It's a case of one family newspaper handing over to another, as Paxton Media acquires the North Vernon, Indianapolis, Plain Dealer & Sun from the King family.

Sara April of Dirks, Van Essen & April - which represented the King family - says having led the company since she moved back to her hometown in 1982, Barbara King has decided it's time to retire. She followed her father and then her mother as publisher and has served as editor twice.

The Plain Dealer & Sun has served Jennings County, Indiana since 1864 and has been published by the King family since 1954.

Barbara King says she and her husband John (Roche) have "reached that point in our lives where we need to step back from the daily grind.

"And in the local newspaper business, that 'daily' is just about that - every day."

With her two sisters, Susan and Madelon, she decided that the family-owned Paxton Media felt it was important to transfer ownership to a company that "shared many of the same goals and operating principles as ours".

Paxton Media Group, currently run by that family's fifth generation, is headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, and owns more than 70 newspapers across the Midwest and Southeast, including 13 dailies in Indiana.