Digital First Media exploring possible sale
NEW YORK – Newspaper company Digital First Media said Friday that it is exploring strategic options, which could include a sale of the company or parts of it.
The privately held company is the nation’s second biggest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation. Its publications include the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News, the Denver Post and the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. Digital First Media serves 75 million customers monthly.
Digital First Media was created in December through the merger of MediaNews Group and the former Journal Register Co. The company has 76 daily and Sunday newspapers, and 160 weekly publications.
Californians won’t vote on splitting up state
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A ballot initiative that would have asked voters to split California into six separate states failed to qualify for the ballot in 2016, the secretary of state’s office reported Friday.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper submitted 1.37 million signatures in July in support of the measure, saying the state with 38.3 million people has become ungovernable because it has too many diverse interests for politicians to effectively represent their constituents.
A random sampling of ballot initiative signatures from all 58 counties found that just 66 percent were projected to be valid, and that it would fall more than 500,000 signatures short of the number needed to make the ballot.
Toronto mayor drops bid to get re-elected
TORONTO – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford withdrew his re-election bid Friday as he seeks treatment for a tumor in his abdomen, dramatically ending a campaign he had doggedly pursued despite a stint in rehab and calls for him to quit amid drug and alcohol scandals. But he announced his brother would run in his place, saying “we cannot go backwards.”
Ford had been widely expected to lose after a string of revelations involving crack-smoking, public drunkenness and outrageous behavior.
Doug Ford, a city councilor and a fiery defender of his brother, submitted his papers to run for mayor in his brother’s place. He will face two other candidates in the Oct. 27 election.
Ford’s decision came two days after he was hospitalized and the tumor was discovered.
EU agrees to delay Ukraine trade pact
KIEV, Ukraine – European leaders said Friday that they would allow Ukraine to delay putting a landmark trade deal into effect, a major concession to Russia, which has repeatedly threatened retaliation if Kiev implements the measure.
“I’m happy that today, with a trilateral meeting we had in Brussels between the European Commission, the Russian government and Ukrainian government, there was broad support for this,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Kiev on Friday. “Let’s see if this can now be the basis for a compromise.”
Associated Press
