Hastily shut daily could face legal recourse

Posted by Emily Dilling on July 10, 2009 at 10:20 AM

The closure of Claremont New Hampshire's The Eagle Times will be investigated by state authorities, The Associated Press reported. In an e-mail sent Thursday, the publisher announced to employees that Friday's edition would be the paper's last.

Officials will be taking steps to establish whether the closure is an infraction of a New Hampshire state law that stipulates employers must give employees a 60-day notice before shutting their business, according to the article, posted by Editor & Publisher.

The closure will put 120 employees out of a job.

The Union Leader reported that the state's Rapid Response Team would be made available to assist laid off workers and their families.

"We did our best to continue the operations, but the economy and the changes in the newspaper industry have made it impossible to continue this business," the memo, sent by Harvey Hill, company president stated. Eagle Publications, which also includes three other weekly publications, will file for bankruptcy today, according to the memo, the Union Leader reported.