). They process data on our behalf.

5. How we share information

We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t share it for targeted advertising. We share it only:

• with the service providers listed above, to run the site (for a payment, Stripe receives the post’s ID, title and board and the price and period of the order; for an advertising package, Stripe receives the package, its dates, the order reference and the email you ordered with);
• publicly, for the content of community posts you choose to publish;
• when the law requires it, for example a valid subpoena or court order, or to protect someone’s safety or our legal rights;
• with a successor if the site is sold or transferred, under this policy.

6. Your choices and rights

• Remove a post: use “Remove” on your post from the same browser, or email us.
• Newsletter: unsubscribe yourself on the Unsubscribe page (it removes you right away and won’t tell anyone whether an address was on the list), use the link in any email, or email us.
• Access, correction or deletion: email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com and tell us what you’d like. We’ll respond within 45 days. We may ask you to confirm that the information is yours.
• Browser data: clearing your browser’s site data deletes your settings, likes and browser ID.

Indiana, Kentucky and other states have consumer privacy laws that give residents rights to access, correct, delete and get a copy of their personal data, and to opt out of its sale, targeted advertising and profiling. We may not meet those laws’ size thresholds, but we honor these requests from anyone. We don’t sell personal data, use it for targeted advertising or profile people, so there is nothing to opt out of; we also treat a browser’s Global Privacy Control signal as an opt-out. California residents can make the same requests under the California Consumer Privacy Act, to the extent it applies to us. We won’t treat you differently for using these rights. If we deny a request, you can appeal by replying to our answer.

7. Children

The Service is a general-audience news site and isn’t directed to children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and you must be 18 to post or submit anything. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we’ll delete it.

8. Security and where data is kept

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and stored with our service providers in the United States. No system is perfectly secure, so please don’t include sensitive information such as Social Security, bank or medical details in posts or tips.

9. Changes

We’ll update the date at the top when this policy changes, and post a notice on the site for significant changes.

10. Contact

• Email: unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com
• Mail: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]

Copyright & DMCA

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 17, 2026

1. How we use publishers’ work

• For each story we show at most the headline, a short excerpt (no more than 220 characters), a thumbnail and the source’s name and logo, with a link to the full story on the source’s site. We don’t republish full articles or full obituaries.
• We read public feeds (RSS, calendars and Google News) and public pages. When we add a source we check its robots.txt and terms, and we leave out sources that forbid automated access (for example Legacy.com) or block our requests.
• Thumbnails load directly from the publisher’s own server; we don’t copy them to ours.

We believe this is a lawful, transformative use that sends readers to publishers. But we’d rather work with you: if you’re a publisher who wants your content left out, shown differently, or credited in another way, email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com and we’ll accommodate you.

2. Quick removal request (no formal notice needed)

Email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com with the link to the item on TristateNow, the original you own, and what you’d like us to do. We’ll usually remove or adjust it within two business days.

3. Formal notices under the DMCA

We respond to notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512). Our designated agent for notices of claimed infringement is:

• [DMCA AGENT NAME], [LEGAL ENTITY NAME]
• [MAILING ADDRESS]
• Email: [DMCA AGENT EMAIL]

To be effective, your notice must include:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. a description of the copyrighted work you say is infringed;
3. the link or other information that lets us find the material on TristateNow;
4. your name, address, phone number and email address;
5. a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use isn’t authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
6. a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act for the owner.

Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing can make you liable for damages (17 U.S.C. § 512(f)). If you’re not sure whether something infringes, consider talking to a lawyer first.

4. Counter-notices

If something you posted was removed and you believe that was a mistake or misidentification, you can send our agent a counter-notice with: your signature; a description of what was removed and where it appeared; a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief it was removed by mistake or misidentification; and your name, address and phone number, with a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for your address (or, if you’re outside the U.S., any district where we may be found) and will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice. We may restore the material 10 to 14 business days after we receive a valid counter-notice unless the complaining party tells us it has filed a lawsuit.

5. Repeat infringers

We remove posts and block posting by anyone who repeatedly infringes others’ copyrights.

6. Contact

• Email: unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com
• Mail: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]

Corrections & Removals

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 17, 2026

1. How to ask

Email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com, or use Submit news and choose “Correction.” Include the link to the item on TristateNow, what’s wrong or why it should come down, and any documents that help (for example a court order or a corrected story). We usually reply within two business days.

2. Stories from other publishers

• We show headlines and excerpts as the publisher wrote them. If the publisher corrects or updates the story, our copy usually updates on the next refresh, which happens every 10 to 30 minutes.
• If the original is wrong, please also contact the publisher; we’ll tell you who it is.
• If a publisher deletes a story, removes a name or issues a correction, we’ll remove or update our item on request.
• We’ll also remove an item that is clearly wrong, shown under the wrong town or section, or that a publisher asks us to remove.

3. Police & courts items

• We show only items published by official sources, with no photos and nothing about juveniles. Items that describe an arrest or charge carry a “Charged or arrested, not convicted” note. Arrest and charge items come down automatically after 14 days, from every kind of source. Items about a plea, conviction, sentencing or acquittal, and other releases, come down after 30 to 90 days, depending on the source.
• If a charge was dismissed, you were acquitted, or the record was expunged or sealed, send us the court’s order or other proof and we’ll remove the item, along with any copy we control, usually within two business days. In Indiana, expungement is governed by Indiana Code chapter 35-38-9; Kentucky and Illinois have their own procedures.
• Crime victims, minors and people in protective programs can ask us to remove an item that identifies them. We’ll act quickly and don’t need a reason.
• We can’t change what the agency or court published; please ask them as well.

4. Obituaries

Family members and funeral homes can ask us to correct or remove any obituary listing. We’ll do it without asking for proof beyond what’s reasonable. Obituary listings from papers and funeral homes leave the site after 21 days, and obituaries posted on TristateNow after 30 days.

5. Community posts

You can remove your own post from the browser you used to post it. To report a post, use “Report” on it; several reports hide it automatically. For anything urgent, such as a scam, your personal information posted without your permission, or a threat, email us.

6. Our own pages

If we make a mistake in something we write, such as a section note, a weather notice or a newsletter, we’ll correct it and, when the change matters, say what changed and when.

7. What we usually won’t do

We don’t remove accurate reporting just because it’s unflattering, unless one of the reasons above applies. We don’t accept payment to remove or change an item.

8. Contact

• Email: unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com
• Mail: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]

Advertising Policy

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 21, 2026

1. Kinds of paid placement

• Sponsor lines: a single-line sponsor message at the top of a board, labeled “Sponsored.”
• Sponsored cards: one card inside a board’s list of posts, labeled “Sponsored”: after the sixth post, or after the last post on a shorter board, and never on an empty board. You’ll see at most one per board, on phones and computers alike.
• Sponsored cards in News: a card between stories in the News feed, labeled “Sponsored”: about one every sixth story, so you see at most about one per screen. It always sits on its own row, never directly before or after a Police & courts item (it moves down to the next spot that isn’t), never first in the feed or next to the Breaking card, and never in search results.
• Side ads: ads in the side margins on wide screens, labeled “Sponsored.”
• Our own notices: when one of these spots hasn’t been sold, it shows our own notice, labeled “Advertise with us,” which opens our advertising inquiry form. It isn’t an ad for anyone else.
• Placeholder sample ads: for now, some unsold spots show placeholder sample ads labeled “Sample ad” instead, to show what an ad looks like. The businesses in them are made up, not real advertisers, and each one links only to our advertising page. A real, approved ad always takes the spot first, and samples follow the same rules as real ads: only on the four boards and News, never next to a Police & courts item, and never on Obituaries or breaking-news alerts.
• Featured posts: a job, deal, event or classified post whose poster paid to keep it at the top of its board, with a “Featured · Paid” badge. Prices, periods and refunds are in our Terms of Use.
• Advertising packages: Packages A, B and C can be ordered online for 30 days: what each includes, holds, payment and refunds are in our Terms of Use. Package D is by proposal.
• Sponsored features: coming soon. We don’t sell sponsored articles yet.
• Newsletter sponsorship: not offered yet. We’ll offer it only once the newsletter has at least 1,500 confirmed (double opt-in) subscribers, we’ve measured that it reaches inboxes reliably, and we’ve set how many sponsor spots each issue carries. When it’s offered, each sponsor message will be labeled “Sponsored.”

An ad is words alone, or one still image with a short headline and text, laid out for each standard ad size (section 7). We don’t use animation, autoplaying video or sound, pop-ups, or ads that stick to the screen or cover what you’re reading.

2. Where ads appear

• Sponsor lines, sponsored cards and side ads appear on the Events, Jobs, Deals and Classifieds boards. News, which also carries Police & courts items, has sponsored cards between stories and side ads, but no sponsor line. Side ads show only on wide screens.
• An ad in News is never placed directly before or after a Police & courts item, and the Breaking card is never an ad or next to one.
• There are no ads on Institutions, Obituaries, breaking-news alerts or search results.
• Each paid spot runs for the dates we agree with the advertiser. Every spot has a fixed number of shares, so it can’t be oversold: three for the sponsored card and three for the sponsor line on each board, three for the sponsored card in News, and two for each side ad.
• The one exception on Obituaries is the “Send flowers” link described in section 8. It is a small text link only, not an ad. The unpaid “Plant a tree” and “Donate” links beside it, also in section 8, aren’t ads either.

3. No targeting

Our own ads are never targeted. Every reader of a board sees the same ad at the same moment; when sponsors share a spot, they take equal turns of 15 minutes by the clock, so over a day each gets the same share. We don’t use your location, the stories you read, cookies or any other information about you to choose an ad, and we don’t record who sees or clicks an ad. We do count, in daily totals per campaign and spot, how often a paid ad was seen (at least half on screen, once per page load) and clicked; that’s what we report to advertisers. Those are counts on our own pages, not people: ad blockers, some browsers and obvious bots aren’t counted, and we don’t estimate reach or audiences from them. If we ever add an ad network (see section 9), its ads may be personalized only under that network’s own rules and our updated policies.

4. Separation from news

• Which stories appear, and in what order, is decided automatically by date, place and topic. Advertisers can’t pay to add, remove, move or change a news item, an obituary or a Police & courts item.
• Obituaries are always free to post, and there is no paid featuring for them.

5. Labels and links

Every ad and paid placement is labeled (“Sponsored” or “Featured · Paid”), as the FTC requires, our own notices are labeled “Advertise with us,” and placeholder sample ads are labeled “Sample ad.” An ad’s link goes to a secure (https) web page, a map or directions page, or a phone number to call, and is marked rel="sponsored" for search engines; web links open in a new tab. Clicking one takes you to the advertiser’s site (or the map service), which has its own terms and privacy practices.

6. What we accept

We accept ads from local businesses, organizations and events that are lawful, truthful and not misleading, and that follow the FTC’s advertising rules. We don’t accept ads for adult content, illegal products, weapons, vaping or tobacco, payday or predatory loans, gambling where it’s illegal, “miracle” health claims, or political ads that don’t identify who paid for them. We can decline or remove any ad. Advertisers are responsible for their ad’s content and any claims in it.

7. Ad images, words and review

Last updated October 21, 2026

Advertisers send their ad through the upload link we give them: it needs the reference from their advertising inquiry or package order (with the email used on it; an inquiry we’ve marked as spam doesn’t count), their order number, or a signed link from us that works for 14 days. Nobody can upload an ad anonymously.

• Image: one still JPEG, PNG or WebP image, at least 300×150 pixels, no more than 4,000 pixels on a side, and 300 KB or smaller. No animation, video or sound. It must be legible and not imitate a news story, a TristateNow label, a button that does something other than open the ad, or a system message.
• Sizes: we use standard (IAB) ad sizes and lay the ad out from its image and words for each one: 728×90 (leaderboard) for the sponsored card in News on screens 768 pixels wide or more, and 320×100 (large mobile banner) on phones; 300×250 (medium rectangle) for the sponsored card on the Events, Jobs, Deals and Classifieds boards; 160×600 (wide skyscraper) for side ads, and 300×600 (half page) on screens 2,560 pixels wide or more. The sponsor line is a line of text, not a sized unit. The image is cropped to fill each size’s picture area, and the upload page previews every size, with a warning when the image is cropped a lot or has too few pixels, before the ad is sent.
• Square picture (optional): an advertiser can add a second, square (1:1) version of their picture, at least 600×600 pixels (1,200×1,200 is best), under the same file rules. Each size uses whichever of the two pictures its picture area crops less; a finished banner for a size still takes its place. We review it with the rest of the ad, it’s public only once the ad is approved, and it’s deleted when the ad is rejected or withdrawn.
• Banners for a size (optional): for any of those sizes, an advertiser can instead send a finished banner: a still image of exactly that shape, at least that many pixels (twice as many is best for sharp screens), under the same file rules. It replaces the image and words at that size. We review it with the rest of the ad, and it’s deleted when the ad is rejected or withdrawn.
• Words: a headline of up to 60 characters (also used as the image’s description for screen readers) and optional text of up to 140 characters. No web addresses in the words.
• Button: one of “Visit website,” “Shop now,” “Learn more,” “Call now” or “Get directions.”
• Destination: a secure (https) web page, a U.S. phone number for “Call now,” or a Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps or OpenStreetMap link for “Get directions.” It must be the final address, not a link shortener or a redirect to another site, and must not ask for a password or install anything. The landing page must match the ad.
• Content: everything in section 6 applies. Claims must be truthful and supportable, and the advertiser must have the rights to every image, logo and word in the ad.

Review. A person at TristateNow reviews every ad before it runs; nothing uploaded appears on the site until it’s approved. We approve or reject each ad with a recorded reason. An approved ad shows only in the spots we chose for it (sponsor line, sponsored card or side ad). We can take an approved ad down at any time, for example if its page changes or it breaks these rules, and we record why. Rejected and withdrawn images are deleted; we keep a short record of the decision.

8. Affiliate links

Some links on the site may be affiliate links: if you buy something after following one, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Each affiliate link is labeled “paid link” and marked rel="sponsored". The only place we may use one is the “Send flowers” link below, and only once we’ve joined a flower-delivery affiliate program; until then no affiliate links appear.

“Send flowers” on obituaries. An obituary may show a small “Send flowers” text link to a florist. Where we’ve confirmed that the funeral home has its own florist page, the link goes there. Otherwise it goes to an online flower-delivery service. When the link is marked “paid link,” it’s an affiliate link: we may earn a commission on an order, at no extra cost to you. A “Send flowers” link without that label earns us nothing. It is a link only: no ad, image, script, cookie or tracking pixel is added to the obituary, and the link carries nothing about you or the person who died. A commission never affects which obituaries appear or what they say. We’ll name the service here when we join its program.

“Plant a tree” and “Donate” on obituaries. Next to “Send flowers,” an obituary may show two more small text links. “Plant a tree” goes to the funeral home’s own memorial-tree page where we’ve confirmed one, otherwise to a nonprofit’s page for planting trees in someone’s memory; it is not an affiliate link and earns us nothing. “Donate” appears only when the funeral home has its own memorial-donation page or the obituary itself asks for donations; it then goes to that page, a link in the family’s own wording, or the full obituary where the family names the charity. We never pick a charity for the family. Like “Send flowers,” these are links only, with no ad, image, script, cookie or tracking pixel, and they carry nothing about you or the person who died.

9. Ad networks

We don’t use any third-party ad network today. If we ever show ads from a network such as Google AdSense, we’ll update this policy and our Privacy Policy, and show a consent notice where the law requires one, before any network ad appears. Network ads will be labeled “Advertisement” and kept out of the sections listed in section 2.

10. No endorsement

An ad isn’t a recommendation from TristateNow. If we ever write about an advertiser, we’ll disclose the relationship.

11. Advertising with us

See the rate card under “Advertise” in the footer at the end of any page, or email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com. Featured-post prices are in our Terms of Use.

Accessibility Statement

Effective October 17, 2026 · Last updated October 17, 2026

We want everyone to be able to read local news on TristateNow, including people who use screen readers, keyboards, screen magnifiers or voice control.

1. Our goal

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA. What we do so far:

• A “Skip to stories” link, real headings and labeled page regions.
• Every control works with a keyboard and shows a visible focus outline. Buttons and links are at least 40 pixels in size where possible.
• Buttons such as the heart and share icons have text labels for screen readers, and the heart announces whether it’s on or off.
• Colors are chosen for readable contrast in both light and dark themes. The site follows your system’s dark-mode setting, or you can choose with the theme button.
• Pages adapt to small screens and to browser zoom.
• Form fields have labels, and errors are announced and explained in words.

2. Known limitations

• Stories, images and documents on other publishers’ sites are outside our control, and some may not be accessible.
• Thumbnails come from publishers and are marked as decorative, because we don’t have descriptions for them. The headline next to each one tells you the story.
• Photos on the community boards come from the people who post them, and posters can’t add descriptions yet.

3. Tell us about a problem

If something on TristateNow is hard to use, email unclesamjunkremoval@gmail.com with the page and what happened. We’ll try to reply within five business days, and we can send you the information you need in another format.

4. How we check

We review accessibility with keyboard-only navigation, screen readers and automated tools when we change the design. This statement was last reviewed on October 17, 2026.