The Antelope Valley Times

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AV Press sold to new owner

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PALMDALE – The Antelope Valley Press has been sold to a new owner.

The newspaper has been a family-owned business since 1915 but will now be run by a new entity called Antelope Valley Press Inc., led by Canadian newspaper executive Steven Malkowich, according to a statement issued by the previous owners and reported by the Los Angeles Daily News.

“Now is the time for our family to make way for others with greater resources than ours,” former Publisher William Markham said in a statement issued to the Daily News through New Mexico-based merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & Murray. The firm represented Markham, his brother and sister in the sale.

The new owners have newspaper assets throughout Canada and the United States, including the Lodi News-Sentinel in the Central Valley, the Daily News reported.

The Palmdale-based Antelope Valley Press has a daily circulation of 11,000 during the week and 18,000 on Sundays, according to the outgoing owners. It was founded by A.J. Hicks on April 3, 1915.

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Filed Under: Business, Palmdale

53 comments for "AV Press sold to new owner"

  1. So when will the new owners start having recent news stories? The last date on the online av press is July 5, I think. I’m hoping they update soon!

    • They just did the story on Lancaster’s takeover of Palmdale today. Great photo on the front of the Four Horseman of the Lancaster Apocalypse.

      Now Lancaster has 8 on their council, including the 3 from Palmdale that sold the residents down the river again.

      I can’t wait for the statue of Rex to be raised at a Palmdale park.

      Stupid, stupid voters of Palmdale.

      • I wonder if Palmdale could prohibit Valley Press newsstands from Palmdale’s sidewalks if the new owners start working for ‘wrecks & co.’

        I would just as soon Palmdale prohibit the Valley Press newsstands altogether.

      • It ISN’T stupid for Palmdale to not want to be in any agreement with Los Angeles County. Remember, this is the same county that has screwed our whole valley over repeatedly by dumping sex offenders, homeless and low-income housing here. At one point a few years ago, the county wanted to use our local desert to dump sewage from down below. We stood up collectively and said “No!” To this day, the county is shortchanging the Antelope Valley when it comes to dealing with homelessness. So, I don’t trust the county either. And, quite frankly, nobody in the AV should! They have screwed us over so many times.

        It would be just like the county to come out here and throw up their solar farms all over Palmdale and ruin our landscape, take the power generated from them and give it to all of the cities down below while Palmdale gets screwed. I can almost guarantee that is exactly what would happen here.

        The program with Lancaster is, at least, only with Lancaster and it is heavily regulated by the State should an issue arise, so I trust it much more than anything involving the county.

        Was it smart for Palmdale to link up with Lancaster? Maybe not. Who knows? Time will tell.

        The best option would be for Palmdale to create its very own energy unit, completely independent of anyone.

        As a Palmdale resident though, I fully support the decision to stay away from L.A. County.

        • You are not thinking this through entirely.

          By signing on exclusively with Lancaster, Hofbauer, Bishop, Carrillo and Bettancourt gave away Palmdale’s chance to negotiate the very best rates for Palmdale residents.

          Had they elected to keep their options open by pursuing both programs until the actual rates for Palmdale residents from each program were determined, they would have been doing what their first priority should be: looking out for the residents of Palmdale.

          While I understand that there’s distrust with the county, there is even more to fear when Lancaster is involved. You should check the local blogs, and see how many people currently on the Lancaster Choice Energy plan are upset at how much MORE their energy costs are than with SCE, to the point of trying to get the LA media to cover it.

          The council could have elected to look at both options. They chose not to. They bought the first thing they saw without doing their due diligence. I am bitterly disappointed in the representation I am receiving.

          I live in Hofbauer’s district. I will be working to make sure that he is not re-elected. I’ll also be working with friends in the other districts to make sure that Bishop, Carrillo and Bettancourt are out when their terms end. All four are making their decisions based on their relationships with Lancaster power brokers, and their hatred of Ledford. I do not see that any of them are making decisions that are best for Palmdale and its residents.

          It’s so sad that these council members are incapable of understanding what their responsibilities are to Palmdale residents.

          • @Concerned Palmdale Resident.

            I am in Hofbauer’s district too and want him out next time.

            So, how can we organize our fellow Palmdales voters to be effective in replacing Hofbauer and Bishop and any other Lancaster minions?

            I’m not sure how much organizing can be done on this site if the AVTimes allows it. We’ll have to come up with a way to meet and/or communicate elsewhere.

            I suspect that the main thing we must do is inform our Palmdale neighbors as to what those 2 are up to and to get out the vote next time. I don’t think there is a large Palmdale voter contigent that knowingly supports Lancaster’s policies over ours.

            It’s likely that voter apathy is what is allowing Hofbauer and Bishop to be on the council.

          • William, what you need to do is pick a candidate that is not a shill for Lancaster and VOLUNTEER. It is unrealistic to think that it will be possible for any non-shill to outspend Wrecks and company, so the name recognition battle is LOST. It has not been done in local politics before, but it will take volunteers knocking on doors to win the day.

          • Thank you. I will help with time and money to expose Hofbauer, Bishop, and Carrillo for the sellouts they are. These are terrible days for the people who live in Palmdale.

            To all the Lancaster interlopers: GO AWAY!

          • Keep in mind that you are not limited to volunteering in your own district. In the last election Wrecks and his crew focused on the two districts that are not up for reelection in 2018, and won them both. That means if they win one out of three in 2018 they can destroy Palmdale by 2020. Even if you are in Hofbauer or Bishop’s district you can’t afford to sit quiet in 2018.

  2. I hope the AV Press covers tonight’s city council meeting in Palmdale. People have gone nuts.

    People saying they can’t trust the county regarding a power agreement, but they can trust Lancaster?

    Are they serious?

    Lancaster and its mayor have sued Palmdale how many times? For voting rights, park and rides, lifeguards, floods. Lancaster tried to kill the power plant, spending tens of thousands of dollars and spreading lies. Lancaster gave money to an auto dealer to move from Palmdale to Lancaster. Lancaster’s mayor tried to hurt Palmdale’s non profits by telling lies about safe and sane fireworks and stopping their sale.

    Maybe you can’t trust the county. You certainly can’t trust Lancaster.

    Heaven help the residents of Palmdale. You are under attack by a group of money hungry, power hungry individuals who want your money and can care less about your city.

    Time to wake up and smell the coffee.

    • I was there and all I could think about during the energy discussion was this.

      Lancaster fought the Palmdale Power Plant for years and with lies.

      Lancaster has invested in solar fields.

      If the power plant doesn’t get build and Palmdale signs on to the power sharing agreement, would we ever end up buying Lancaster’s solar electricity and making them a profit on it?

      parris and Lancaster are not trustworthy and must always be treated with suspicion or Palmdale will lose.

      Lancaster wouldn’t look so bad if there wasn’t a similar size city next door that shows how its done. What attributes does Lancaster have that Palmdale would benefit from close association? Hofbauer and Bishop aren’t to be trusted either. We need to keep a close eye on both of them.

      Palmdale has worked too hard and come too far to be dragged down by the drowning next door neighbor. The only thing I’d want from Lancaster is for COSTCO to move to Palmdale for the sales tax income and that’s about it. They can keep the blvd.

      Dealing with Lancaster is like dealing with Russia, “Trust but veritfy”.

        • I know. So, what do we do with them other than keeping a close eye on everything they say and so and replace them next election?

          Hofbauer looks like he’s got a big itch to be mayor. Not gonna get my vote. Ever.

  3. Good to see so many interested in the A V…However we are encouraged to look, think, and see outside the A V..take a good, close, and thoughtful look at what is happening t our country internationally and internally..

    • All politics is local, and with the shenanagins that take place in Rex’s Lancaster, we need to focus on what’s happening here. There are plenty of people worrying about national stuff while the local corruption goes on ignored. We need more people, not fewer people, holding our local politicians accountable.

  4. … out for himself, sucking the life out of it, wringing it out for every red cent he could exact, William C. Markham ran the Antelope Valley Press, straight into ground. 2015, he pulled the plug on his employee’s profit sharing, halved their annual vacation benefit, halved their annual sick leave, and lowered wages, delivering senior staff a 20% haircut. Wholly devoid style, no class, in departing Markham couldn’t be bothered to draft his own farewell address. Instead, he plagiarized it, lifting Marty Weybret’s farewell address, straight from the 2015 Lodi News-Sentinel acquisition:”…Now is the time for the Weybrets to make way for others with greater resources than ours…” Publisher of the Antelope Valley Press the better part of three decades, not one article did Markham ever write. A disgusting, pathetic excuse for a human being, good riddance to him –

    • Markham wasn’t a local. He never lived here. An SFV burb whose parents owned the Green Sheet before it later became the Daily News, he hated the Antelope Valley. A place he looks down upon, Markham loathed leaving his upscale Northridge enclave for the long lonesome commute to Palmdale, everyday. Markham’s entire tenure at the Press dedicated to one thing, flipping it for a fast buck, for two decades he’s had Antelope Valley Press on the chopping block, in perpetuity. No sooner than he bumped out the Odettes, circa the early 90s, did he try but fail, pawning it off on the NY Times. His entire career dedicated to just one thing, Markham couldn’t wait to dump the AVP, and cash out. Took him nearly 20 years, but he finally did it. Unsung and unloved, Markham departs, leaving a once proud news daily hopelessly overstaffed with his yes-men, his glorified self-important clerks, and his ever faithful brown-nosers, who don’t know beans about journalism –

  5. I stopped subscribing and even reading the AV Press when it became clear that it had become the AV Parris.

    • Well he’s obviously a clown that has to pay his way to be “eccentric” But aside from the b.s. I’m still wondering how outtatowners are gonna cover what’s Goin on in the A.V. better than those that been around it all most of there lives.

      • Wow. Many newspapers and magazines are owned by persons and companies in other countries.
        They keep local staff and hire from locals to report the news.
        The printing and reporting is not moving to Canada.

    • No doubt the AV Press kisses Rex’s back end. They could have a field day doing investigative stories on him and what goes on at Fern Street, but they know who butters their bread.

  6. I hope that it stays democratic. I’m not sure how a Canadian executive will provide better news than the ones that have already lived all the way out here in the Antelope Valley. I’d rather hear the comments of those that have lived here for quite a while. Good or bad…. will the innertowners opinions be flushed out by the outtatowners or inbetweeners…?

      • L.o.r.f.l. yeah right. Republican business owners even know to keep a work field democratic for the sake of proper work flow. I’m just saying that I hope this whole online structure don’t change because I just barely got use to this one.

  7. We need legitimate news sources such as the Antelope Valley Press, The Antelope Valley Times, Spectrum News, Los Angeles Times, KCBS, KABC, KNBC, et al to provide REAL news. There is too much fake news out there, particularly in local blogs like the Antelope Valley Voice which spreads gossip, untruths, and make racist comments continuously.

    I’ll gladly pay to make sure I’m getting the news and not some hack’s false rumours.

    • KABC is a fav read of mine, but it is far from real news. At least on the political level. Their local news is even slanted very liberal, but I expect that from the once conservative Disney Corp. I take a dash from here, a dash from there, go find a pinch here and there then mix it all together to come up with a decent ‘truth’ recipe for most news.

      • “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” -Stephen Colbert

        For example. 3 million voters voted illegally for Hillary in 2016 according to trump and swallowed by conservative news and his followers.

        About 30% of fox ‘news’ viewers think that President Obama was born in Kenya.

        You can go on and on about what conservatives ‘believe’ that isn’t accurate and never stop finding stuff.

        Conservatives have transferred their beliefs in religious ‘stuff’ to the political and journalism domains.They have what could be called ‘faith-based news’ or as Kellyanne Conway has said “alternative facts”.

        Yeah. If they believe it’s true, despite all evidence to the contrary, for them it’s true. trump’s administration has become a ‘lie factory’ and what’s worse, is that his followers believe and repeat the lies. I guess they will be soon telling us the earth is flat again because the orange one said so.

        Are you shocked?

          • Well, thanks, Bike

            It’s just stunning how stubborn they are about known, provable ‘facts’ that they just won’t accept.

            And, then there’s that snake pit called fox ‘news’ where another one just got suspended for sexual harassment. They applaud everything trump says or does no matter how false and/or outrageous.

            Impeachment can’t come soon enough but you know they’ll cry and complain that the left was out to get trump.

    • The LASD Scanner + Fire group on Facebook is one of the worst ones for spreading fake news and gossip. People who don’t even live in the Antelope Valley go on there and try to stir up the already paranoid lemmings who frequent it. I wish the admins would block this person and keep them from aggravating and stirring up tension in our community. You’d think that since the person lives out of state that they would get a life, but their AV-obsession is really too powerful to let them do so. The admins don’t seem to understand that the longer they let this person post there, the more damage they do to our community and the morale of the people who really care and are trying to make a positive difference.

      • The Antelope Valley Voice is just as bad as the scanner group. Lots of racist comments, too. Some of the same fake news and gossip spreaders post both places. The only redeeming factor is that there are only a handful of the liars and most people ignore them.

      • I consider the Antelope Valley Voice worse. Lies, racist comments towards Middle Eastern people, gossip, and slander. It just magnifies the need for real journalism.

      • A couple of the Scanner group admins act like they are celebrities. Others are straight up trolls. They make me sick.

        • I like Sarah Frakes and Nancy Lee Schmidt from what I know of both. Don’t know any of the others. I just had to remove myself from that page because it was so filled with negativity, trolls and “hate the AV” types.

          It just wasn’t worth being a part of any more. It’s one thing to actually go out into the community and try to make a positive difference, but it’s another to come in from out-of-state and stir people up.

          • I agree 100% with your evaluation of the page Matt K.

            Too many lies and racist comments. The garbage spewed there is slanderous. Claiming that an elected official was living with two women with no proof, and where one of the women was married, is sickening. So is perpetuating the Parris lie that a local charter school was given a loan by a municipality. That lie has been repeated into claiming that it was a grant.

            Calling people of middle eastern decent ‘kabob’ is racist. That is a common theme there as well.

            There is also a small but nasty anti-Ledford group that has made outrageous claims including that Ledford owned the dilapidated Palmdale Inn. That cesspool was owned by the Mahli’s before. Some simple research will show that.

            It is the worst blog page in the AV bar none.

  8. I cant remember the last time I bought a paper… always bad news… shooting in palmdale… stabbing in lancaster…. just like last sunday.. 2 homicides in one day… so sick of it all…..

    • Move to a town with a population of one. Hardly ever a homicide there, and if there is one you won’t be reading about it in the paper.

  9. The last time I checked web only was more expensive than paper. Never could understand that logic.

  10. The AV Press is good source for local news. It has comprehensive coverage of the valley from Cal City and Mojave on the north, through Rosamond, Lancaster and Palmdale and on to Acton. Their reporters cover schools, school districts and lots of local politics. The “‘letters to the editor” section gives ample opportunity for kudos and complaints. I can’t imagine starting my day without it. Fix your delvery problems and the paper will be fine.

    • I loved the paper and subscribed daily for years. Delivery was so bad, I was calling in at least 4 times a week. I asked them to credit me for papers I didn’t receive before 7am (when I left for work). They refused so I canceled. That was about 4 years ago. They called every so often to ask me back and I would ask if they had a permanent delivery person for my area. The answer was always no. I finally asked them to stop calling. If the new owners can keep the local info (school sports and such) and fix their business end, then I’m all for it and may give them another try.

  11. The AV has half a million people in it and their circulation is eleven THOUSAND? Seriously? Why would anyone buy something with market penetration like that?

    Of course, if they apply some of their big corporate bucks so the paper can be weened off of the Wrecks Parris revenue stream and actually do some honest reporting maybe it can be saved.

  12. “Now is the time for our family to make way for others with greater resources than ours,” don’t you love how they assume our whole world revolves around their newspaper? Like we really care about them or their “family” – guess what, we have families too, and they have nothing to do with you or your newspaper.

    • How did you get that from their comment? All they said was that they felt that the AV needed someone with greater resources than they had to be able to cover the news properly,

  13. Yeah $3 a week does seem a bit much for online only.
    I looked up LA Times and they get $2 a week delivered and digital. But of course they have higher paying advertisers, world wide distribution and lower costs on materials due to bulk.

  14. I delivered the VP when it was a twice a week paper for all of 25¢ per month. Oh how the customers griped about it doubling to 50¢ for only three times per week!

    Now the hypocrisy of I will not subscribe at the current rates.

  15. Maybe now they will do some investigative journalism and look into the goings on in Lancaster. There’s a treasure trove to uncover there. No bid contracts, land deals, cronyism, illegal purchases, fiscal irresponsibility and debt, paybacks, and more.

    • $4 a week for print newspaper and web seems reasonable. Especially when the paper itself can then be used to line a bird cage, shredded for litter box, turned into paper mache and then sold, used as mulch, used to clean windows (for handouts in parking lots or at lights), can be used to make a tent, or even toilet paper. Plus many other post reading uses.

      I have no idea how many employees they have but at minimum wage (not counting press operators and copy designers) it has to be more than a handful. Then there is the cost of electricity, presses aint cheap to operate. Have you priced ton rolls of raw news print?

    • Per week is about $4. With wages for all the employees, the raw paper stock rolls, electricity to run servers and presses, plus the reporters. Seems like a decent price for a SMALL daily regional paper with web access.

      • You should be able to get only the web access very cheap but the last time I checked it wasn’t worth it.

      • It’s $4 if you pay for the whole year in advance. 16 weeks comes out to be 6.50 a week. You would think they would offer a discounted deal for a month or 2 to see if you like it before you commit. Or offer Sunday only or Thu-Sun like the competition does.