The Day the McKinney Courier-Gazette Got Bought By Some Yankees

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Who says the newspaper business is dead (well, besides, like, everybody)?

Don't tell that to the folks over at American Community Newspapers, the Minnesota-based publisher of 16 papers in the North Texas area -- including the Plano Star Courier, McKinney Courier-Gazette, Frisco Enterprise and Mesquite News. (The North Texas papers are collectively published under the Star Community Newspapers banner.) Yesterday, the company -- which owns a combined 73 papers in the Twin Cities, suburban Washington and the DeeEffDub -- sold for a healthy $165 mil (with a $15- to $21-mil bonus, should the papers make their numbers) to Courtside Acquisition Corporation of New York.

And why did the Yankees wanna snatch up these small-town papers? (And, yeah, before you say something, I do know who owns the paper version of Unfair Park.) Because, says CAC's press release, "ACN is focused on providing high quality, local editorial content to its readers and targeted advertising packages to local and national advertisers." And to think: The 73 papers in the chain only reach a combined 875,000 readers in small towns located near major cities served, or not, by big dailies who'd love 'em a taste of that $165 million. --Robert Wilonsky