Hearst Corp

In a case that will chart the future of one of the state's most spectacular stretches of coastline, the California Coastal Commission this week faces a decision whether to ease long-standing protections of scenery and wildlife to allow the Hearst Corp. to build a resort complex near San Simeon. The commission hearing is shaping up as a classic struggle over private property rights, rural growth and environmental values.

Richard E. Berlin, president and chief executive officer during much of the financially troubled years of the Hearst Corp., has died at his home here. He was 92. Berlin, who died Tuesday, had worked for the Hearst organization for 54 years by the time of his retirement in 1973, a spokesman for Hearst, one of the nation's larger publishing companies, said. Berlin, a former advertising manager of Smart Set and McClures magazines, was William Randolph Hearst Sr.'

Scott Sassa has resigned as president of entertainment and syndication of Hearst Corp. Sassa's resignation was confirmed Thursday after the New York Post published a story saying Sassa had been cavorting with strippers and one -- in partnership with her boyfriend -- had tried to blackmail him and sent texts he'd written to senior officials at the magazine and television company. A Hearst spokesman declined to comment beyond confirming Sassa's resignation. Sassa did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Phoebe Hearst Cooke, who was a granddaughter of publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst and used one of the nation's biggest fortunes to support a variety of philanthropic causes, has died. She was 85. Cooke, who had pneumonia, died Sunday in a Templeton, Calif., hospital, according to a statement from the Hearst Corp., the media company she served as a director for 36 years. Her twin brother, George Randolph Hearst Jr., who was a former publisher of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, died in June after a stroke.

Magazine publisher Hearst Corp., whose titles include Esquire and Cosmopolitan, is taking a 50% stake in Talk magazine, the new monthly being created by former New Yorker editor Tina Brown and Miramax Films. The deal, announced Thursday, adds Hearst's considerable experience in distributing magazines to a publication that is already expected to be the hottest launch of the year. Financial terms were not disclosed. Talk, a general interest magazine, will debut in August.