SMITHFIELD -- The Observer, a weekly newspaper that has been a Greenville institution for a half-century, and its two sister publications, the North Star and the Sunrise, are being sold.
Thomas V. Ward, publisher of Breeze Publications, of Cumberland, said yesterday that he expects the deal to buy the Observer and North Star to become official at the end of the month.
Ward and his partner, James Quinn, publish the Valley Breeze, a weekly newspaper that covers Cumberland, Lincoln, Woonsocket, Blackstone, Mass., and North Smithfield. He said he is purchasing The Observer and the North Star, a free weekly that covers North Providence.
Ward said he intends to combine The Observer and the Valley Breeze and said it is likely that the new publication will be called The Valley Breeze & Observer.
In a separate deal, John Howell, of Beacon Communications in Warwick, who described himself as "president and publisher and janitor and a few other things," will take over the Sunrise, a free weekly in Johnston. Howell's flagship publication is the Warwick Beacon. He also publishes the Cranston Herald.
The Observer and its related weeklies are served by a common staff.
Laurence J. Sasso Jr., editor of The Observer, said the pending change was announced to his staff on Friday. Sasso, who is the official town poet of Smithfield, said he has been notified that his editorial job is being eliminated.
"I was told that I won't be editor, that they have their own." he said. "It happens every day in this business -- somebody buys you, and they've got their own staff." Sasso said he does not know whether he will be asked to stay aboard in another capacity.
Kimball W. Burgess, publisher of The Observer, said his newspaper employs about 15 full-time and the same number of part-time workers. He said decisions on staff changes would be made by the new owners.
Ward said he did not want to comment on possible changes at The Observer.
He said the newspaper has a paid circulation of around 3,900 copies. The North Star, he said, distributes about 5,000, and the Sunrise about 7,000.
Ward said that in March he will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Valley Breeze.
"When I told that to Kim Burgess, he said that was weird, because The Observer's 50th anniversary was coming around at the end of March," Ward said.
Burgess, who said he has been publisher of the Greenville weekly since the mid-1970s, said he will remain with the publication as a consultant.
"The timing was perfect," he said of the business deal. "It was good for me -- an opportunity for all of the staff going forward to be combined with Breeze Publications." He said he expects no substantial changes.
"The Observer will continue to publish," he said. "That's what he's buying."
Howell, too, said he foresees no immediate change looming for the Sunrise.
"We don't know the town that well at this point," he said. "The paper seems to be successful there. We want to see it continue. The plan is to keep it as a free publication."
He said the issue of staff changes can be answered by the end of this week. He said he has meetings scheduled for today to discuss that very topic.
"This came about pretty quickly," he said. "We came to a verbal agreement last week. What I'm doing right now is writing stories for tomorrow's paper." The Beacon publishes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "I'm going to get our own publications out before we take on another."
Howell said he had not planned to announce the acquisition in today's Beacon. But after receiving a telephone inquiry from The Providence Journal, he said, "Maybe I'd better."
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