Three rural Wisconsin newspapers combine to make new weekly

Three weekly rural Wisconsin newspapers -- the Arcadia News-Leader, Whitehall Times, and the former Galesville Republican -- have combined to form a new weekly, the Trempealeau County Times, reports Chuck Rupnow for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. The three weeklies were bought by News Publishing Co. of Black Earth, which produces 20 other weekly papers, including the Banner-Journal in Black River Falls, and 16 shopper publications in Wisconsin and Iowa, reports Rupnow.

Chuck Blaschko, CEO of Blaschko Enterprises, called the decision to sell the Arcadia newspaper to News Publishing "a good business decision. ... From our standpoint, the majority (about 95 percent) of our business involves commercial printing, so it's not so bad," said Blaschko to Rupnow. "Combining the three papers provides a broader base for advertisers in the county, which should be good." Blaschko said the Arcadia paper has been in the family for about 55 years, since Chuck's father, Harold Blaschko, bought it from Albert and Elsie Gauger, grandparents of Chuck Gauger, who ran the Whitehall paper and now serves as general manager of the Trempealeau County Times. (Read more)