Former Patch Editor To Helm Middletown Press

Cassandra Day learned on January 29th that she was out of work -- via conference call.

Patch.com was throwing in the towel.  The system of local news websites, formerly owned by AOL, has been lopping off staff.  For three years, Day had virtually single-handedly made the Middletown Patch one of the more successful sites, and she survived several rounds of closures and layoffs.  But not this time.

Despite the current bleak job prospects for journalists, Day, a Middletown resident, did have something to look forward to.

For the past two years she has been chronicling bits and pieces of the city she loves via her Instagram feed.  A collection of her photos are appropriately enough being featured as part of Klekolo World Coffee's rotating artwork, and Thursday night was the opening celebration.

Day, and her friends and supporters, had a bit more to celebrate than they planned.  Thursday afternoon, The Middletown Press announced via Facebook that Day had been named managing editor, starting February 24th.

"I'm thrilled to be covering my old stomping grounds" Day said.  Not surprisingly, considering Day's work for the past three years, The Press has asked her to focus on their online operations.

It's a familiar work environment for her.  Day was the features editor for the Press for 13 years.

Meanwhile, her photographs will be on display at Klekolo until the end of the month.  The collection includes "sidewalk grates, survey markers, fire sprinkler covers, oxidized meters, weathered signs, ramshackle barns — corroded and dilapidated yet ordinary things we pass every day without consideration." Day framed them herself, and yes, they are available for purchase.

Middletown Press Publisher Files For Bankruptcy Again

According to Patch, the owner of the Middletown Press, the Journal Register Company, filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.  This is the second such bankruptcy for the company, which restructured in 2009.

The Journal Register Company hopes to complete a bankruptcy sale within 90 days.
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There is a full press release and a FAQ for employees HERE.

I am 'M-Press'ed

Commentary

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At "The Eye", I think I speak for many authors when I say that our primary motivation for volunteer journalism is the belief that Middletown is a better city when there is a news organization which informs residents what is happening in our wonderful city. We believe that municipal government works better when residents know what is happening in city hall. We believe our arts are more vibrant when residents know what is happening and are motivated to come out and support local events. We believe our schools are better when residents know what the school board and administrators are doing. We believe public safety is improved when residents know more about the police force. We believe our restaurants will be better when residents are informed about their quality.

Saturday was a great day for Middletown. When I picked up a copy of the Middletown Press, at a newspaper box outside of Klekolo's, I was dazzled by its coverage. On the front page were 4 important and informative stories: about Main Street, about the Board of Education, about municipal governance, and about the police. On the sports page were stories about an athletic contest in Middletown and about the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame.

With a paper like this, I will renew my subscription. Heck, if a paper like this can be maintained, maybe I won't be at City Hall so often.

Return of the Broadsheet

With little fanfare, the Middletown Press has abandoned the tabloid format and returned to the classic broadsheet layout for the newspaper, starting with today's edition. While it doesn't exactly fit in the tabloid-oriented honor boxes around town, the layout is handsome and appealing to the eye. The downside, of course, is that a broadsheet eats up copy and makes the paper appear very, very thin - a problem when full-time staff at the daily is currently down to minimal levels. This return to a bygone format is interesting in a time when production of a print newspaper is problematic in the day of instant news via the internet.

Nonetheless, we welcome the nicely-designed addition to the local newsracks, and hope it breathes some life into a newspaper that has been gasping for breath.

Middletown Press Going Gatefold

While the Middletown Press is currently without a full-time reporter covering Middletown, word is out that long time plans to return the daily to a gate-fold layout are nearing completion. The daily is currently a tabloid format. The gate fold press is scheduled to hit the street on October 5, but current honor boxes are not designed to display the new paper elegantly in that format.

Several Departures at the Middletown Press

In the past few weeks, the Middletown Press has seen the departure of two editors, two reporters, and a photographer. That leaves the Press currently operating with a diminished staff.

Middletown Press publisher Dan Moriarty characterized all the departures as resignations, and when asked if such a substantial change in news personnel was normal, he said, "At a paper this size, this kind of turnover is not unusual."

One long-time editor who left said that her departure was not voluntary but that she was "let go" on unsubstantiated charges of wrongdoing a day after she filed a harassment claim.

In the past several months, more than one employee has been absent from the newspaper for extended periods with stress-related illness.

Among those who have left for good, recently, are editors Alice Clayton and Cassandra Day, reporter Sloan Brewster (who has just accepted a job at as Farmington weekly newspaper), and news photographer Brenda De Los Santos.

"Every position that has come open," Moriarity said. "We're searching, recruiting and replacing the positions."

Moriarity declined to say how many people are currently on the news staff.

"I'd have to look at my payroll sheets," he said.

An anonymous source informed the Eye that news, editorial and sales staff has declined from 11 to 5 in recent days. Moriarity said that those numbers are not accurate, and that the paper would soon be up to full staffing. He said that the newspaper is currently operating with local news staff and assistance from the New Haven office.

The Middletown Press is a Journal Register Company paper. The Journal Register Company emerged from Chapter 11 protection at the beginning of August with new financing. The refinancing plan wiped out former stockholders and transferred ownership to secured lenders.

According to the AP, the restructuring plan was not without controversy:

Judge Allan Gropper approved the plan over several objections.

The company's largest union, the Newspaper Guild, as well as Connecticut and Pennsylvania state officials, objected to plans for paying up to $1.7 million in bonuses to top executives.

A $6.6 million payment from secured to unsecured debt holders also drew criticism. That money went to pay in full those deemed critical suppliers — ink and newsprint providers, for instance. Although some other unsecured debt holders, who received only 9 cents on the dollar, criticized the payment, the company argued that its newspapers would have been crippled if it couldn't pay its suppliers.

Moriarity, a former general manager with the Middletown Press, returned in February of this year as publisher.

Clarification on Today's Middletown Press Article

Dear Friends,

An article published in today’s Middletown Press (DARE Program Slashed From Proposed Budget) wrongly took words that were not mine and attributed them to me.

In the article, it appears as though I was speaking about tonight’s city budget hearing. In fact, I was not interviewed for the story. The information attributed to me was actually taken from an email I received (and forwarded to NEAT’s members) from Dic Wheeler, of Artfarm.

I do believe that it is important that people come out and speak about the proposed budget, but NEAT’s positions is slightly different from Artfarm’s. I’d like to take a minute to explain our positions.

NEAT is most concerned about funding to the Summer Arts Programming and the City's Matching Grant Program.

As for summer arts, families that live in the North End would be most affected by any changes to the sliding scale that is offered for summer arts programming. Many North End kids take part in those programs, run through the city Arts Office (including the Summer Circus), and wouldn't be able to if not for the financial aid that is offered. For many parents, the summer program is the only affordable option, giving kids a chance to participate in summer programming, and parents a way to work. It must be maintained.

Additionally, NEAT receives funding through the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the Youth Services Bureau for our Arts in the Garden Series and our Youth Leadership Initiative. If the matching grants and after school challenge grants ratio is changed to 4:1, small organizations like NEAT (there are a lot of us in Middletown!) would be unable to participate, leaving some effective, well-deserving programs unfunded.

I do urge each of you to come out to support the much-deserving groups in Middletown that are working hard to ensure that every city child has access to quality arts programming. And, though it wasn't my idea, I encourage you to show your unity and wear red.

Thank You,
Izzi Greenberg
Executive Director
North End Action Team (NEAT)

Giuliano to Run For Re-election

The Middletown Press reported this weekend that Mayor Sebastian Giuliano will seek re-election.

Giuliano, a two-term Republican, ran unopposed in the last election. In November he will be challenged by Democratic candidate, Ron Klattenberg, who is a Common Council member.

Sunday Herald gone

If you're a Middletown Press subscriber you already know this, but some news from Art Michael:

With no pre-notice and only a couple of column inches in today's Middletown Press, the Herald Press (the Sunday Edition) will no longer be provided to Middletown Press subscribers.

I called this morning to advise them that we didn't receive our Sunday paper yesterday and was told - that's right - no Sunday paper any more.

When I asked about the fact that we had paid for a full year's weekly subscription in November, I was told (and this may be wrong), that they only charged for 6 days a week delivery and the Sunday edition was free - therefore, No Refund.

In today's notice on Page 2 of the press, in the rather late notice of the demise of the Sunday edition (Journal Register no longer owns the New Britain Herald), there is a mention re refunds and 'plaints. I haven't followed up on that yet.

I'd be remiss if I did not tell you (again) what a great service the Middletown Eye is. I check it daily and sometimes more often to find out what's whoopin' in Middletown.

Shooting in North End reported

The Middletown Press is reporting a shooting in a North End neighborhood near High and Grand Streets, with a victim from Bacon Avenue, off Grand.

Details here.

A $60,000 solution

The Middletown Press reports that the Public Safety Commission has settled on a $60,00o solution to a parking controversy on Long Hill Rd.

The commission voted to send its proposal to widen the road with "parking stalls." The proposal will be sent to the Public Works Commission for a public hearing and then onto the Common Council for a vote.

Journal Register to close two local papers

The Hartford Courant published a story this morning that the Journal Register Company is closing the New Britain Herald and the Bristol Press. The Middletown Press apparently remains viable as a "profitable" paper.

New Britain has a community newsblog, which will have to take up the slack in reporting municipal and community news.

Bristol too has a newsblog which reported on the closings yesterday. Ironically, Bristol is the home of the largest sports news and information network in the world, but it won't have a daily paper.

Middletown Press report on site rankings inaccurate

The Middletown Press reported inaccurately this morning that in a visit to town on Monday, the Army Corps of Engineers will release a ranked list of sites for the proposed Army Reserve Training Center, according to Army Corps of Engineers press officer, Todd Hornback. Hornback says that the Army has not released information that it will provide a "ranked list" of sites at the meeting.

The Press article also notes that the format of Monday's meeting will be "roundtable" with "invited government officials" at the Inn At Middletown at 3 p.m.

Hornback emphasized that the meeting was a media advisory and the government officials were invited, but that it was not a public meeting.

Eye in the Press

The Middletown Press has a feature about The Middletown Eye, today. You can read it here.

I especially enjoy the endorsement of the mayor: "I do think the Middletown Eye should be in everyone's favorites folder."

Thanks, Mayor.

Bus drivers lodge complaints at Council Meeting

An unexpected gripe session broke out at last night's Common Council meeting between drivers for Middletown Area Transit, and it's owner, Thomas Cheeseman. Sloan Brewster covers the story in the Middletown Press this morning.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, presiding over the Council meeting, suggested that the give and take between drivers and Cheeseman, who was accompanied by his attorney, was not appropriate at the Council meeting.

Questions remain, however. The town helps fund MAT, and drivers have made accusations of unsafe buses, on-the-job harassment and unjustified dismissals.

It seems that as a major funder, the City of Middletown ought to be concerned about vehicle and passenger safety, and the legitimacy of labor complaints.

The army digs its heels in

(The Army's Diane McCartin- Pearce Pinch, file photo)

And so it begins.

Residents of Westfield have voiced their opposition to siting an Army Reserve Training Center in Westfield on Boardman Lane.

According to a report in the Middletown Press today, the Army Corps of Engineers is "adamant" about building the center in the Westfield section, despite a letter from Representative Rosa DeLauro which cites several reasons why the location is undesirable.

The Corp's Diane McCartin addressed the objections, but her responses, as reported by the Press are less than convincing. The Army "promises" traffic studies (and we are to believe the results of a traffic study conducted by the army?). The Army is convinced the center will be an economic boon to Middletown (though it will take the property off the tax base, be located closer to commercial districts in Cromwell and Meriden, and only concedes that local businesses will be "allowed to bid" on services needed at the Center).

McCartin also insists that the law requires the center to be built in Middletown, though as several knowledgeable people have pointed out, that's true only if a "suitable site" is found. When a townspeople agrees that the chosen site is not suitable, I would think it's not suitable.

DeLauro is upset at the inflexibility of the Army. If you think the Army is inflexible now, consider what will happen once they acquire a site.

It started in the Eye

OBSERVATION

Here's evidence that The Middletown Eye can have some influence on the issues of the city. We received an email from Lee Godburn who allowed us to reprint it in the Eye. As a result, a reporter from the Middletown Press, Sloan Brewster, did a follow-up report on the lease of Harbor Park. Her informative article was the front cover story of the Middletown Press today.

Speaking of local news writing, Middletown also made the front page of the Hartford Courant today with a story about the gash in Maromas and the new Kleen Energy Plant.


Ed McKeon is a writer, filmmaker and radio show host (WWUH, WESU) who lives in Middletown's Village District.