Conglomerate buys Silverton paper

Corporate publishing has arrived in Silverton.The Silverton Standard & the Miner has changed hands and is now owned by Liberty Group Publishing, a media conglomerate based in suburban Chicago.

Jonathan and Wendy Thompson have owned and publishedThe Silverton Standard & the Minerfor the last three and half years. In 2002, the pair ownedThe San Juan Mountain Journal,purchasedThe Silverton Standard & the Minerand merged the two publications.

Last fall, the Thompsons announced that they were ready for a lifestyle change and put the 1,100-circulation weekly back on the market with an asking price of $120,000. In the past few months, the paper attracted interest from prospective buyers including aNew York Timesreporter, a veteran New Mexico journalist and the author of theDurango Telegraph’s “Society Page.”

However, what has literally been a “mom and pop” operation is now owned by an Illinois corporation. Liberty Group Publishing touts itself as the largest and fastest growing publisher of community newspapers in the nation. The company specializes in papers with daily circulation of less than 20,000 and currently owns more than 270 publications, including 64 daily newspapers. Among those is the nearbyTelluride Daily Planet, where business and production for the Silverton paper will be shifted.

In his farewell column, Jonathan Thompson noted the romance of running a newspaper in an isolated mountain town. He also explained that six prospective individual buyers had expressed interest but could not put it together financially.

“The inescapable equation of the amount of work, plus the amount of pay, combined with the soaring real estate prices here, was the deciding factor for most of those who bowed out,” he wrote.

Thompson is leaving Silverton to take a job as an associate editor atHigh Country News, the bi-weekly located in Paonia.

School district forced to make cuts

Durango School District 9-R will be tightening its belt in the coming year. During the 2006-07 school year, the district will cut $500,000 in expenses. The cuts are necessary because of lagging student enrollment and a troubled State of Colorado economy. Without the trimming now, the district could face deeper, more draconian cuts in two years, according to Director of Business Services Diane Doney,

“We’re trying to increase our efficiency so that we can avoid any cuts to the educational program,” said Doney. “We need to take this seriously now so that we won’t find ourselves in a crisis two or three years down the line.”

Doney said the proposed $500,000 cut is slightly more than the amount the district expected to generate from the transportation override mill levy, which failed by just 43 votes in the November 2005 election. In response, all departments and schools have been asked to cut operating budgets, excluding salaries and utilities, by 5 percent. Operating budgets include items like supplies, travel, postage, copying, etc. The across-the-board cuts will result in $160,000 in savings.

Next, the district will examine staffing levels by assessing class sizes, consolidating services and taking advantage of cost savings from retirements and resignations to cut the remaining $340,000. “It is our intention to take advantage of attrition and to be more efficient with our staffing,” she said. “I don’t anticipate any wholesale lay offs at all. But if we don’t trim our expenses now, we could face more serious staffing issues in two or three years.”

The district also will examine each department and school operating budget to see if additional cuts can be made by using new technologies or eliminating little-used services. Plus, the district will identify ways to generate additional revenue, Doney said.

State subsidizes Cumbres & Toltec

A nearby historic railway has gotten a big shot in the arm from the Colorado government. The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad has been awarded $500,000 in an effort to boost one of the San Luis Valley’s top tourism draws.

Colorado Sen. Lewis H. Entz, R-Hooper, secured the support of Gov. Bill Owens for a major cash infusion next year into the hurting railroad.

“Millions of dollars come into the San Luis Valley specifically because of the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad. It is a valuable asset not only for the valley but for the entire state,” Owens said. 

Owens formally asked the state Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee to include $500,000 for the historic railroad in next year’s budget.

“It’s a great first step,” Entz said. “Now we need state government as a whole to step up to the plate and make sure there’s a stable funding source for the railroad for years to come.”

The railroad weaves back and forth across the border with New Mexico, which shares financial responsibility for the attraction with Colorado. Entz, a veteran lawmaker and San Luis Valley potato farmer, said the narrow-gauge railroad is a “true gem” and a major source of economic development.

Local Democrats name new chair

The La Plata Democratic Party has new leadership. The party met on Jan. 28 and named Kelly McCullar as its new chair.  

McCullar is a professional paralegal with the firm of McLachlan and Whitley and has lived in La Plata County for more than 20 years, attending both Durango High School and Fort Lewis College.

In her acceptance comments, McCullar said, “I am delighted to chair the party because I believe so strongly in the Dems’ culture of community and inclusion. I have worked on local, human issues for a year now, and intend that our party continue to make a local impact on issues of health care, affordable housing, voter outreach and environment. And, of course, we have great candidates running in the November elections, and we intend to win every race. It’s going to be a busy year.”

Also elected to the Executive Committee were Alison Dance as first vice chair; Brandon Donahue as second vice chair; Bob Soto as third vice chair; Anne Markward as secretary; Dick Dahl as treasurer; and at-large officers Vicki Simarano, Jean Walter, Craig Larson, Brian Brown, Erich Bussian and Betty Leyerle. Pat Lane, president of the FLC Dems, was appointed as the “Young Democrat for La Plata County.”

KDUR airs “El Momento del Centro”

The local Hispanic community is getting weekly airtime on a public radio station. “El Momento del Centro” is the weekly news program and bulletin of Fort Lewis College’s El Centro de Muchos Colores. The program airs at 6: 15 p.m. each Thursday on KDUR, which can be found at 91.9 and 93.9 FM andwww.kdur.org.

As part of KDUR’s “Radio Latina,” which runs from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday, “El Momento del Centro” features news stories plus information on events and issues that are relevant to the local Hispanic community. It covers topics like a schedule of events, Spanish word of the week, person of the week/month and an informative news story.

El Centro Art Director Dave Gallegos, a senior English-communications student at Fort Lewis, has been an integral part of the creation of “El Momento del Centro” because he also works as DJ training director and hip-hop director at KDUR. Gallegos initiated the program’s introduction and outro theme music and usually delivers the program on-air.

– compiled by Will Sands