Tom Burnett was a newspaperman. There are many people who earn a living in the newspaper business in a variety of capacities, but in my decades-long experience there's only a handful I'd describe as a newspaperman, the kind of person who bleeds ink and considers the 4th Estate a noble calling. If you don't get a little misty-eyed when the printing presses are rolling and another edition is put to bed, forget it. I never worked with Tom in my career but our paths crossed many times. He had a passion for the role of a weekly newspaper and at one time owned the Post Falls Tribune, selling it a few years before I became publisher/editor/Kerri Thoreson, Coeur d'Alene Press Main Street. More here. (Jesse Tinsley SR file photo)

Question: Do you have any family ties to newspapering?

Tom Burnett lived up to a dare to start a weekly newspaper in Rathdrum more than seven years ago. “I wanted to start a newspaper, so I did,” said Burnett, who was dabbling in selling real estate at the time. “I borrowed $5,000 to buy computers and programs and I ran the newspaper out of my bedroom for the first couple months because I didn't have an office.” Wednesday marked the final publication of the Rathdrum Star, a free newspaper mailed to about 10,100 homes in Rathdrum, Hauser, Spirit Lake, Twin Lakes Village and Blanchard. The newspaper published a front-page photo of the Star's office window painting of a cigar-smoking reporter tapping away at a typewriter with “Sorry; We're closed” written over the picture. Burnett, who turns 70 in January, said the publication has ended due to his retirement/David Cole, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (2004 SR file photo of Tom Burnett)

Question: Does your old hometown newspaper still exist?