NY, Georgia papers join bankruptcy parade

Employees of the Troy Record and the Saratogian of Saratoga Springs have received termination notices because their New York newspapers’ parent company is in bankruptcy proceedings.

The 60-day notices are required by law because each has more than 100 employees.

In Georgia the parent company of the Rome News-Tribune, Catoosa County News and Walker County Messenger is in Chapter 11.

They join a long line of newspapers large and small that are or have been in bankruptcy.

To read more, click on http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Termination-notices-sent-at-2-newspapers-4294045.php

Sale of Chicago Tribune, L. A. Times explored

 Tribune Co. has hired investment bankers to advise the media company on the potential sale of its newspaper publishing unit.

The company announced that it has retained JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Evercore Partners to assess whether to sell the division that includes the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and six other daily newspapers.

The bankers will analyze bids from suitors, but their hiring does not necessarily mean that the assets would be sold.

"There is a lot of interest in our newspapers, which we haven't solicited," Gary Weitman, a Tribune spokesman, said in a statement. "Hiring outside financial advisors will help us determine whether that interest is credible, allow us to consider all of our options, and fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and employees."

Tribune hopes to sell the newspaper group intact instead of selling each paper individually, according to a person familiar with the matter.


Read the full story

More chemo for John Dunphy

Facebook post by Rebecca Allen, Orange County Register deputy Features editor who lives in Lakewood, California, with former BJ reporter John Dunphy:

John Dunphy

John’s PET scan showed little change in his tumor, so more chemo is needed before surgery. 

The doc started him on Gemcitabine (Gemzar). He was miserable with a whole body rash and mouth ulcers last week. Those have waned some. He can swallow without pain now.

He played golf today (at Strawberry Farms Golf Club).

John is being treated for cancer. He was a reporter for the Orange County Register before he was laid off last February.

Hywet performer Lithgow returning to Akron

John Lithgow, who cut his acting teeth at his dad’s Shakespeare on the Terrace at Stan Hywet Hall, will perform at E.J. Thomas Hall April 18 to talk about storytelling as the tie that binds humanity.

John Lithgow

Lithgow -- a two-time Oscar nominee for best supporting actor, twice a Tony winner for his Broadway performances and 5-time Emmy winner for his TV work -- lived in Akron during the early 1960s. He was a ninth grader at Simon Perkins Junior High School before attending Buchtel High School.

In 1963, after his senior year of high school, he spent the first of two summers in Lakewood, where his father, Arthur Lithgow, had started the Great Lakes Theater Festival (then called the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival).

To read former BJ TV and movie critic Mark Dawidziak’s article in the Plain Dealer, click on http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2013/02/john_lithgow_to_talk_about_the_power_of_storytelling_at_the_university_of_akron.html#incart_river

Art, Char enjoying winter in their South Carolina home

Former BJ chief artist Art Krummel and his wife, former BJ reporter Charlene Nevada, are enjoying winterizing in the home they purchased in Garden City, South Carolina.

Charlene & Art

Garden City is 85 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina, 11 miles south of Myrtle Beach and 13 miles from Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where retired BJ printer Dick Latshaw and wife Pat reside.

Art, Char and Dick ran into each other at a Murrell’s Inlet hamburger place in 2010 when the Krummels were vacationing and house-hunting.

Writes Art:

“We're just gonna keep snowbirding. We really don't like the snow and ice. Be back in May.”

Adds Char: "We have little grand kids in Ohio. We are just here in Garden City for the winter months and a few weeks in the summer."

Before they return to their Ohio home when the weather is more accommodating, Char and Art plan to go farther south for even warmer weather, to visit retired printer Gina White, widow of former BJ Composing foreman Dave White, at her Venice, Florida, home.

The Onion apologizes for C-word about actress, 9

While the top awards were being handed out Sunday at the 85th Oscars, The Onion, a satirical news organization,  sent out a message on its official Twitter account calling 9-year-old best actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”)  the C-word, which nowadays is a derogatory term for women.

The tweet:

Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c--t, right? #Oscars2013
— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 25, 2013

The tweet, sent out around 11:42 p.m. Eastern time, quickly made the rounds on the social media website.

Quvenzhane Wallis

An hour later, the message was deleted from The Onion's feed. CEO Steve Hannah issued an apology Monday morning and promised to discipline the writer.

In 1230 and earlier the C-word was not obscene. It was merely an English word for a female’s private parts.

In The Canterbury Tales (1380-1390), Chaucer uses the word in a normal descriptive manner.

By the time Shakespeare came along the word was considered offensive and obscene and Billy boy had to use it on stage in covert form in puns and acronyms.

And it’s remained a derogatory term ever since.

By the way, Quvenzhane Wallis is pronounced kwuh-VEN-zhuh-nay.

To read the Hollywood Reporter article on the uproar, click on http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/onion-calls-quvenzhane-wallis-c-424113

Eddi Parker dies at 77

Edna "Eddi" Parker, 77, died February 20, 2013.

Be there animals in heaven, Eddi will be estatic. She loved them, big, small, wild. She leaves behind several cats and a dog.

She was born June 26, 1935 in Akron and was a redhead all her life. Eddi graduated at age 20 from Ohio State University where she had joined Delta Zeta sorority. When she turned 21, she joined Pan American World Airways as a stewardess and later purser, flying to most of the world. She loved to regale her friends with airline stories. One of her favorites was a night flight to Hawaii when engine trouble developed and they had to turn back to San Francisco. On the long flight back, she noticed the woman seated behind her had fainted. She started to get up to help her and the purser, seated next to her, said, "Leave her alone. She is the only happy person on this plane." He was right.

Eddi was past president of the Akron Chapter of Women in Communications, former national officer of National Federation of Press Women and state president of Press Women. She also held a bachelors degree in education from The University of Akron and a graduate degree in geriatrics from there. She had a masters in History from the University of Alaska. Eddi was a former reporter and editor with the Akron Beacon Journal. She later taught English at both Kent State and The University of Akron for 34 years.

She leaves behind husband, Robert Crawford; son, Jonathan Crawford; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Murray S. Parker and Vera Brown; brothers, Robert and Charles; and sister, Alice Johnson.

Services will be private and she will be entombed at Rose Hill Burial Park in the main chapel.

(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)

Published in Akron Beacon Journal on February 24, 2013

Abe Zaidan's double-barreled shots

Abe Zaidan

As if one liberal pulpit isn’t enough, former BJ columnist and writing coach Abe Zaidan has added a second blog for his political ponderings.

This one is called Plunderbund, but it reads a lot like his Grumpy Abe blog. And there's more than one Plunderbund lurking in Internet blogging.

You can check out Abe’s Plunderbund at http://www.facebook.com/#!/Plunderbund?fref=ts but expect a sharp tilt to the left.

Abe’s earlier blog, which still is active, can be viewed at http://grumpyabe.blogspot.com/

What is the meaning of plunderbund? It’s a corrupt alliance of political, commercial and financial interests engaged in exploiting the public. There’s a lot of that going around.

Abe’s blog isn’t the only one using the Plunderbund title. Ohio writers are involved in Plunderbund.com, started by Eric Vessels in 2005. Brian Guilfoos, Joseph Mismas, Tim Russo, Brian Hester and Lauren Michelle Kinsey later joined the liberal lassoing.

Catching up with . . . Mango Curtis

Susan Mango Curtis, former BJ assistant managing editor, is assistant professor of visual arts at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, which produced the late BJ State Desk editor Pat Engelhart.

She went to Medill after leaving the Beacon Journal.

Susan Mango Curtis

She is a 1981 graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts and a 1977 graduate of Great Mills High School in Lexington Park, Maryland.

She lists the Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat on her Facebook resume, but not the BJ.

Her career includes art director for the National Rifle Association, where she designed American Marksman magazine.

You can read her list of accomplishments, which are in her Northwestern bio, by clicking on http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/faculty/journalismfulltime.aspx?id=128751

Russ & Bev Musarra to celebrate 54th wedding anniversary April 4

Russ Musarra, a fiery but damn good reporter at the Beacon Journal and elsewhere before his retirement, and his wife, Bev, will be celebrating their 54^th wedding anniversary April 4.

BJ Alums got this email from Russ, in response to one we sent to Rosario inquiring about a photo on his Facebook page:

Hi John!

 Overseas travel?!? You're making me jealous. Hope it's safe and as much fun as we had when we went to Beijing 10 years ago. My second overseas journey and Bev's first. There haven't been any since.

Musarras (from left): Russ, Rosario Jr., Mark, Jim, Joe

The guys (from left, as we always said in our cutlines) are sons Russ (Rosario Jr.), Mark and Jim and our oldest grandson, Joe. He's 26 and Russ' oldest. In all, we have nine grandkids (aged 35 to 10) and two greats, Lily, 5, and Gage, 3 (going on 35).

Bev and I will mark 54 years wedded blitz on April 4.

Be well and please share some details of your foreign adventures!

Russ

I’ll leave it up to Russ to explain to Beverly what he means by “wedded blitz.”

The overseas travel that Russ refers to is an upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia by Paula and me. Cathy Strong, a State Desk reporter in the 1970s, will fly to Auckland from her Wellington area beach home for a reunion.

Russ and artist Chuck Ayers collaborated for their “Walks Around Around” series in the BJ and later in a 2007 book published by the University of Akron Press.

Russ and Bev lived in Macedonia (1966-88), then moved to Northfield Center till 2003, when they changed their residence to Streetsboro. 

Since his BJ exit, Russ has written a column for Focus, a monthly tabloid aimed at readers 50 and older; the Town Crier column for Akron City magazine; covered Hudson as a Beacon Journal news correspondent; and served briefly on the board of Actors Summit Theater in Hudson.

Russ doesn't let any moss grow on him because of inactivity.

What about YOU? If you have significant family events, email jo4wvu@neo.rr.com with the information and photos and we’ll post them on the BJ Alums blog.

Centuries before the BJ, there was the Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the first major book printed with movable type in the West. It was published on Sept. 30, 1452.

Written in Latin, it was printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany.

The first copy to recapture attention in 1760 was found in the library of Cardinal Jules Mazarin in Paris, thus the term Mazarin Bible.

A complete Gutenberg Bible was sold in 1978 for $2.2 million and is in Stuttgart. It is estimated that a complete copy today would bring $25 to $35 million.

At least one book of the Bible has been published in 1,808 languages since the Bible was first printed.

To read a complete article on the Gutenberg Bible, click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible

1988 ruling still stifling student free speech

A 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that students don’t have First Amendment protection when they write for school newspapers has become a “censorship tsunami” that lets school and college administrators shoot down anything they fear would tarnish the school or college’s images.

Over the years, it has tranquilized free speech far beyond journalism, secondary schools, school-sponsored speech, and print publications, says law professor Richard Peltz-Steele at University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The ruling had its roots at East Hazelwood High School in St. Louis, Mo., where the principal objected to stories produced by journalism students for the school newspaper on teen pregnancy and a classmate coping with her parents’ divorce. The principal said the stories were editorially unsound and unfit for an adolescent audience.

Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LoMonte said the Hazelwood ruling is used routinely to defend such things as:

Auburn University at Montgomery removing a 51-year-old graduate student from its nursing program for speaking out about disciplinary policies.

  

Chicago’s Stevenson High School banning a school newspaper story about an anonymous student discussing the ease of obtaining drugs on campus.

The effect has been chilling on challenging school censorship. There has been no such lawsuit in five years.

There was even an unsuccessful attempt to justify censorship of a student’s Facebook page under the Hazelwood ruling by the University of Minnesota.

Says LeMonte: “It’s disheartening to see anyone censored, but it’s doubly disheartening when people are so frightened and intimidated that they won’t even speak up about it.”

Remembering Ed Lynch

Mike Williams, who retired Dec. 21 from BJ’s Advertising Art department and then took off for Ecuador with his wife, Jane, responded to BJ Alums' request for more information about Ed Lynch, whose widow, Catherine Patricia “Pat” Gill Lynch, died Feb. 19. Pat Lynch was a secretary at the BJ, where she met Ed.

Mike’s email:

Ed Lynch retired in February 1985 as General Advertising Manager of the Beacon Journal.  He started his career at the BJ at the old location at Market and Summit streets, running advertising proofs. 

He was a regular golf partner to JSK, who offered advice on his backswing.

-- Mike Williams

Ed’s 2002 obituary:

Edward J. Lynch Sr., 82, of Akron, died June 10, 2002, after a short illness.

Ed was a lifelong resident of Akron, and an active member of St. Vincent Parish. He was a graduate of St. Vincent High School and Kent State University. Ed retired as general advertising manager at the Akron Beacon Journal in 1985 after 48 years of service. He was a member of the Akron Advertising Club and the National Advertising Federation. Ed served as a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy during World War II. He loved his golf at Good Park, travel, and spending time with his family.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Pat; children and spouses, Pam and John Montisano, Kathleen and Ken Larson, Edward Jr. and Beth Lynch, and Brian and Cindy Lynch, all of Akron; sister, Mary Hoffman of Boca Raton, Fla.; niece, Susan Young of Columbus; and 13 grandchildren, Lindsay, John, Michael and Joseph, Jake and Josh, Justin and Abby, Samantha, Brian, Sean, Nathan and Hannah.

Mass of Christian Burial Friday, 10 a.m., at St. Vincent Church, 164 W. Market St., Akron. Friends may call at the Hummel Funeral Home, 500 E. Exchange St., TO DAY from 5 to 8 p.m. Memorials may be made to the St. Vincent High School Endowment Fund to fund a scholarship in his honor. (Hummel, a Golden Rule Funeral Home, 330-253-6126.)

Please sign the guestbook at www.ohio.com/obituaries

To read Pat Lynch’s obituary, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=Pat+Lynch

Lorain, Willoughby newspapers will be sold April 17

217 employees at the Willoughby News-Herald and Lorain Morning Journal will be out of a job April 17, when New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital purchases the newspapers’ parent, the Journal Register Company, which is in its second bankruptcy protection filing in three years.

Layoffs will include two executives, 53 newsroom employees and 141 people in advertising, circulation or operations.

Alden Global Capital will decide which employees to re-hire. The Alden affiliate, a company called 21st CMH Acquisition Co., was the sole bidder for Journal Register in a bankruptcy court auction that ended last week.

When Journal Register filed bankruptcy, the company said the combined daily circulation of its two Northeast Ohio newspapers was 54,355 daily, 58,514 Sunday.

 To read the entire article, click on http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/02/journal_register_co_sale_set_f.html

N.Y. Times to sell Boston Globe

In a memo that went out this afternoon, The New York Times confirmed that they are planning to sell The Boston Globe.

“This was not an easy decision as the New England Media Group has, for many years, brought tremendous value to our Company,” publisher Arthur Sulzberger and CEO Mark Thompson wrote in the newsroom memo. ” While part of the Times Company, The Boston Globe has been awarded 10 Pulitzer Prizes and many other professional awards.”
See full story

Former BJ secretary Pat Lynch, widow of Ed Lynch, dies

Catherine Patricia "Pat" (Gill) Lynch

Pat Lynch, 87, passed away peacefully Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at her son Brian's home, surrounded by her family. Born in Akron, Ohio, Pat was the daughter of Doris and John Gill. Pat attended North High School and was a secretary at the Akron Beacon Journal where she met the love of her life, Edward Lynch, Sr. Pat and Ed had four children and spent a very loving 52 years together. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Jack Gill; and her husband, Ed. Pat Lynch She is survived by her daughters, Pamela Montisano (John), Kathleen Larson (Ken); sons, Edward Lynch (Susan), Brian Lynch (Cyndi); grandchildren, Lindsay Snyder, JT Clark, Justin and Abby Lynch, Jacob and Josh Zipper, Samantha, Brian, Sean, Nathan, and Hannah Lynch, Mike Montisano, Joseph Montisano; and eight great-grandchildren. Pat was a kind and loving mother and made all the neighborhood children feel comfortable in her home. Pat loved to play bridge with friends and to golf with her husband. She was also very devoted to the St. Thomas Hospital Women's Board on which she served for 27 years. She worked in the gift shop every Wednesday and couldn't wait to sell anyone she met a Day at The Races ticket. Pat loved her family and friends and will be sadly missed by all. Pat was lovingly cared for by her son Brian and daughter-in-law Cyndi for her last two years. The family would also like to especially thank Mindy and Hospice Care of Summa for all their help and support. The family will receive friends 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, February 22 at Hummel Funeral Home, 500 East Exchange Street, Akron. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, February 23 at St. Vincent Catholic Church, 164 W. Market St., Akron. Burial at St. Vincent Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School Patricia and Edward Lynch, Sr. Memorial Scholarship, 15 N Maple St., Akron, OH 44303. Please visit www.hummelcares.com where condolences and memories may be shared. [Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Thursday, February 21, 2013]   ]

Newsroom buying power takes major hit in past 1 1/2 decades

The National Association of Colleges and Employers’ annual report on college graduates says that the average starting salary for journalism graduates is $41,000, substantially lower in newspaper newsrooms.

A study by the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication found a median salary of $31,000 for recent grads.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual pay for reporters, correspondents and broadcast news analysts at $36,000.

And that’s for newspaper personnel who haven’t been hit by the substantial thinning of the herd, but have taken percentage pay cuts across the board, as newspapers try to hang onto as much of their profit margin as possible amid the onslaught of the Internet.

In comparison, Guild retiree John Olesky’s 1040 federal tax return for 1996, the year he retired from the Beacon Journal on July 1, had an adjusted gross income of $50,000. That was for six months of BJ paychecks and six months of only Social Security and BJ pension checks. 

According to a US Inflation Calculator using U.S. government Consumer Price Index data, it would take $73,165 in 2013 to have the same buying power as $50,000 in 1996. That means today's median newsroom income has half the buying power of the 1996 newsroom.

To read more, click on http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/career-development/ask-the-recruiter/203666/live-chat-today-how-can-journalists-negotiate-for-better-salaries/

Jeff Iula writing book about State Road history

Cuyahoga Falls Councilman Jeff Iula, who succeeded his father, the late Beacon Journal promotions director Ralph Iula, as Soap Box Derby director, is writing a book about the history of State Road in the Falls.

Jeff Iula

In 1975 there were 41 restaurants on a 1.8-mile stretch of “Eat Street” on State Road.

Ralph, who died in 2006, directed the Soap Box Derby and the Spelling Bee among his many civic accomplishments. Ralph’s wife, Betty, died in 2012.

Akron City Hospital’s Dr. William Kerek, a 1974 Ohio State Medical School graduate specializing in internal medicine, was 1964 Spelling Bee national champ. 

Previously, Jeff wrote a book about his Soap Box Derby experiences, which began in childhood following dad Ralph around. Four of the groomsmen at Jeff's wedding were Soap Box Derby world champs.

To read Paula Schleis’ article in the BJ, click on http://cuyahogafalls.ohio.com/state-road-hangs-on-as-diner-s-destination-portage-crossing-could-strengthen-historic-reputation-1.372779

Newspaper profits a steal

There’s still a profit in newspapers, if you steal them.

That’s what a man in Trinity, North Carolina did, Thomasville, NC police allege. 

Kenneth Lee Wright, 26, is accused of stealing 9,000 copies of the High Point Enterprise – worth $1,620 -- in 2008. Det. Sgt. Brad Saintsing said Wright had taken the newspapers from one of two locations where newspapers were dropped off for carriers.

It took five years to catch up with Wright, who is out on $500 bond, even though Randolph County sheriff’s deputies recovered the papers in 2008, when the warrant was filed.

There are only 21,354 people in Thomasville. Apparently half the subscribers didn't get their paper on time that day.

You may recognize Thomasville for its furniture-making fame, which it shares with its High Point and Lexington neighbors.

To read the entire article in the Thomasville Dispatch, click on http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20130208/News/302089989

Request from Stuart Warner

This is a request from Stuart Warner:

My friend and former Plain Dealer colleague Mark Gillispie has lung cancer. So far he has survived a year. He began chronicling his battle when he first learned he had the disease. I've read the journal he kept and it is remarkable. It was supposed to be published in the Plain Dealer, but, as sometimes happens, good people disagree. Still, I think it is a story that needs to be told and he has been turning parts of his journal into a blog, Flying Blind. This is not another lecture to smokers. It's a story about a man who knows what he did to himself and realizes now he has so much to live for. I'm reaching out to my journalism and writing friends to ask If you can share it on your Facebook (some of you already have), Twitter or just email it to a friend who you think might need to read it. You might just help one person. This is a link to the first installment of Flying Blind. There have been 25 so far. http://markscancerblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/jan-16-2013.html

Thanks,

Stuart Warner

Obituary for former BJ assistant city editor Arnold Miller

By Grant Segall, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram

WESTLAKE -- Gruff and inspiring, Arnold Miller spent 25 years as managing editor of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

After two recent strokes, the Westlake man died Thursday morning at the nearby Hospice of the Western Reserve. He was 81.

Arnold Miller

In 2002, Miller was inducted to the Press Club of Cleveland's Hall of Fame. The plaque says, "He was a boss who was tough but fair, known for his energy, humor, precise editing and his ability to motivate others to excel."

He used to hold a daily meeting at 8 a.m. to plan the afternoon newspaper. But he hated sticking to plans. At 10 a.m., two hours before press time, he'd pace the newsroom, asking, "Isn't there any news going on?"

Later, he'd post the work of local competitors on the wall with the penciled caption, "Where were we?"

According to long-time colleague Dave Knox, now managing editor of the Medina Gazette, Miller moved the Chronicle-Telegram ahead of the times technologically, with early computers and color newsprint.

But he kept editing printouts by hand, penciling "good story" when merited. He also banged out memos on his Royal typewriter and penciled in corrections. Upon retiring in 1997, he got permission to take the Royal home.

Scott Stephens, former reporter at the Chronicle-Telegram and The Plain Dealer, said, "He had a sixth sense of what a story was and how that story should be told. He understood the power of a newspaper, and he understood the responsibility of using that power wisely. Personally, he had a gruff exterior but really was a softie underneath. He cared very deeply about newspapers, and he cared very deeply about newspaper people."

Miller was raised in Glenville and helped gather scrap metal for World War II. Not owning a bicycle, he had to muster his moral strength to turn in a nearly new bicycle.

He graduated from Glenville High School, served in the Army in Germany and France and earned a bachelor's degree at Kent State University in 1956. He worked as a copy editor at the News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Ind., assistant city editor at the Akron Beacon Journal and managing editor of the Morning Herald in Hagerstown, Md. From 1969 to 1972, he was a reporter, columnist and assistant news editor at the Press.

Miller spent the next 25 years managing a Chronicle-Telegram newsroom of up to 50 people. He led coverage of race riots and Terry Anderson's captivity in Lebanon. He oversaw investigations of license bureaus and the Davis-Besse nuclear plant.

He sent reporters undercover to a doctor who gave them copious drugs. A lawyer tried to dilute the story, but Miller ran it at full strength, saying "It's true." He was president of the Ohio United Press International Editors Association and belonged to other professional groups. He lived in University Heights and moved to Westlake many years ago.

In retirement, he wrote many letters to editors, often about the quality of their pages. Last year, he praised a Plain Dealer story about massage parlors: "It certainly did not rub me the wrong way."

Arnold Miller

1931-2013

Survivors: Children, Adrienne of Vancouver, Wash., Evan of Kirkland, Wash., Bryn of Eugene, Ore. and Alyssa Miller Knight of San Francisco; and three grandchildren.

Funeral: 2 p.m. Sunday at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz, 1985 S. Taylor Rd., Cleveland Heights.

Contributions: Hospice of the Western Reserve, 17876 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, OH 44110, hospicewr.org.

Arrangements: Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz.

BJ: All healthcare reimbursement checks have been mailed

The Beacon Journal says it has mailed all the reimbursement checks for those Composing and Guild retirees who won their healthcare lawsuit,

The 50 retirees and spouses are being reimbursed for the difference between what they paid after the BJ unilaterally changed healthcare coverage for prescriptions and medical care and what they would have paid under $2 or $5 prescription co-pay and the UnitedHealthcare AARP Plan N and Medicare supplement package set up as part of the settlement.

The reimbursements are for 2005 through 2012. Since the $100,000 fund the BJ set up was not exceeded, the BJ paid 100% of all approved claims.

The prescription co-pay cards revert to $2 (Guild) and $5 (printers) for 30 days, or $4 and $10 for 90 days if the lawsuit beneficiaries use Medical Mutual (Medco) prescription mail-ins. 

This restores the retirees' retirement day coverage, which Black Press changed in 2007 after purchasing the Beacon Journal. 

The BJ will pay the premiums for Plan N and paid all of the retirees' attorneys fees: $772,500.

One by one retirees have been reporting that they got their reimbursement checks. If you filed reimbursement claims but haven't received a BJ check, contact BJ Settlement Administrator Roger Messmore, BJ Comptroller, at the Beacon.