College Park newspaper to add monthly Spanish section after county grant; council calls move an accessibility improvement

Sharon O’Malley, editor of College Park Here and Now, told the City Council on Jan. 27 that the hyperlocal paper will begin publishing a four-page Spanish-language section each month starting with its February issue, made possible by a county grant.

"Starting with our February issue, College Park Here and Now will be including four pages of news and information in Spanish every month," O’Malley said during public comment, noting the city’s growing Spanish-speaking population and that the paper is distributed by mail to every address in College Park.

Nora Idleman of Streetcar Suburbs Publishing, the paper’s parent nonprofit, spoke in Spanish to describe the same change and thanked County Council Vice Chair Eric Olson and councilmembers Tom Dernoga and Winika Fisher for the grant that will fund the pages at least through the summer.

Mayor and council members responded positively, framing the translation as an accessibility measure rather than a political choice. The mayor said the city promotes messages in other languages to ensure residents can "easily understand" and access city services. Several council members urged city staff and colleagues to help spread word of the new resource and to include information about it in outreach materials.

The announcement came during the public-comment portion of the meeting; no formal city funding or policy change was recorded during the session. The newspaper’s grant was described in the public comment as covering the new Spanish pages "at least through the summer." Councilmembers praised the initiative and asked staff to help amplify awareness of the resource with residents and service providers.

What happens next: the council expressed broad support and asked city staff to note the resource in outreach materials. No city action was required or taken at the Jan. 27 meeting; the paper said the pages will begin distribution in the February edition.