The Regional News was founded in 1941 as the Palos Regional, a five by seven inch booklet of local news which was mailed monthly to residents of Palos Heights and Palos Park. In 1947 the paper was enlarged to tabloid size by Publisher Carl Richards and it began publishing every week. Five years later he increased the page size to today's full size.

Charles Richards bought the Regional from his father in 1970. He purchased a new printing press and installed it in the plant on the northeast corner of 123rd Street and Harlem in Palos Heights. In 1983 the paper's name was changed to The Regional News because of the addition of news and advertising matter from Orland Park.

Today the Regional has approximately 18,000 readers, an all-time high. The paper comes out each Thursday and is mailed to it's subscribers as well as being sold on area newsstands. One reason that the Regional is the most-read non-daily newspaper in the affluent Palos-Orland area is because each issue includes over 2,000 column inches of local news and photos with unbiased stories. Each issue contains the American Profile magazine, a full-color glossy publication of news features and photos. The Regional has won 600 awards for excellence including being named Best Small Weekly in Illinois five times by the Illinois Press Assn.