'Morning Call' Vacates Bureau -- Was Landlord Told?

By: E&P Staff Did The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa., move out of a bureau office in the middle of the night and fail to inform the landlord?

The competing Express-Times in Easton, Pa., reports the Morning Call closed its Northampton County bureau in Easton last week and didn't tell landlord Peter Koehler. The paper quoted Koehler as saying the Morning Call cleared out its offices without notifying him.

"They snuck out of the building in the middle of the night," Koehler told the Express-Times. "No one had the common courtesy to call me and tell me they're leaving the building." Koehler added that he went into the office last week and it appeared that "anything of value" had been removed, and "they didn't even turn the lights out."

Koehler also told the Express-Times he met with his attorneys and said he planned to file a claim against the Morning Call and change the locks on June 30. But the story did not state if the newspaper had failed to pay its rent.

Morning Call Editor David Erdman confirms the paper vacated the bureau offices, but contends the landlord was informed: "Proper notification was given. We didn't move out in the middle of the night." He added that coverage of the area has not changed.