EVANSTON, Wyoming (WyoFile) — Wyoming newspaper executives Robb and Jen Hicks and Rob Mortimore announced Tuesday they’ve reached an agreement to purchase eight local newspapers and will keep them running after an out-of-state corporate owner shuttered them without warning last week.

“What better news could you get?” said Marie Hamilton, reporter and managing editor for two of the papers: the Platte County Record-Times and Guernsey Gazette. “There was a lot of tears, but good tears,” she said of the staff reaction to the announcement.

RELATED | Stop the presses: Wyoming press corps suffers historic blow

The announcement comes six days after the Illinois-based News Media Corporation suddenly closed its publications in Niobrara, Goshen, Platte, Sublette, Lincoln and Uinta counties. The sa

See Full Page