For all our readers who use our online calendar – help has arrived. The Reporter has a new online calendar for the public to use.

It might seem strange that an online calendar would be a topic for an editorial, but people – lots of them – called and wrote us when our former calendar stopped working some weeks back.

The problem has been fixed with the old calendar replaced by an entirely new system that offers users more options to get their events out to the public.

One of the best improvements is that people will NOT need to register for an account to use it. You just add events with a single form and a confirmation email. Super easy.

Another new feature is that all of the event listings will be visible and promoted on all pages of our online site – not just the home page. And you’ll be able to add events the calendar to your personal online calendar (Google, Yahoo, iCal, Outlook, etc.). You’ll also be able to share events on social networks.

Finally, you will be able to target your calendar item to specific categories, newspapers and age groups.

Now for a couple of minuses.

Current calendar events will NOT be imported to the new system. That means you’ll have to repost upcoming items.

And all submitted items will have to be approved by the editor. But don’t worry, approval should be very quick. I’ll get a daily email reminding me to check for new items. You should find your item online within 48 hours of when you entered it.

We love the online calendar and, like you, have been frustrated about it not working. That problem now is over. Get those calendar items back online.

Do it yourself

Once again, the state’s Democrat and Republican parties want taxpayers to shell out for what essentially is a private issue – election of their party precinct committee officers.

Both have filed a lawsuit asking that the state be ordered to continue conducting PCO elections as part of the Top 2 Primary ballot.

The court should say “no.”

The Democratic Party and the Republican Party are private associations. While the state has allowed the election of precinct committee officers to be put on ballots in the past, it doesn’t have to, according to a U.S. District Court ruling. And Secretary of State Sam Reed makes a good point that “county election offices do not conduct elections for other private associations, such as Rotary clubs, unions, or trade associations.

If political parties don’t like that, they can find a way different from the Primary ballot – and at their own expense.