The Bend Bulletin Declares Bankruptcy

The parent company of the Bend Oregon Bulletin and some other smaller Oregon papers is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing more than 10 million dollars.

Bulletin parent company files Chapter 11

The company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy about seven years ago. Chapter 11 allows for a reorganization. But I wonder if they are financially strong enough to stay out of liquidation.

Bend has a population of 94,000 people and I thought was growing. How could the paper have gotten that far in hole? Is this a sign of the future?

 

From the link (the bold text is from me):

Almost $1 million in the hole to their newsprint supplier?!?!!! If I worked in Bend (and I've known a few people who have), I'd be cashing my paycheck ASAP from now on.

 

Also has a couple of papers in California, one along the North Coast, the other in Sonora.

 

Why is a paper in Bend, Oregon purchasing newsprint from Pennsylvania? There are zillions of trees in Oregon, Washington, etc.

 

Why is anybody in the news business still purchasing newsprint?

 

Perhaps the bigger mystery - who is giving credit to newspaper companies these days? Fun fact: Bob Dickey - CEO of Gannett lives in Bend for some reason. And I remember Otis Chandler of the LA Times lived up there for years as well.

 

This was posted online the week before the latest bankruptcy filing.

Back Taxes Threaten to Bury Bend Bulletin Owners

 

Still, Costa remained optimistic. ...

“We’re working our darndest to move over into the new world
of digital reporting and editing and digital revenue particularly,” he said.

Turn out the lights, dude. The party's over.

 

Bend is the home of the last Blockbuster Video store. I guess there are only so many throwback dollars to go around.

 

The company seems to have skipped 401K payments. I hope the company has made the paymetns for income tax and social security withholdings.

 

Really. I’d like to the answer to that, too.

 

The company that sells the paper may have a legal address in Pennsylvania but the newsprint does have to come from Pennsylvania. I bet it came from the West Coast somewhere. But in bankruptcy they use the legal address of the company.