The Bend Bulletin Declares Bankruptcy

Yep. That could explain it.

 

I think the company was borrowing against their building. The link says the owners had been trying to sell for 20 million dollars and then lease the space back. The county has the property valued at closer to 10 million. My completely uninformed guess is that the future of the paper will be tied to what the buyer of the building wants to do with the property. If he wants to lease the building back to a tenant that has gone into Chapter 11 twice in eight years the paper lives. If the buyer has other plans the paper dies.

Bend Bulletin Owners Behind On Taxes And Local News Coverage Hangs In The Balance

 

Something else to keep in mind: Unlike some growth areas of the country, which have seen a flood of 55-plus empty-nesters and retirees (*cough* North Idaho *cough*), Bend's growth has been with young adults and outdoorsy people.

According to census bureau data, the town had roughly 20,000 people in 1990; 52,000 in 2000; and it had an estimated 91,000 residents in 2016. While the median age for Bend is 36.6 years old, 62.4 percent of residents were 44 or younger.

In short, the town's dramatic growth in population has been mostly among non-newspaper readers.

 

Bend has more than its share of retirement refugees, but yes, a lot of residents are used to getting "news" from sources other than a daily print product.

Part of the growth between 1990 and 2000 was via annexation, so the increase wasn't as explosive as raw numbers indicate.

Still, it wasn't just industry dynamics that caused this. For a long while, The Bulletin had a Washington correspondent. And by Washington, I don't mean the state directly north of Oregon.

And the comment in one of the stories about paying a $100,000 retainer to the bankruptcy attorney, as well as the interest and penalties for back taxes, makes me think this:

There's usually a good time to pay bills. And that time is before you fall behind in paying them.

 

The thing about Bend though - print or digital - there are a lot of businesses that cater to tourists (who probably are trying to figure out where the best places to eat, shop or recreate are) - seems like you'd be able to survive just on that business.

 

The reason is it's an amazing place to live