More US community dailies have been changing hands, most recently with high school classmates Scott Wesner and Scott Wood adding to their portfolio.

Kansas Newspapers has sold them dailies the Parsons Sun and the Chanute Tribune, seen as a strategic add-on as the duo also own the nearby Independence Reporter.

The Parsons and Independence newspapers are among the oldest in southeast Kansas, established in 1871 and 1881 respectively, while the Chanute Tribune was founded in 1892.

Other newspapers recently acquired by Wood and Wesner include the Frederick (OK) Press-Leader, the Altus (OK) Times, and the Mangum (OK) Star, all I Oklahoma – bought last August – and six newspapers in Texas, acquired from Roberts Publishing.

Wesner and Wood graduated from high school together in Cordell, Oklahoma. Wesner, who now lives in Texas, has been in newspaper publishing for more than 25 years, buying his first newspaper with his brother Brett, when he was 21 years old. Wood started in the newspaper business in 1997 in West Texas and in 2003 moved to Muenster, Texas, acquiring newspapers in that area.

Dirks, Van Essen & April, who represented Kansas Newspapers – terms of which were not disclosed – has also reported the sale to Multi Media Channels of media properties from Delphos Herald and the Cohen family, which they also represented.

The purchase included the Vilas County News Review, Three Lakes News, and Northwoods Trader in Eagle River, Wisconsin, Iron County Reporter and Reporter Shoppers' Guide in Iron River, Michigan; and Central Wisconsin Reporter and Waushara Argus in Wautoma, Wisconsin.

MMC chief executive Patrick Wood said his company would strengthen and enrich the community by continuing to provide strong reporting and powerful advertising options. “It is our intention to sustain the Cohen family's legacy through the years to come by maintaining, and if possible exceeding, the high standards of journalistic integrity and customer service they set during their tenure,” he said.

Financial consultant Thomas Wood credited financial partner Nicolet National Bank, with whom the relationship had been invaluable.

Roberta Cohen – whose family has owned the Vilas County News-Review, Waushara Argus and Iron County Reporter for many years – is selling following the death of her father, Murray Cohen in December 2021. “He was proud to be associated with the incredible newspaper professionals that work at each of these newspapers,” she said.

MMC has been publishing community newspapers since 1953, starting in Denmark, Wisconsin under the leadership of Frank Wood. Still owned by Wood family member, the company publishing 31 weekly and four monthly print mastheads and 28 digital channels that serve the central, northern, and eastern regions of Wisconsin.