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King County Journal printing final edition:

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Story Published: Jan 19, 2007

Story Updated: Jan 19, 2007
By Keith Eldridge

BELLEVUE - A local newspaper that's been publishing for more than a hundred years is printing its final edition. The King County Journal is calling it quits. But the demise of one paper is giving rise to several community papers.

The final printing runs of the King County Journal are under way. Sunday is the final edition. It leaves a rich heritage of publishing covering 118 years.

It also leaves a rich heritage of people who are mourning the loss Friday.

'You know, there's losses on both sides of the ledger here. For the community and the people who've worked here,' said KCJ reporter Dean Radford.

The paper was recently sold and the new owners, Black Press, saw a paper with dwindling circulation and decreasing advertising dollars.

'We knew the daily was in serious trouble and we had very little hope of saving it,' said General Manager/Publisher Don Kendall. 'But we gave one last look at it to see if there was anything possible.'

In the end the decision was to close the King County Journal.

'Very, very difficult,' said KCJ sports reporter Mark Klaas. 'A lot of talented people I said goodbye to and are now suddenly looking for jobs.'

While this is the end of an era for this long-running newspaper, it is the beginning of a new era.

The printing presses will soon be pumping out new editions of community papers. Nine community papers will be taking the place of the King County Journal. That?s one for nearly every city covered by the Journal and coming out twice or once a week.

Radford will be the editor of the Renton Reporter.

'We're going to do our darndest to really give my readers in Renton a real sense of community. I mean we're going back to our roots.' Klaas stays on as the editor of the Auburn Reporter newspaper.

Still, 40 people are out of work and the paper with a rich heritage will be relegated to the dusty archives as a reminder of what once was a proud publication.

The final edition of the daily is Sunday and the first editions of the newly revamped community newspapers will come out on Wednesday.

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