CIPS to Deliver Vida en el Valle

CIPS Marketing has reached an agreement with the Fresno Bee to deliver the weekly Hispanic publication Vida en el Valle in the San Joaquin Valley.  It was also announced that CIPS will deliver some of the Fresno Bee's TMC product to the outlying areas.

Western Communications Files Bankruptcy

Western Communications field for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection per an article by David Nogueras at OPB News.  The company hopes to recover from bankruptcy in six months.

Western Communciations owns the Bend Bulletin, along with four other papers in Oregon and two in California.

Bay Area News Group Makes Changes in SF East Bay

The Bay Area News Group announced today The Oakland Tribune will be renamed the East Bay Tribune and their other properties in the San Francisco East Bay Area (West County Times, the Alameda Times-Star, the Daily Review of Hayward and the Argus of Fremont) will also be renamed East Bay Tribune.

The Contra Costa Times, Valley Times, Tri-Valley Herald, San Joaquin Herald, and East County Times will all become known as The Times.   Additionally, the San Mateo County Times will become an edition of the San Jose Mercury News, focusing on Peninsula issues.   The East Bay papers will all retain their own separate local news section that covers its community.  

As part of the consolidation and renaming, BANG says it will eliminate 120 news and production jobs.

Two new weekly newspapers will be launched in the East Bay:  The Valley Journal serving Alamo, Danville, and San Ramon; and the Times-Herald, covering Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and Sunol.

Chicago Red Eye to Discontinue Saturday

Tribune Company has announced that it will discontinue the Saturday print edition of the Chicago Red Eye, effective September 3, 2011.  The free tabloid will continue to distribute Monday through Friday.

Franklin County Citizen and News Leader Merge

The Franklin County Citizen and the News Leader (Royston) have merged their publications to form the new Franklin County Citizen Leader effective August 25th, 2011.  The two publications both had covered Franklin County, Georgia.

New York Press to Close, Our Town Downtown to Relaunch

Manhattan Media has announced that it will close the alternative weekly the New York Press effective August 25th, 2011.  At the same time, it also stated it was re-opening the Our Town Downtown, a community weekly publication.

Two More Alaskan Newspapers Sold

A few weeks back Calista Corporation announced it was closing all six weekly newspapers in its Alaska Newspaper group.  Calista was able to sell four of the publications before they closed, and last week they announced that they were able to sell the final two, the Seward Phoenix Log and the Tundra Drums, thus allowing all six publications to remain open.

Aurora Sentinel and Metro East Announce Changes

The Aurora Sentinel will cease being a daily publication effective September 8th, 2011, and will convert to a weekly / Thursday-only publication at that time.  The online site will continue to have news for seven days a week.

On that same date, the Buckley Guardian (covering Buckley Air Force Base) will switch from Friday distribution to Thursday distribution.

The Aurora Sentinel will also launch a new publication called Life Science, covering the Fitzsimmons Life Science District in Aurora, Colorado. This publication will target the medical professionals in the area, with 5,000 weekly distribution each Thursday.

Four ASP Westward Publications to Merge

ASP Westward announced today that effective September 8th, 2011, four of its publications will merge together to form the new Cypress Creek Mirror.  The four publications are the Cypress Sun, Cy-Fair Sun, Champions Sun and Klein Sun.  Each of the four publications will last run on September 1st, 2011.

Johnson County Sun closes

The Kansas City Business Journal has reported that the Johnson County Sun closed for business permanently on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011.  The Sun was a weekly publication with distribution around 30,000.

Bluffton Today Changes Distribution Days & Subscription Status

Michael C. Traynor, the publisher of the Bluffton Today, announced that effective August 24th, 2011, the Today would switch to publishing just two days a week, Wednesday and Sunday. The publication would also change from a paid subscriber publication to a free delivered publication. 

The paper will also revert back to a broadsheet format.

The Bluffton today was launched in 2005 as a free publication, and converted to a subscriber based publication in December 2008.

LA Times Folds BrandX

It was reported two weeks ago in LAObserved that the L.A. Times would cease publishing its' youth arts & events-based free weekly tabloid, BrandX.  The last issue was published June 29, and the web site was shut-down July 8.    Staffers at the publication will be transitioned elsewhere in the organization.   The L.A. Times accompanied the announcement with news of expansion in Times Community News papers in Pasadena, Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo.

Three More Alaska Publications Survive

Calista Corporation has sold three more of its weekly publications that were scheduled to be closed on August 15th.  Jason Evans and Kiana Peacock have purchased the Dutch Harbor Fisherman, Artic Sounder and Bristol Bay Times from Calista, along with The Equipment Shopper and Bush Shopper.

New York Observer Changes Format

The New York Observer has announced that it will change its format to a mini-broadsheet on August 24th, 2011. 

Times Community Newspapers Launches Two New Publications

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Times Community Newspapers will launch two new publications later this week. On Friday August 5th, the Pasadena Sun will launch as a weekly publication, and on Sunday August 7th, the Sunday Valley Sun will launch, covering the San Gabriel Valley weekly.

Leesville Daily Leader Changes Distribution Days

The Leesville Daily Leader announced that effective August 1st, 2011, the publication would publish on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, instead of five days a week.

Cordova Times Stays Alive

Calista Corp has sold the Cordova Times to Jennifer Gibbins, which will allow the publication to remain open.  The Times had been one of six publications that Calista Corp has announced it was closing on  August 15th.

Monroe News-Star Shortens the Page

The Monroe News-Star announced that on August 1st, 2011 it reduced its page size by 3", changing it from a 6 col by 21.5" publication to a 6 col by 18.5".

Alaska Newspapers Inc. Closes

Calista Corporation has announced that it will close the Alaska Newspaper Inc newspaper chain which contain six publications, effective at some point in August 2011. 

The publications include the Artic Sounder, Bristol Bay Times, Cordova Times, Dutch Harbor Fisherman, Tundra Drums, and Seward Phoenix Log. 

Quick Closes

The Quick, an alternative weekly publication published by the Dallas Morning News, has closed for business effective the week of August 1st, 2011.