Srishti Bose

In May, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — founded three years before George Washington became the first president of the United States — will cease operations. The paper’s owner, Block Communications Inc. madethe announcement on Jan. 7, following a court ruling that ruled against the company in a protracted dispute with an employee union. Over the last 20 years, the announcement said, the paper has lost over $350 million.

Saving local journalism isn’t always straightforward, as a turnabout in Oregon demonstrates. Two newspapers in Linn County just about failed after they were sold to a former employee. But veteran owners and community support jolted them back to life this month. I wrote in November that selling local newspapers to employees should be an option for owners who might otherwise shut them down or sell to parsimonious chains.

In another era, Long Islanders fell asleep hearing thefrantic commercials for Crazy Eddie (“His prices are insane!”) and the dry humor from Coronet’s Furniture (“No talking orangutans”) on their TV sets; they spent their summers inshare houses on Fire Island andenjoying ice cream sundaes at Jahn’s; they celebrated birthdays at United Skates; and they flocked to clubs to see musicians, from reggae iconJimmy Cliff to Long Island-native rock-and-roll pianistBilly Joel.