Clay County Sun Tribune Ceases Publishing

NPG Newspapers (Missouri) announced that the Sun-Tribune publication was ceasing its publication on February 24th, 2010. The Sun-Tribune, formerly known as the Dispatch-Tribune, had a weekly distribution of approximately 26,000.

NASCAR Scene Ceased Publishing

The NASCAR Scene, a weekly publication covering NASCAR racing since 1977, ceased publishing on January 10th, 2010. The Scene merged with the monthly NASCAR Illustrated magazine. It's associated website scenedaily.com will continue to provide news about NASCAR race coverage and breaking news.

Atlanta Journal Constitution Changes TMC to Carrier Delivery

Effective Monday, March 1st, the Atlanta Journal Constitution will switch to carrier delivery for the Monday Reach TMC product.

Shaw Suburban Media Changes Page Sizes

Shaw Suburban Media announced that it would change the dimensions of its page size for its daily and weekly publications at the end of March, 2010. The Broadsheet publications will now be: 1 col = 1.75", 2 col = 3.625", 3 col = 5.5", 4 col = 7.735", 5 col = 9.25" and 6 col = 11.125".

The tabloid publications will now be: 1 col = 1.75", 2 col = 3.625", 3 col = 5.5", 4 col = 7.375" and 5 col = 9.25".

The publications to be impacted, and the date of change are as follows:

• DeKalb Daily Chronicle, March 29th
• Kane County Chronicle, March 30th
• Northwest Herald, April 12th
• The Midweek, March 31st
• El Conquistador, April 1st
• Lake County Journal, April 1st
• Valley Free Press, April 6th

The Midweek will also be changing from a Broadsheet format to a Tabloid format at that time.

The shipping address will also change at that time to Paddock Printing Center, 1000 West Albion Avenue, Schaumburg, IL 60193.

Monmouth Pennysaver Goes to Mail Delivery

The Monmouth Pennysaver, a Gatehouse Media publciation covering Monmouth, Illinois and the Green County area, will be shifting from carrier delivery to 100% direct mail delivery in April 2010, per Wendy Todd, Advertising Director.

Whitehorse Community News Closes

The Whitehorse Community News, a monthly community paper covering Darrington, Washington, will cease publishing in early March 2010 per Joe Day, owner and publisher.

Morris Publishing Group Exits Bankruptcy

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Augusta, Georgia approved Morris Publishing Group's reorganization plans on Wednesday, February 17th allowing the group and its publications to emerge from bankruptcy.

Morris Publishing had filed for bankruptcy on January 19th, 2010.

Edmond Sun Changes Distribution Days

The Edmond Sun (OK) changed its distibution days from daily (Monday through Friday) to semi-weekly (Tuesday and Saturday) on February 1st, 2010.

Seaford Leader and Sussex Post Merge

Independent Newspapers, Inc (Delaware) has merged weekly publications Seaford Leader and Sussex Post on February 3, 2010. The new publication is now called the Sussex County Post. This also resulted in a distribution day change, as the day changed from Thursday distribution to Wednesday distribution for the new vendor.

Syracuse Stand Launches

The Stand, a community paper intended to cover the Southside Community of Syracuse, NY, was launched on Saturday, February 13th. The free monthly publication was created by a joint venture between the Syracuse University Newhouse School and the Southside Community Coalition.

Berkeley Daily Planet Ceases Print Edition

The Berkeley Daily Planet announced it was ceasing its print edition effective Friday, February 12th, 2010. Publishers Becky and Mike O'Malley do plan on continuing with an online version of the publication.

Colorado Hometown Newspapers Merges Publications

The Colorado Hometown Newspapers has merged three of its weekly publications into one new publication. The Lafayette News, Louisville Times and Erie Review are now the Colorado Hometown Weekly, published Wednesdays with a distribution of 18,400.

Naval Station Kitsap Northwest Navigator and Naval Station Everett Northwest Navigator Merge

Sound Publishing merged the Naval Station Kitsap Northwest Navigator and the Naval Station Everett Northwest Navigator on January 13, 2010. The combined circulation of the newly merged publication Northwest Navigator - Kitsap/Everett will be approximately 10,407.

Bremerton Patriot and Central Kitsap Reporter merge

Sound Publishing has merged vendors Bremerton Patriot and Central Kitsap Reporter on January 8, 2010 for ROP purposes. The new publication will be called Bremerton Patriot/Central Kitsap Reporter and will still distribute on Friday. Preprints will be able to be zoned to the previous respective editions of the Bremerton Patriot and the Central Kitsap Reporter.

Eagle Pass News Guide Closes

The Eagle Pass News Guide, a bi-weekly publication in Eagle Pass, Texas, ceased publishing in January 2010.

Portland Sentinel Closes

The Portland Sentinel, a monthly publication in Portland, Oregon, will close after publishing its March 2010 edition. The Sentinel has a monthly distribution of 27,000, and was formerly known as the St. John's Sentinel. Publisher Cornelius Swart made the announcement on the paper's website.

I regret to announce that the March Street Edition of The Sentinel will most likely be our last. It’s an awkward way to announce this sort of thing. As publisher, there are thousands of readers, hundreds of businesses, scores of writers, activists and dear friends to consider. How does one impart this kind of news to everyone in a way that is fair? This is what I’ve come up with:

Last year was trying for most North Portland businesses. But for the past two years, the Sentinel has seen a steady decline in advertising revenue. This decline represents both the impact of the recession and the challenges of running an advertising-driven business in today's media-saturated environment. At present The Sentinel is 100% print advertising-driven, and it is now clear that we can no longer provide services to our readers and advertisers at our current level of quality. I hope I speak for all Sentinel contributors when I say we have worked exhaustively to provide the community with accurate, high-quality, professional news in a multi-media, interactive format. We hope that this paper served as a useful provider of information, an engaging tool for public discussion and a source for amusement and insight.

For the past two years, I and others involved with The Sentinel have been exploring the feasibility of a nonprofit business model, which at present remains undetermined. Currently, The Sentinel is considering a project to put all of the paper's archives online and in a format that is easily accessible to the public. However, this project cannot be completed without funding.

The Sentinel website will continue to provide daily service through the end of March 2010.

La Opinion Reduces Page Size

The La Opinion, a Los Angeles based hispanic publication, announced that effective February 17th, 2010, they will reduce their page size from a 50" width to 45.5".

Minneapolis Art Review & Preview to Close

The Minneapolis quarterly publication Art Review & Preview will cease publishing on April 9, 2010.

Pocono Business Journal To Close

The Pocono Business Journal will officially close on February 5, 2010 per publisher Marynell Strunk in a statement on the paper's website:

East Stroudsburg, PA, January 27, 2010 – The award-winning Pocono Business Journal will cease publication as of the February 2010 issue. Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Marynell Strunk cited the current economic climate and the shrinking print industry as the reasons for the paper’s end, to officially occur on February 5, 2010.

Strunk founded the newspaper over four years ago, launching the first issue in November 2005. She hired Debbie Burke as editor in August of 2007. The journal was also known for its Editors on the Road presentations and the monthly Business and Books events, as well as its weekly email update “Taste of PBJ.”

“Coming to this decision has been difficult. It has been a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with the regional business community. I have to thank the advertisers who believed in and supported the publication over the years.” says Strunk.