Local Duo Close to Buying Worcester 'Telegram & Gazette'

By: Joe Strupp The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Mass., may come under the odd couple ownership of a local bottling giant and the paper's former editor.

A story today reveals the chairman and chief executive of Polar Beverages Corp., Ralph D. Crowley Jr., and Harry T. Whitin, recently retired editor of the T&G, "may be on the verge" of buying the paper.

In an interview Friday, Crowley told the paper that negotiations with The New York Times Co., which owns the daily, could be resolved within two weeks "if we are lucky enough to pull this off." The duo are part of a larger group that has bid on the paper.

"The partners are tight-lipped about negotiations in the wake of the Times Co.'s surprise announcement earlier this month that it would not sell its other New England property, The Boston Globe, after all," the story said. "The Times Co. had put the Globe on the market last spring after threatening to shutter the newspaper because of steep financial losses."

Check out the Telegram & Gazette's report, here.