Sacramento , Evansville dailies 
to pick up sisters’ printing

The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee will begin printing The Modesto (Calif.) Bee while the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press will begin printing The Gleaner in Henderson, Ky., as respective publishers McClatchy Co. and E.W. Scripps look for ways to reduce costs.

Both moves are expected to be completed in September.

In Modesto , Publisher and President Margaret Randazzo said an analysis revealed that shifting production to Sacramento “makes both financial and operational sense,” The Modesto Bee reported.

Approximately 80 employees will lose their jobs as a result of transferring production. The move comes after The Sacramento Bee concluded an upgrade of its Goss International Corp. press, adding color towers and digital inkers from Printing Press Services International.

Although production of The Modesto Bee will move to Sacramento , ad sales, page make-up and prepress will remain in Modesto , The Modesto Bee said.

In Kentucky , 13 jobs will be lost as production moves some 10 miles north to Evansville .

Gleaner Publisher Steve Austin said the change would enable the paper to print more color on its pages. The Courier & Press is printed on a Koenig & Bauer flexographic press.

Although The Gleaner will no longer be printed in Henderson , the newspaper will continue to produce commercial products and other periodicals at its plant.

Finally, GateHouse Media Inc. said it pulled the plug on the Avon Messenger and Taunton Call, two weeklies it owned in Massachusetts .

Dow Jones to close Denver plant; will transfer printing to DNA

Dow Jones & Co. confirmed plans to close its suburban Denver print site and transfer production of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s to the Denver Newspaper Agency by Aug. 1.

“Dow Jones continues to look for ways to better serve our readers while becoming more cost efficient,” a company spokesperson told Newspapers & Technology. “As a result, we have decided to outsource our printing facilities in Colorado to The Denver Newspaper Agency.”

The DNA currently prints The Denver Post, ( Denver ) Rocky Mountain News and the Daily Camera in Boulder , Colo. , as well as a number of other area publications from its recently upgraded production facility in north suburban Denver .

KBA North America to move Vt. office

Koenig & Bauer AG is closing its North American sales and support office in Williston , Vt. , and will transfer operations to a new facility in Dallas .

The new office, in a still-to-be-determined location, will open in mid-2009, said Eric Frank, vice president of corporate marketing.

“Williston is just not as convenient for doing business,” he said.

KBA North America opened a 20,000-square-foot parts and service facility in suburban Dallas in 2007.

The new office will put the vendor’s sheetfed and web divisions under one roof, along with sales, its corporate demonstration center and service and parts departments.

“This is a huge commitment by KBA to the North American market,” Frank said of the investment the vendor is making to open the Dallas office. “We’re excited about the move.”

Report: Goss, TKS legal saga continues

Goss International Corp.’s years-long antidumping legal battle against TKS is moving to a new chapter after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the latest appeal by Goss.

The Union Leader in Manchester , N.H. , reported that the high court last month refused to consider a plea by Goss to overturn a decision by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that opened the door for the Japanese government to seize more than $30 million from Goss’ Japanese subsidiary.

That’s the amount TKS paid to Goss after the U.S. District Court in northern Iowa ruled that TKS sold presses to The Dallas Morning News at below-market rates.

The Union Leader also reported that a second legal effort, to, force TKS to pay more than $4 million in antidumping duties as a result of that sale, is back on track. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a finding by the Commerce Department to reopen a sunset review that had expired in 2001.

Newspapers & Technology will have more information about the legal maneuverings in the September issue.

The Day first to use new G&J lock

The Day in New London , CT , installed the latest iteration of Glunz & Jensen’s Narrow Gap/No-Tool press registration lock up.

G&J recently introduced an improved all stainless steel model to the newspaper industry, which the vendor said is suitable for Goss International Corp. Headliner Offset, TKS, and other presses with a cylinder slot gap of 15.24 -12.7mm (0.600 – 0.500”).

The latest version offers lead-edge, centrifugal forced thrusters instead of the spring clip. These thrusters are 1/2-inch wide with a 1-inch diameter to hold the lead edge of the plate. The centrifugal force of the press allows the thruster mechanism to maximize its hold strength, G&J said.

The lock incorporates G&J’s patent-pending registration, which allows for independent movement of lock components without upsetting the registration of the press, according to G&J.

Quipp prez Kady replaced 
by ITW exec

Quipp Systems Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Kady left the firm last week and was replaced by Illinois Tool Works executive Mark Mothena.

A spokesman for ITW, which purchased Quipp earlier this year, said Mothena will be named general manager of Miami-based Quipp and that no further changes are anticipated.

The spokesman said Mothena worked with ITW’s industrial packaging group, a unit that includes Quipp. Kady joined Quipp in 2002 after serving as president of GMP Metal Products. He also served as president and CEO of Shuttleworth Inc. from 1996 to 1999.

NYDN, News Corp. closer to venture?

Speculation that the (New York) Daily News and News Corp. might team up to combine business and printing functions heated up last week after The New York Times said representatives of the two firms have met to discuss how they can cooperate with one another.

The Daily News is beefing up its production infrastructure with new presses from Koenig & Bauer AG and postpress systems from Ferag and Goss International Corp. News Corp., which owns the New York Post and Wall Street Journal, could save millions of dollars by shifting production of the Post to the Daily News, The Times said.

PAGE members, others choose Polkadots

Polkadots Software Inc. said eight PAGE Cooperative newspaper members purchased its software.

The Galt ( Calif. ) Herald, the Daily Globe in Worthington , Minn. , and the Imperial Valley Press in El Centro , Calif. , each added Newsflo as part of conversions to computer-to-plate. The Sun Journal in Lewiston , Maine , meantime, installed two lines of Newsflo for its CTP conversion, as well as Polkadots’ Ink-it ink optimization software, which Polkadots said offers an average color ink savings of 30 percent.

The Recorder in Greenfield , Mass. , installed Customize-it workflow software.

Other sites to recently add Polkadots’ apps include: The Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton , Mass. , which upgraded its Newsflo app; the Missourian in Cape Girardeau , which installed Ink-it; and the Blytheville ( Ark. ) Courier News, which installed Newsflo and will be installing Pressflo at the end of July.

Miracome launches Web forums

Miracom Computer Corp. said it’s launching a user forum on its Web site to enable customers, vendors, distributors and other entities to share information about Miracom products.

“With over 150 newspapers using Miracom products, and shrinking travel budgets limiting access to user groups and conventions, we felt these forums would allow us to stay in constant contact with our users and allow our users to network with each other without breaking the bank,” said Judah Holstein, president of the firm.

The forums can be reached from the main page of the Miracom Web site www.miracomcomputer.com/

Obituary: Robert Barnes

Robert Barnes, printing operations manager at The Seattle Times, passed away last week. He was 59. Mr. Barnes began his newspaper career in 1970 and joined the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1975 before moving to The Times with the formation of the joint operating agreement. Mr. Barnes is survived by his wife, Shirley, four sons and three grandchildren. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.

In Brief:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch promoted Blake Dickie to vice president of production. Dickie has been with the newspaper since 2002 and has overseen the production department since 2007.

Agfa promoted Sheila Nysko to director of business development. She previously was business segment manager for newspapers. Nysko has been with Agfa for 27 years.

The Dispatch Printing Co., publisher of The Columbus ( Ohio ) Dispatch, named Jean Marie Nemeti director of marketing and branding.

InRich.com and the Richmond ( Va. ) Times-Dispatch appointed Rick Thornton MG video business development manager. Thornton, who was a senior editor at the Times-Dispatch, will lead a new unit that will develop video solutions to assist advertisers in attracting customers and sales.

MultiAd promoted Cyndi Stone to syndicated product manager. She is now responsible for the artwork, photos and ad templates available on AdBuilder.com.

Fusion Systems International released upgraded versions of its workflow and RIP software designed for quad and dual quad hardware from Apple Inc. and other server and PC vendors. The new versions are faster than previously offered versions, Fusion said.

New workflow features include automated file routing and halftone-dot digital proofing. New RIP features include nNative file processing support for PDF 1.7 files, pre-rastered PDF output for JDF workflows, native file processing support for Microsoft XPS 1.0 files and look-up table support for Pantone GOES colors.

www.fusionsystems.com

Finnish newspaper, Vakka-Suomen Sanomat, which recently completed implementation of Anygraaf’s Doris32 editorial system, expanded its use of Anygraaf in advertising and circulation. The paper will install the AProfit ad management suite and CProfit sales and distribution software.

www.anygraaf.com

Quark Inc. acquired the assets of In.vision Research Corp., a Florida-based software company that develops an add-in to Microsoft Word for XML authoring. The deal will enable Quark to support Microsoft Word users within both desktop and enterprise workflows.

www.quark.com

ForeSee Results said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tapped the company to assess its Web site and to suggest ways to improve customer satisfaction. ForeSee uses the University of Michigan ’s American Customer Satisfaction Index to track Web site performance.

www.foreseeresults.com

The Associated Press said that 728 AP newspapers joined its Mobile News Network — a five-fold jump in media participation — since its launch in May. The APP said MNN, optimized for smartphone users, is now available across the nation’s top 100 media markets.

www.apnews.com

RBP Chemical Technology said it donated a second Concept 21 fountain solution system to PIA/GATF for use at the association’s Technical Research Center .

www.rbpchemical.net

Astech Intermedia said The Washington Post will deploy its Maax marketing software to support its customer service efforts.

www.astech-intermedia.com