Taconic Newspapers are no more

HARLEM VALLEY —  As of this week, the Taconic Newspapers chain of weekly papers, owned by the Journal Register Company of Yardley, Pa., is shutting down. That decision includes the closure of the Harlem Valley Times in Amenia and the Register Herald in Pine Plains, along with the Millbrook Round Table, the Voice Ledger, the Pawling News Chronicle, the Hyde Park Townsman, the Gazette Advertiser of Rhinebeck, Weekend and Dutchess magazines and the Hudson Valley Guide.

The move took the area by surprise, noted Pine Plains town Supervisor Gregg Pulver. That was even taking into consideration the fact that the Columbia County newspaper, The Independent, published its last edition on Friday, Feb. 6, 2009, after 36 years of being in print. The Independent is also owned by the Journal Register Co.

“I was shocked,� Pulver said. “I heard about the Roe Jan Independent last week obviously, but now this. They’re folding the entire tent.�

Kingston Daily Freeman (also a Journal Register Co., paper) publisher Ira Fusfeld, who once ran the Taconic weeklies, stated his feelings on his blog last Friday.

“A nasty week comes to an end. Helped close the doors of a sister newspaper company in Columbia County. Horrible feeling. Employees — all good people — put on the street,� he wrote. “Community loses an important lifeline. Nothing good about it.�

“It’s obviously regrettable that we aren’t  going to be able to continue and serve the readers and advertisers with whom we’ve had relationships for so long,â€� stated Tom Cincotta, publisher of The Independent, in last week’s announcement about the paper’s demise.

T.C. Morton is an Amenia resident, Webutuck Central School District employee and Harlem Valley Times freelancer. He said he was surprised to get the phone call this week informing him that it would be the last issue.

“I think it’s unfortunate we’re losing a community newspaper,� he said. “The Harlem Valley Times has a rich history in the area. It goes back to 1913. It’s just another indication of our economy and the dire straights we’re in.�

Fusfeld’s blog echoed those sentiments.

“The handful of loyal employees whose newspaper folded in a tiny part of Upstate New York represent a sliver of what’s occurring around this country,� he wrote. “The unemployment statistics are staggering. And Washington moves at a painfully slow pace.�

“I think in the scheme of things it’s a shame,â€� Pulver said. “Certainly in the last 10 years or so they’ve done a  better job keeping reporters and making an effort to be a little more consistent. But there’s going to be a hole in the town, there’s no doubt about it. We’re looking to The Millerton News to fill that void, as it’s done so well in the past.â€�

The Millerton News, which is owned by the Lakeville Journal Company, LLC, an independently owned community newspaper company, will continue to cover Amenia, Millerton, North East, Pine Plains and the rest of the Harlem Valley.

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