Free Republic

The list of daily newspapers that have shut down grows more rapidly by the year, not to mention those that have had massive layoffs. Monday, another of America's oldest dailies, the Vindicator, which serves Youngstown, Ohio, said its last edition would be on Aug. 31. The paper had just celebrated its 150th anniversary. The local television station reported that 144 people will lose their jobs. The Vindicator was of modest size by daily newspaper standards. It claimed 100,000 online and newspaper readers. Like many papers, it has been owned by a family. Due to unsustainable losses, the Maag-Browns could not...

(CNN) — Former Rep. James Traficant had a triumphant homecoming Sunday night, his first public appearance since being released from federal prison, a local paper reports. The Youngstown Vindicator said Monday a supporter-organized welcome home dinner for the former Democratic congressman, which drew the capacity crowd of roughly 1,200 Sunday, included performances by an Elvis impersonator and a polka band, as well as a speech from Traficant himself. The newspaper reported that Traficant was defiant, telling listeners that he'd "been hounded by some government people for a long time" and that the government "had to cheat to convict me."