Journal purchases Dolores newspaper

Journal purchases Dolores newspaper

April 5, 2001

The Cortez Journal has purchased the Dolores Star, a 1,200-circulation weekly, from Robin and Kelly Allmon, effective April 2.

Robin Allmon will join the Journal as head of its ad composition division. Kelly Allmon will continue to sell advertising for the Star. The Dolores Star office will remain open at its current location, staffed by Shirley Dennison as editor and Zea Beaver as sportswriter.

"When the Star came on the market, we believed it fit well into our family of publications," said Suzy Meyer, Journal general manager. The Journal also publishes the Mancos Times.

Meyer said that the Star would continue to be an active voice for the Dolores community, and readers of both publications would benefit from the increased coverage made possible by a larger news staff. "Shirley and Zea will broaden our perspective at the Journal, and we can bring some added resources into the picture for the Star."

Advertisers will now be able to purchase space in the Star, the Journal, the Times and the Durango Herald from one advertising rep, and discounts will be offered to merchants who advertise in more than one publication.

Home delivery for the Dolores Star will be instituted this summer.

The Dolores Star began as the Silver Star on April 1, 1897. The name was changed to Dolores Star around the turn of the century and remained through numerous ownership changes. The Allmons, who were named Dolores Citizens of the Year at the most recent Dolores Chamber of Commerce banquet, have owned the publication since 1997.

The newspaper’s history has been interwoven with that of its new parent company. Dennison, who began her first stint with the Dolores paper in 1964, has also worked as a Linotype operator for the Durango Herald and as a typesetter for the Cortez Journal.

Retired Journal editor Tommy Johnson owned the Star for a time in the 1950s, and between 1977 and 1980, it was owned by Lewis McCool, who is now online services manager for the Herald.

The Dolores Star has long been printed in the Journal printing plant.