Newspaper closures sparked debate about legal notices; Legislature may revisit requirement for their publication 

JACKSON — Last week, as word spread across Wyoming that eight community newspapers were closing, one fact was clear: No one wanted them to go down without a fight.

Little new information emerged in the first few days after the Pinedale Roundup and its seven sister publications were abruptly shuttered by parent company News Media Corporation, which announced an immediate halt to operations on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

The closures also claimed the Platte County Record-Times in Wheatland, the Guernsey Gazette, the Lusk Herald, the Torrington Telegram, the Kemmerer Gazette, the Bridger Valley Pioneer in Lyman, and the Uinta County Herald in Evanston, founded in 1870.

But by Monday morning, former Pinedale Roundup editor Cali O’Hare had posted a photo on her personal Facebook page showing the Roundup’s front doors being unlocked. Her caption was simple: “We’re back, baby!”

By Tuesday, longtime Wyoming newspaper owners Robb and Jen Hicks, along with veteran publisher Rob Mortimore, announced they had reached an agreement in principle to purchase News Media Corporation’s eight Wyoming titles and resume publication immediately.

The Pinedale Roundup will be printed again by the Jackson Hole News&Guide on Wednesday, having missed one week of publication. 

That was a critical week, as legal notices were disrupted. Wyoming law requires local governments to print legal notices in a newspaper that’s consecutively printed for 52 weeks. If a paper misses only one week, the paper can lose that business.

The Hicks family has owned the Buffalo Bulletin since 1996 and has multi-generational ties to Wyoming journalism. Mortimore, who lives in Torrington, was the group publisher for News Media Corporation’s Wyoming operations before the closure and will remain in that role for the new group. All staff members will be rehired.

“Our vision is to return the papers to the community,” Hicks told the News&Guide. “We are not going to suck all the money from the communities. These are great communities and they deserve to have newspapers, and we have the opportunity to step up and save them.”

Latitude with legals

What transpired over the last week could shape what happens in the state legislature this session.

In a special meeting held just days after Sublette County’s paper of record — the Pinedale Roundup — closed, commissioners voted 3–1 to designate the Rocket Miner, a Sweetwater County newspaper, as the county’s official outlet for legal notices.

The Town of Pinedale followed the county’s lead at its regular meeting. Mayor Matt Murdock added that, if the Pinedale Roundup re-opened, the town would shift back to the local paper.

During the special meeting on Aug. 8, Sublette County commissioners debated whether to use two locally-owned newspapers — the Star Valley Independent in Afton or the Jackson Hole News&Guide — for publishing legals. The commissioners also debated using the Rocket Miner, which is owned by Adams Publishing, a national news and media company that also owns seven Wyoming newspapers.

Flo McDonald, an advertising representative with the Rocket Miner, joined the Aug. 8 meeting by phone to answer questions about rates, circulation and potential delivery options. The News&Guide and the Independent were not invited to the meeting and didn’t know the meeting was being held, according to Sen. Dan Dockstader, publisher of the Independent, and Adam Meyer, News&Guide publisher.

McDonald offered commissioners a discounted legal advertising rate of $6.50 per column inch, undercutting the Independent’s legal rate by 50 cents. The News&Guide was quoted as $24 per column inch, but unable to negotiate the rate without knowledge of the meeting.

When Sublette County staff said the Rocket Miner had 404 digital subscribers in Sublette County, McDonald did not correct the error. The Rocket Miner has 40 total digital subscribers, according to the Wyoming Press Association’s latest July circulation reports and the Rocket Miner’s own published legal notice.

Brian Doane, president of Adams Publishing Group West, told the News&Guide Tuesday that the WPA information was incorrect. He offered no explanation other than he was not at the Sublette County meeting.

Before Sublette County commissioners voted to designate the Rocket Miner as the county’s legal newspaper, the discussion turned to whether the process had been fair.

The lone dissenting vote on the commission, Sublette County Commissioner Doug Vickrey, objected to asking a single paper to undercut another’s price mid-meeting without offering the same opportunity to all vendors. 

He called the process a flawed approach that could set a precedent for future county business.

But supporters of the Rocket Miner pointed to its existing presence in the county, citing the digital subscriber number. The Rocket Miner is not distributed in print in Pinedale or Sublette County, but committed to adding a print presence once it secured a contract for the legals.

Legislation revived?

Clayton Melinkovich, Sublette County’s attorney, said at the meeting that the numbers in front of the board weren’t from a formal bid process but simply the prices each paper had shared over an informal phone call with staff.

Melinkovich highlighted the failure of a 2024 state bill which would have required the Secretary of State to establish a centralized electronic notice system — offering a digital alternative for counties without qualifying print newspapers.

The measure was backed by the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, but received pushback from the Wyoming Press Association. 

The bill could have allowed legal notices to be published online if no qualifying print newspaper was available or if publishing in print posed a significant hardship.

Melinkovich called the bill’s collapse disappointing at the meeting on Aug. 8 and hoped lawmakers would revisit the concept in 2026.

This story was published on August 13, 2025.