Las Cruces Sun-News
Newspaper in Las Cruces, New Mexico
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Las Cruces Sun-News, founded in 1881,[2] is a daily newspaper published in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
| |
 Front page of Las Cruces Sun-News on July 25, 2008 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | USA Today Co. |
| Founder | James A. Spradling |
| Editor | Jessica Onsurez (2023-present)[1] |
| Founded | 1881 (as the Rio Grande Republican) [2] |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Circulation | 22,646 Daily 23,917 Sunday (as of 2011)[3] |
| ISSN | 1081-2172 |
| Website | lcsun-news |
History
On May 21, 1881, the Rio Grande Republican was first published.[4] It was founded by James A. Spradling.[5] The Republican at different times was owned by H.D. Bowman and J.F Bonham. In 1911, Allen J. Papen sold the paper to Orrin A. Foster.[6] The paper's name was soon shortened to the Rio Grande Republic.[7]
In 1917, Mrs. Josephine Foster sold the Republic to Seymour E. Bronson and his two sons Daniel and David. The three owned The Mining Journal in Clifton, Arizona.[8] In 1923, the Bronson family merged the Republic with Organized Farming, published by the Dona Ana County Farm Bureau, to form the Rio Grande Farmer.[9] In 1934, the Bronsons expanded the Farmer into a daily and renamed it to the Las Cruces Daily News.[10]
In 1937, Morris J. Boretz and Edwin D. Minteer founded a rival paper called the Las Cruces Sun.[11] In March 1939, the Sun owners acquired the Daily News from David Bronson. The two papers were merged to form the Las Cruces Sun-News.[12] A month later, Wallace Perry bought the paper from Boretz and Minteer.[13] After a few days, on the day ownership was to officially be transferred, Minteer re-acquired the paper from Perry.[14] Perry later announced he had gotten sick and reached an agreement to re-purchase the paper on a later date.[15]
Perry owned the Sun-News for seven years. In 1946, he sold it to Orville E. Priestley and James H. Skewes, owners of the Artesia Advocate.[16][17] In 1956, the two sold off the Advocate to a rival publisher.[18] In 1958, Skewes died,[19] and a year later his widow sold their company stock to Priestley.[20] In 1967, Priestley died.[21] In 1970, his widow Opal Lee Priestley sold the Sun-News to Worrell Enterprises Inc.[22]
In 1989, Garden State Newspapers, a subsidiary of MediaNews Group, acquired the paper. At that time circulation was 20,000.[23] The Sun-News later became part of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, a joint venture formed in 2003 between MediaNews Group and Gannett, with MediaNews Group the managing partner.[24] In 2015, Gannett acquired full ownership of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership.[25] Since 2023, Jessica Onsurez has served as news director for Sun-News and the other Gannett-owned papers in New Mexico.[26]
