Meeting about the fate of Press and Herald on Friday

A group of state lawmakers and state development leaders is slated to meet at 11:30 p.m. in the legislative office building in Hartford on Friday to talk about how the state might help a new owner take over The Bristol Press, the New Britain Herald and 11 weeklies threatened with closure by mid-January.
The first session, two weeks ago, was said by participants to have been fruitful. It is not clear what's been done in the days since.
There are at least a couple of potential buyers talking to the Pennsylvania-based Journal Register Co. and its broker about purchasing the papers, according to several sources in the community. But whether they'll reach a deal that can prevent the papers' closure is unclear.
The JRC is in dire financial shape. It also owns the New Haven Register, the Register-Citizen in Torrington, the Middletown Press, Connecticut magazine and a number of weeklies that are not slated to shut down soon.

Update at 9:30 p.m., Thursday -- The meeting is cancelled, mostly because of the possibility of snow Friday.

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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com