Odds and ends, 9/11/07

Today is Sept. 11, and sometimes I think of the "truthers" and how they want us to believe that the World Trade Center was brought down in a controlled demolition, the Pentagon was hit by a missile and United Flight 93 was brought down by a missile fired from a US military airline.

I don't care if that great intellect Rosie O'Donnell is one of those people. What kind of a world do they think they live in if they suspect the US government and the US armed forces would organize and carry out such a scheme against its own people?

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I read this in this morning's paper. You have to admire some people's chutzpah.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has delayed the October execution of a death row inmate who joined a lawsuit challenging lethal injection as unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

Judge Gregory Frost of U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, ordered the Oct. 18 execution of Romell Broom halted while the lawsuit proceeds.

Broom, who raped and stabbed to death a 14-year-old girl, is one of 15 Ohio inmates claiming the procedure may cause prisoners to suffer during an execution. ...

Broom, 51, abducted Tryna Middleton in Cleveland at knifepoint on Sept. 21, 1984, while the girl was walking with friends. He then raped her and stabbed her seven times, according to the attorney general’s office. ...

In general, I am against the death penalty. Too many practical problems. I hate to see one innocent person put to death. But if this guy is truly guilty, to claim the state should minimize his suffering ... what can a reasonable person say?

Tryna Middleton would be 36 or 37 years old today, probably with a family.

When I read the story, part of me thought the state of Ohio should dip a shovel handle in a vial of AIDS virus and nutrients and ... but the civilized part took over. Until I know for sure he has true remorse and is trying to atone for what he has done (how that would be, I don't know), I have no sympathy for Broom.

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I see Saturn has a new entry-level car called the Astra, which replaces the Ion. General Motors probably should have found another name, because "Astra" is almost jinxed. Back in the late 1970s, Pontiac sold a twin to the infamous Chevy Vega. It was called the Astre. A friend had one. It was basic transportation, nothing more. I may be wrong, but I think the 1976 model used the same trouble-prone engine used in the Vega, but the '77 model used a different one.

I saw only a few Astres on the road, including the one owned by one of my high school buddies. As far as I know, what's left of it is sitting behind a barn in a grassy field in Gallia County, Ohio, rusting away.

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The AP filed this short article this afternoon:

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Buying The Herald-Dispatch daily newspaper is going to be a financial burden, Champion Industries Inc. said in a report filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Financing the $77 million purchase with debt will subject the company to numerous financial restrictions, Champion said in the filing. Champion did not elaborate and a spokesman did not immediately return a call Tuesday.

But the filing makes it clear that buying The Herald-Dispatch represents a giant financial step for Champion. The purchase price is more than $10 million higher than Champion’s total assets as of July 31. Champion earned $5.47 million on revenue of $145.1 million in fiscal 2006.

Champion agreed to buy the newspaper from Fairmont, N.Y.-based Gatehouse Media in a deal revealed in late June. It expected to close the sale by mid-September. ...

The rest is the usual background on Champion.

I saw this and went to the SEC filing. This is what the company said in the document filed today with the SEC:

On June 28, 2007, the Company signed a definitive asset purchase agreement (the Purchase Agreement) to acquire the Herald-Dispatch daily newspaper published in Huntington West Virginia, from GateHouse Media, Inc. (Gatehouse) for a purchase price of $77 million subject to adjustment as set forth in the purchase agreement. The parties to the agreement are Champion and a wholly owned subsidiary as a purchaser and Gatehouse Media, Inc., Gatehouse Media West Virginia Holdings, Inc., and Gatehouse Media Illinois Holdings, Inc. as sellers. The transaction is expected to close during the Company's fourth quarter, is subject to customary closing conditions and is subject to a breakup fee of 10% of the purchase price. Champion intends to finance the acquisition with debt. The Company is anticipated to incur substantial indebtedness to finance this transaction and as such would be subject to numerous restrictive financial covenants.

I didn't see the phrase "financial burden" anywhere in what the company released. "Substantial indebtedness," yes, but not "financial burden." Newspaper profits as a percentage of sales are still pretty good compared to some other industries (despite what you hear about the imminent death of newspapers). Once the sale closes, we might get some more information about exactly how much of a "financial burden" The Herald-Dispatch will be to Champion.