Acquisitions

Judy Hodgson and Carolyn Fernandez have sold The North Coast Journal Inc.—a media company that includes the 15,000-circulation weekly newspaper and website, plus nearly a dozen publications serving Humboldt County, Calif.—to Melissa Sanderson. Hodgson and Fernandez purchased the newly established monthly newspaper in June 1990 and converted it to a weekly in 1998. They also launched a string of successful, hyperlocal publications, including the Insider, a quarterly tourism magazine; the annual Menu of Menus and wedding guide; and more recently, the bi-monthly North Coast Trader, a classified paper that reaches six coastal counties in California and Oregon.

Steve Strickbine, Times Media Group publisher and president, has acquired Tucson Local Media from Thirteenth Street Media. Tucson Local Media includes the 37-year-old Tucson Weekly, bi-monthly Inside Tucson Business, and four community newspapers. Strickbine now owns more than 30 publications in Arizona and California. His other Arizona publications include the East Valley Tribune, Scottsdale Progress, College Times, Ahwatukee Foothills News, and West Valley View. Several of these were acquired from Thirteenth Street Media in 2016. Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Thirteenth Street Media in the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.