“The closings will leave the communities without their long-time local papers,” reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Alden’s knock-offs

With advertising and page counts continuing to plunge, much local speculation about the San Diego Union-Tribune’s future involves questions about whether the paper’s vulture investor owner, Alden Global Capital, will soon close the print version — sparing its website and its PDF “e-newspaper” version.

But the paper’s ultimate fate may prove to be even more dire. The arrival of word that Alden-owned subsidiaries have abruptly shuttered both the print and electronic versions of eight Minnesota weeklies has set off another round of angst over how long the U-T can survive, and whether it matters. “The closings will leave the communities without their long-time local papers,” reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which is not owned by Alden Global Capital, in an April 4 dispatch.

 “According to the announcement, the Chaska Herald, Chanhassen Villager and Jordan Independent will publish their final editions on April 25. Three others will cease operation on April 27: the Shakopee Valley News, Prior Lake American and Savage Pacer. The Hutchinson Leader and Litchfield Independent Review, which are published by Crow River Media, also will shut down by the end of the month.” Two of the now-dead papers had been published for over 160 years, while another was in business for 140 years. “Staff at the newspapers were informed of the impending closure on Thursday, with Chanhassen News reporter Noah Mitchell saying he was hired as recently as last month,” per a Minnesota blog, BringMeTheNews.

Lilia O’Hara, gone from the U-T, but not forgotten by SDSU.

Back in Los Angeles, previous U-T owner Patrick Soon-Shiong told Yahoo News that he plans to use his remaining paper, the LA Times, to mount a newly-concocted video streaming service. “We actually have to find innovative ways to become a media platform, not just a newspaper,” the billionaire physician says in an April 23 post. Per Yahoo, Soon-Shiong “credits the streaming of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books as a successful test of the product.”

Under Soon-Shiong, the U-T used to stage its own book festival every August at the University of San Diego, but what, if anything, is planned this year by Alden Global Capital has yet to be announced

Meanwhile, two former U-T workers cast off by Alden have been touting their new status. “It is with a heart filled with gratitude and joy that I share this news,” says a LinkedIn post by Lilia O’Hara, former longtime editor of the U-T’s Spanish Language tabloid, folded by Alden. “I will receive the new Jack White Award for Excellence in Local Journalism, given in honor and recognition of Jack White’s long career in San Diego news. Thank you to the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Thank you!”

Added an SDSU online news release: “When O’Hara assumed the role of editorial director at The San Diego Union-Tribune en Español in 2010, her deep understanding of culture became a guiding light when covering the community. O’Hara sought to showcase the contributions of the Latino community in the development and identity of San Diego.”

Ex-U-T editorial chief Matt Hall greeted readers of Columbia, South Carolina’s The State newspaper, where he landed last month, with a cheery April 23 introductory column: “Who am I and why should you care? I’m your new South Carolina opinion editor, a neighbor, a convener of ideas, and more likely than not, a magnet for criticism. As long as it’s not cruel, I’ll welcome it, along with your thoughts and suggestions, as we begin to build this opinion section into a beacon of light — not heat, there’s enough of that — and a welcoming place for conversation. I’ll be based in Columbia but writing about the whole state and being receptive to local voices throughout South Carolina.”

Coming gun-tractions

San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan’s small, in-house bureau of investigation has submitted its annual military equipment report for 2024, as required by state law, showing minimal use of its armory. “Colt AR-15 rifles were deployed 17 times in the field while executing search warrants and arrest warrants, but never fired,” says the April 4 document by the agency’s chief investigator Jorge Duran to the county board of supervisors. “Colt AR-15 rifles were also used during the training of law enforcement personnel.” Regarding high-tech surveillance, the report offers, “Unmanned Aircraft System drones have been acquired, but not yet deployed operationally.”

Summer Stephan’s BI has not been droning on much of late.

Border business

“The chief of Border Patrol’s San Diego, California sector reported that agents there apprehended migrants 9513 times over the seven days ending April 23,” says self-styled human rights advocate Adam Isacson’s online compilation of Daily Border Links for April 25. “That is a 6 percent increase over the previous week and a 36 percent increase over two weeks prior. For the first time since the late 1990s, San Diego is almost certainly the busiest of Border Patrol’s nine U.S.-Mexico border sectors.”

In addition, reports Isacson, “Volunteers providing humanitarian aid to asylum seekers waiting in open-air sites along the California border say that numbers are increasing there; donors are encouraged to contribute needed items on an Amazon wishlist.” An April 24 by ex-Union-Tribune border specialist Wendy Fry, now reporting for CalMatters, adds “San Diego surpassed Tucson this month as Border Patrol’s busiest sector in the nation.”

Meanwhile, increases in price of produce imported from Mexico may hinge on delayed repairs to a Tijuana highway bridge, suggests the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement Seasonal Perishable Products Weekly Update for April 19.

“On April 12, 2024, Salvador Rivera (on BorderReport.com) reported that the reopening of the Chaparral Bridge, Tijuana Mexico was delayed an additional three months as a wide crack on the bridge revealed it was in danger of collapsing. The Chaparral Bridge is a key link for drivers heading to and from the San Ysidro, California Port of Entry and is a primary cause for increased traffic congestion and up to three-hour delays. The bridge was expected to be ready in January, however, additional structural damage was found, requiring even more repairs.”

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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