Two former managers of The Salt Lake Tribune have entered into an agreement to purchase the Daily Sparks Tribune in Sparks, Nev.
A.L. "Butch" Alford confirmed Thursday that he had formed a limited liability company with Dominic Welch, the Tribune's former publisher, and Randy Frisch, former Tribune general manager, for ownership of the Sparks Tribune. Alford bought the paper in 1998 as part of a four-paper purchase by his TPC Holdings Inc. Other TPC publications include the Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune and two newspapers in Washington.
"I've just moved it to what is more appropriate, which is ownership by myself, Dominic and Randy," Alford said. "I simply thought it was a better fit outside of TPC Holdings because we're in the Northwest, and they're in Nevada. I consider it more of a change of ownership as opposed to a sale."
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Nevada paper has a circulation of 6,000. Alford said the deal also included the Big Nickel, a 50,000-circulation free shopper with distribution in northern Nevada.
The paper was previously owned by Kearns-Tribune Corp., a previous owner of The Salt Lake Tribune. Kearns-Tribune sold the Sparks paper to Alford in 1998.
Welch and Frisch ended their affiliation with The Salt Lake Tribune when its new owner, Denver-based MediaNews Inc., took over in August 2002.