Heartland Publications of Clinton CT. has purchased The Community Common from Brown Publishing effective Oct 1, 2007, Michael Bush, CEO of Heartland announced. “We are an acquisition-minded company that seeks to own and operate newspapers in good communities and this acquisition fits nicely in Heartlands overall growth plan” Bush said.

Roy Brown, President of Brown Publishing said, “We have enjoyed our involvement with the Portsmouth community, the team at the Community Common, and Bill. Combining the Times with the Common makes good business sense, and we are confident that the folks at Heartland will perform the task with the minimal amount of disruption to readers and advertisers. We wish them well in their efforts, and thank everyone in Portsmouth who has supported ours over the past 10 years.”

“The Community Common has a reputation for being a good news newspaper and we plan building on that same tradition”. Bush said, “The Common will continue as to have its own editorial and advertising voice”. Bush also said, “We are pleased to announce that Bill Warnock will continue on in his current roll as Publisher and Janet Williams will continue on as Advertising Manager”.

Heartland also recently completed the purchase of Mid-South Management Co., Inc., owner and operator of small newspapers across the Southeast. The addition of the Mid-South operations brings the total to 48 paid-circulation newspapers. Heartland operates newspapers in 9 states including Georgia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Heartland Publications is owned by The Wicks Group of Companies and Wachovia Capital Partners. Wicks is a New York-based private equity firm focused on selected segments of the communications, information and media industries. Wachovia Capital Partners, based in Charlotte, N.C. and is the principal investing arm of Wachovia Corp.

www.heartlandpublications.com