Hey Tampa, She Wants Her 75 Bucks

Are times so tough at the Media General's Tampa Tribune newspaper that they can rip off a freelance journalist?

h/t Ed Padgett

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Flames Threaten Communications Towerson Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles

ABC7's transmitter on Mount Wilson is being threatened by the Station Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest. If you receive ABC7 by cable or satellite, you should experience no disruption. If you receive ABC7 by off air antenna, you could lose our ABC7 signal. You will still be able to see Eyewitness News in its regular time slots and breaking news anytime streaming live on ABC7.com.

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The Station Fire is moving toward Mount Wilson and fire officials said they plan to do their best to prevent the massive blaze from destroying the 20-plus television transmission towers located there.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Mark Savage said a strike team and engines were in place and air tankers had laid down fire retardant on the mountain directly in front of the “huge communication location.”

“It's not a matter of if it impacts Mt. Wilson, it's a matter of when,” he said. “Unfortunately today it was so smoky that our tankers couldn't work anywhere near that area."

As of 5: 30 p.m. the fire was “just a couple fo hours away from Mt. Wilson,” Savage said.

“We've done a lot of work to slow the flames down, but some are predicting up to 300-foot flame lengths.”

The Mt. Wilson observatory was evacuated Saturday, leaving the historic and scientifically important facility in the hands of firefighters.

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Freedom, OC Register, Plan to File For Chapter 11

Freedom Communications Inc., the owner of the Orange County Register, is expected to declare bankruptcy this week, according to people familiar with the situation, the latest in a string of Chapter 11 filings in the battered newspaper business.

The company, majority owned for more than 70 years by the Hoiles family, has reached agreements with its lenders to restructure its debts, according to these people.

With annual revenue of about $700 million, Freedom owns the Register and more than 30 other daily papers and eight TV stations. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- a popular measurement for leveraged companies -- have declined about 75% over the past five years to about $50 million. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content