REUTERS: Warren Buffett's Berkshire shutters Virginia newspaper

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Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:54pm EST
  (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway plans to shutter the 143-year-old News & Messenger in Manassas, Virginia, just six months after it was scooped up from Media General.

The 10,000 circulation newspaper, its website, and its companion weekly publication will close on December 30, the day the final print edition will be published. The move affects the staff of 33 whose jobs will be eliminated.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by World Media Enterprise, which operates the 63 newspapers that Berkshire Hathaway acquired from Media General in June.

"Business conditions drove us to this decision," wrote Doug Hiemstra, president of World Media Enterprises, in a post published on the News & Messenger's website Insidenova.com.

"We do not see a long-term viable way to maintain a daily news operation here."

Buffett, who not too long ago derided newspapers as investments, changed course this year, snapping up scores of small and mid-sized papers throughout the United States.

In addition to the majority of Media General's newspaper properties, he recently purchased a paper in Texas and took a small stake in the newspaper chain Lee Enterprises.

Known as the "Oracle of Omaha," Buffett's acquisition approach to newspapers is to buy small publications that cover the local market. Though he holds a stake in the Washington Post Co, he shuns large metropolitan newspapers.

The closing of such a small paper in the Berkshire stable could be a sign that even publications that are laser-focused on community news are facing serious challenges.

Indeed, Buffett said in a CNBC interview in October that revenue is down about 1 percent at Berkshire's smaller papers.

"Let me be clear: World Media remains bullish on community newspapers and our ability to publish news and advertising content on a variety of platforms that is useful to our readers and the communities in which they live," Hiemstra wrote on the News & Messenger's website.

(Reporting By Jennifer Saba; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


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Photos tell Q-C Airport's story - Quad Cities Online

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Photos tell Q-C Airport's story - Quad Cities Online:



"Images of Aviation: Quad City International Airport," by David T. Coopman, published in 2011 by Arcadia Publishing, is a pictorial and historical overview of the local airport at Moline.

A typical page in the 127-page book has two black and white photos with rich text describing their historical implication. A concise introduction to the book describes the high points of the development of the airport to the present day.

The airport started around 1919 in a flat pasture that became known as Franing Field. The operation began with coast-to-coast flights of Army airplanes. But the young airplane enthusiasts known as barnstormers who performed daring aerobatics and gave rides to individuals kept the airport alive.

Many of the wonderful photos were contributed by The Dispatch, the Quad City International Airport and numerous individuals. Photos include people important to airport development, monocoupes, biplanes, tri-motors, passengers planes and military jets, celebrity visitors, construction of the airfield, terminals and other buildings, plus three accidents.

The book divides growth into four sections.

The first, 1922-1934, shows development of Franing Field. Men who developed it learned to fly from J. Wesley Smith, Geneseo. Smith, who flew with the Canadians during WWI, taught Gus DeSchepper, Floyd Ketner and Dr. C.C. Sloan how to fly.

"Rusty" Campbell became manager of the developing airport when Smith left. Many young men and one woman, Phoebe Omlie, became legendary racers. Local barnstormer Vern Roberts became the idol of Charles Lindbergh, who had seen him perform.

The second section, 1935-1952, begins when Moline finally took ownership of the airport. Photos show men working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression. The men are getting the field ready for paving runways. Hangars and other buildings are being added. A few air shows are pictured. Vern Roberts, airport manager, created the Moline Air Service in 1942 to train cadet pilots for WWII. A photo shows 600 radial aircraft engines being rebuilt at the airport to be used to power tanks during WWII.

After the war, a rivalry began between Moline and Davenport, which had developed an airport. Both wanted to become the leading regional airport. Coopman quotes a source who said, "population, politics and practical considerations" led to Moline coming out ahead.

A map shows the center of population for the Quad-Cities was in Rock Island at about 5th Avenue and 38th Street There were more industrial users of aviation on the Illinois side. In 1948 the airport became part of the Metropolitan Airport Authority (MAA) and was renamed the Quad City Airport.

Section three, 1953-1984, may be a trip down memory lane for some readers. A new terminal was completed in 1954. There are nostalgic photos of that wonderful 180-degree observation area in that terminal. Visitors could sit and watch planes take off and land with a view of the ramps, taxiways and runways. There is a photo of Tom Balla's Airport Inn restaurant where an hour wait on Sundays was not uncommon. Many kids ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches served with mashed potatoes in that restaurant before heading to that observation deck to dream of flying.

The last section, 1985-present, begins with photos of the building of a new $5.3 million terminal. A photo shows the 1954 terminal still there. In 1986 the Quad-Cities was granted U.S. Custom Port of Entry status. The name wasn't changed to Quad City International Airport to reflect that status until 1997. Photos reflect changes after 9/11. For example, passengers clearing security enter a central atrium area that once was available for the public as an observation opportunity.

Other interesting photos include flight information written on a blackboard in the 1950s; Coal Valley fire department providing services; a 1944 photo-op of Gov. Dwight Green, waiting for a flight, pointing in one direction while airport manager Vern Roberts is pointing in the opposite direction; and aerial photos including one of "Moline" painted on a roof to show pilots what airfield they were flying to or over.

The book is a great overview of the airport but there are some issues. It was disappointing to see Harold Neumann, Geneseo, a prominent racer based in Moline in the late 1920s shown as a 66-year-old in 1972. I discovered his little silver monocoupe at a museum in Oshkosh, Wis., several years ago.

In the Ford Reliability Tour held 1925-1931 to promote flying, Campbell received a perfect score in a Travel Air A in 1925. The book said there was no prize money. Other information indicates he received $350, equivalent to more than $4,500 in 2010 dollars.

The last photo is of Cathie Rochau, marketing representative for the airport, and director of Aviation Bruce Carter, AAE. Carter arrived at the airport to oversee the $18 million terminal improvement in 1999. His celebration over the successful completion was short-lived, according to Coopman. Carter and the rest of the airport had to deal with changes for the airlines and airport brought on by the terrorist attack in September 2001.

(David Coopman will speak about the book on Aug. 8 at the Port Byron Historical meeting at the River Valley library at 7 p.m.)
Marlene Gantt of Port Byron is a former Rock Island school teacher.


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Today Is Tim Ballard's Birthday

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If you are on Facebook, stop by Tim Ballard's page and wish him a Happy Birthday!

https://www.facebook.com/tim.ballard.75

Why is this day unlike other days? Tim contributed most of the Coolidge material which I use on this blog. The photos are so much appreciated that the seventh grade photos of the 1966 class continue to be among the most popular of all the posts.

I was still at John Deere that year, so I cannot say I contributed to the cuteness of the seventh grade class.

Eleanor Diehl Birthday - Quad Cities Online - Ray Diehl's Mom's 90th

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Eleanor Diehl Birthday - Quad Cities Online:

Eleanor Diehl Birthday

Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2012, 11:11 amComment on this story | Print this story | Email this story

Eleanor Diehl, Moline, will be honored at an open house reception hosted by her children on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in celebration of her 90th birthday. Please come wish Eleanor a happy birthday between 2-4 p.m. at Abbey Station, 3031 5th Ave.,Rock Island. No gifts, please. Eleanor was born Nov. 5, 1922, in Chicago, the daughter of Frank and Emma Lenc, and moved to Silvis with her family at the age of two. She is a 1940 graduate of East Moline High School, after which she attended Moline Business College and worked as a comptometer operator in the payroll department at IHEast Moline. She married Robert A. Diehl, Moline, on June 27, 1943, and they were married for almost 65 years. Eleanor was a stay-at-home mom until the age of 50, at which time she embarked upon a 15-year real estate career with Mel Foster Company. She enjoyed indoor league tennis until age 70 and today continues to enjoy playing bridge several times monthly. Her children are Linda Roman (Rick), San Rafael, Calif.; Ray (Edwina), Crown Point, Ind.; and Rob (Stephanie), Littleton, Colo. She is dearly loved by her six grandchildren, Douglas (Cynthia), Brittney (Dan),Geoffrey, Eric, Matthew and Heather and is affectionately know as "GG Ma" by her four great-grandchildren, Natalie, Emilee, Robyn and Jake.

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Eleanor Diehl's 90th Birthday Party - Great Celebration

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Ray Diehl

Thanks to all classmates for your nice comments and to those able to attend mom's 90 birthday party.

• Ray Diehl I also want to thank Marsha Anderson and Gary Osborne who came after this photo was taken.about an hour ago · Unlike · 3
• Gregory L. Jackson Hi Mike. He used to come into Melo Cream and ask about me. My father would say, "Someone asked about you. Can't remember his name." This happened so many times it was funny, so I led with "Mike Veberg?" Dad - "Yes, yes. That is who it was."about an hour ago · Like · 1
• Ken Odean It was an honor to be their to celebrate with the greatest aunt a guy could ever ask for. Always there for us, understanding, kind, compassionate and just loved being with "the family".about an hour ago · Unlike · 4
• Ken Odean Hey guys, what a great picture of us. Cousin Ray and myself are in the back row, much like at school as I remember. It was a fun weekend for all of us! kenabout an hour ago · Like
• Linda Olson Anderson I may be the only person who doesn't recognize the front row. Names please Ray Good pic.about an hour ago via mobile · Like
• Ray Diehl Click on the pic Linda. The names are tagged.about an hour ago · Like
• Gregory L. Jackson FB training session will start 5, 4, 3, 2...about an hour ago · Like
• Linda Olson Anderson Unfortunately tags don't show on my iPhone. I'll check them later. Thanks.about an hour ago via mobile · Like
• Gregory L. Jackson First World Problems.about an hour ago · Like
• Ray Diehl Steve Haines college roommate Rocky '67, Mike Veberg and Paul McIntoshabout an hour ago via mobile · Like

Eleanor Diehl Birthday - Quad Cities Online - Ray Diehl's Mom's 90th

To contact us Click HERE
Eleanor Diehl Birthday - Quad Cities Online:

Eleanor Diehl Birthday

Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2012, 11:11 amComment on this story | Print this story | Email this story

Eleanor Diehl, Moline, will be honored at an open house reception hosted by her children on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in celebration of her 90th birthday. Please come wish Eleanor a happy birthday between 2-4 p.m. at Abbey Station, 3031 5th Ave.,Rock Island. No gifts, please. Eleanor was born Nov. 5, 1922, in Chicago, the daughter of Frank and Emma Lenc, and moved to Silvis with her family at the age of two. She is a 1940 graduate of East Moline High School, after which she attended Moline Business College and worked as a comptometer operator in the payroll department at IHEast Moline. She married Robert A. Diehl, Moline, on June 27, 1943, and they were married for almost 65 years. Eleanor was a stay-at-home mom until the age of 50, at which time she embarked upon a 15-year real estate career with Mel Foster Company. She enjoyed indoor league tennis until age 70 and today continues to enjoy playing bridge several times monthly. Her children are Linda Roman (Rick), San Rafael, Calif.; Ray (Edwina), Crown Point, Ind.; and Rob (Stephanie), Littleton, Colo. She is dearly loved by her six grandchildren, Douglas (Cynthia), Brittney (Dan),Geoffrey, Eric, Matthew and Heather and is affectionately know as "GG Ma" by her four great-grandchildren, Natalie, Emilee, Robyn and Jake.

'via Blog this'

Eleanor Diehl's 90th Birthday Party - Great Celebration

To contact us Click HERE

Ray Diehl

Thanks to all classmates for your nice comments and to those able to attend mom's 90 birthday party.

• Ray Diehl I also want to thank Marsha Anderson and Gary Osborne who came after this photo was taken.about an hour ago · Unlike · 3
• Gregory L. Jackson Hi Mike. He used to come into Melo Cream and ask about me. My father would say, "Someone asked about you. Can't remember his name." This happened so many times it was funny, so I led with "Mike Veberg?" Dad - "Yes, yes. That is who it was."about an hour ago · Like · 1
• Ken Odean It was an honor to be their to celebrate with the greatest aunt a guy could ever ask for. Always there for us, understanding, kind, compassionate and just loved being with "the family".about an hour ago · Unlike · 4
• Ken Odean Hey guys, what a great picture of us. Cousin Ray and myself are in the back row, much like at school as I remember. It was a fun weekend for all of us! kenabout an hour ago · Like
• Linda Olson Anderson I may be the only person who doesn't recognize the front row. Names please Ray Good pic.about an hour ago via mobile · Like
• Ray Diehl Click on the pic Linda. The names are tagged.about an hour ago · Like
• Gregory L. Jackson FB training session will start 5, 4, 3, 2...about an hour ago · Like
• Linda Olson Anderson Unfortunately tags don't show on my iPhone. I'll check them later. Thanks.about an hour ago via mobile · Like
• Gregory L. Jackson First World Problems.about an hour ago · Like
• Ray Diehl Steve Haines college roommate Rocky '67, Mike Veberg and Paul McIntoshabout an hour ago via mobile · Like

The Question We’d Like to Have Heard Today

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 When your company reports a loss per share of$6.41, or roughly half your own stock price, thanks in good measure to thewrite-off of most of the book value of a $10 billion acquisition [actually $11.1 billion by the time it closed thanks to currency moves] you made barely one year ago, you should probably let more than nine analysts ask questions on the earnings call…especially when you’re going to blame almost everybodybut your own employees for the horrible, terrible, no-good, very badacquisition. But HP management, keeping up a pattern ofplaying the Wall Street fiddle about as well as a public company management canplay it, did just that, mainly by yammering for a very long period of time fromthe “script” before opening the call to questions. Here’s how CEO Meg Whitman (not the architectof the Autonomy acquisition, but now serving as the undertaker) spun the dealbefore the Q&A: “Autonomyremains a work in progress as we move this business from start up to grown up.There is a big market opportunity for this business but operationalimprovements are needed to take full advantage of these opportunities. While weexpect these efforts will improve the future of our Autonomy business, weannounced today an $8.8 billion non-cash impairment charge related to Autonomy.Let me spend a moment giving you some detail about the situation. “The majority ofthis impairment charge is linked to serious accounting improprieties,disclosure failures, and out right misrepresentations that occurred prior toHP's acquisition of Autonomy [emphasis added] and the associated impact on the expectedfinancial performance of the business over the long term. The balance of theimpairment charge is linked to the recent trading value of HP stock. Theseimproprieties were discovered through an internal investigation after a seniormember of Autonomy's leadership team came forward following the departure ofMike Lynch on May 23. “Basedon this information, HP initiated an intense internal investigation into theallegations, including a third party forensic review of Autonomy's historicalfinancial results. HP has contacted the SEC's Enforcement Division and the UK'sSerious Fraud Office. We have requested that both agencies open criminal andcivil investigations into this matter. In addition, HP intends to seek regressagainst various parties in the appropriate civil courts to recoup what we canfor our shareholders. “Iwant to stress that we remain 100% committed to Autonomy and its industryleading technology. We will continue to fully support our new and existingcustomers and we believe Autonomy's technology will play a significant role inour growth strategy over the long term. To that end, we recently announcedRobert Youngjohns as Senior Vice President and General Manager our Autonomy IMbusiness unit. Robert is a seasoned software executive who was most recentlyPresident of Microsoft North America.” The second way HP assured itself of a Q&Asession lacking fireworks was that those nine analysts who were allowed to askquestions are all polite sell-siders, as opposed to actual, angry HPshareholders.  And polite sell-siders arenot going to ask the really juicy questions you’d want to hear asked.  Still, the first analyst, Ben Reitzes, ofBarclays, gave it a reasonable shot out of the gate:Ben Reitzes“Yes, thanks a lot. Meg, with regard tothe Autonomy situation, we understand what you're doing in terms of going afterthe folks that you feel misled you but what about internally? Whose responsibleinternally for the acquisition, how are you analyzing yourself internally, theBoard, I think everybody at the Board was there when the Autonomy decision wasmade except for Mr. Whitworth, so what's the, what are you doing internally tomake sure that you have the right processes and who are you holding accountableinternally if anyone to make sure this doesn't happen again and that maybe eventhere's some folks internally that need to be held responsible and we could seerepercussions of this in the near future. How are you looking at it internally?”Meg Whitman “Yes,well first of all, the CEO at the time and the Head of Strategy who lead thisdeal are both gone...[emphasis added] With regard to the Board you're right. Most of the Boardwas here and voted for this deal and we feel terribly about that. What I willsay is the Board relied on audited financials, audited by Deloitte, not Brand Xaccounting firm but Deloitte and by the way, during our very extensive duediligence process, we hired KPMG to audit Deloitte, and neither of them sawwhat we now see after someone came forward to point us in the right direction.That said, obviously, we have not done any big acquisitions and we will reviewthe acquisition process.  “WhatI will say is due diligence and M&A now reports to our Chief FinancialOfficer. At the time when I came to the Company I was surprised to find thatdue diligence and M&A reported to strategy as opposed to the ChiefFinancial Officer. I've never seen that before in my career and that's adecision I made right away before I knew any of this, so I understand yourpoint of view and we have made a few changes in that regard but in the end, you have torely on audited financials [emphasis added] and we did and we will now carry on andas you know we've reported this to the SEC as well as the serious fraud officeand we will take it from here.”Ben Reitzes “Andin terms of internal personnel though, based on what you see right now theorganization can remain stable based on this occurrence?”Meg Whitman “Yes,it can. I mean really the two people that should have been held responsible aregone and that's the way I see it right now so I feel good about sort of thestability it of leadership.”  Longtime readers can see where we’re goingwith this. According to HP’s CEO, there were only “twopeople” in all of HP who “should have been held responsible” for the Autonomyacquisition, which saw the evaporation in about a year of nearly all the value ascribed to what $11 billion worth of HP’s cash had been used to buy, and boththose “two people” are happily gone. Butif my friend, fellow blogger and ace hedge fund manager John Hempton could havetold me the Autonomy books were well and truly “dodgy” waybefore today’s news, based strictly on a reading of the same “auditedfinancials” that HP’s CEO said today “you have to rely on”...then where onearth was HP’s entire senior management team, which presumably contains a fewpeople who know as much about how the audited financials of a software companyshould look as a guy in Australia reading 10Ks and 10Qs, when this dealwas getting done? Out of the office making a Peets coffee run?

Jeff MatthewsAuthor “Secrets in PlainSight: Business and Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett”(eBooks on Investing,2012)    Available now at Amazon.com
© 2012 NotMakingThisUp,LLC                                    The content contained inthis blog represents only the opinions of Mr. Matthews.   Mr. Matthews also acts as an advisor andclients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short positions insecurities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Matthews’recommendations.  This commentary in noway constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied on in making aninvestment decision, ever.  Also, thisblog is not a solicitation of business by Mr. Matthews: all inquiries will beignored.  And if you think Mr. Matthewsis kidding about that, he is not.  Thecontent herein is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and theauthor.