Michigan: The Ann Arbor News Hits The Streets For Last Time

(07-23) 08:40 PDT Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP) --

After 174 years, the last edition of The Ann Arbor News rolled off the presses Thursday with a three-word headline: "Farewell, Ann Arbor."

The only general circulation daily newspaper in this college town has gone out of business. It is being replaced by AnnArbor.com, an online news site that will produce a print edition twice a week, on Thursday and Sunday.

The 12-page front section of the News was dedicated to the history of the paper and the transition to AnnArbor.com, which also is owned by Advance Publications. That site goes live Friday.

"The devastating transformation of the newspaper industry and the severe economic impact on The News forced the painful decision to close our newspaper," publisher Laurel Champion wrote in a front-page column. "But I hope you will remember us for many, many reasons."

Photographer Brian Reynolds was at the printing plant in Pittsfield Township — which printed an extra 12,000 copies of the paper Thursday — to pick up final copies for the newsroom. He wore a black shirt with the News nameplate on the front and a message on the back: "No News is bad news."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/23/national/a014133D31.DTL#ixzz0M6C7rpNt