Thomson Newspapers Corp

Freedom Communications Inc. said Monday that it will swap two newspapers, including one of its original publications, for three newspapers owned by Thomson Newspapers Corp. Thomson will acquire the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum, a daily in Ohio that Freedom founder R.C. Hoiles bought in 1927, and Dothan Progress Ltd., which publishes a free-circulation weekly and several shoppers in Dothan, Ala.

Freedom Communications Inc. said Monday that it will swap two newspapers, including one of its original publications, for three newspapers owned by Thomson Newspapers Corp. Thomson will acquire the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum, a daily in Ohio that Freedom founder R.C. Hoiles bought in 1927, and Dothan Progress Ltd., which publishes a free-circulation weekly and several shoppers in Dothan, Ala.

Newspaper Lays Off Most of Staff: The Valley Sentinel of Ansonia, Conn., laid off nearly all its 73 employees on Christmas Eve, the workers said. Staffers said they were told all but five of the daily newspaper's employees were being laid off and that production was switching to the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport. The Post and the Sentinel are owned by the Thomson Newspapers Corp. of Toronto, Canada. A company's spokesman was unavailable for comment, the Post said.