Lee stock hits new low

Lee stock closed at 35 cents today. During the day, it hit a new low: 34 cents. The previous low was 36 cent. Is there some sort of prize if it hits a quarter? I didn't think so.

No union at Pantagraph

Employees at The Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill., voted that they would not unionize. A memo is posted on the Lee site; nothing has been posted yet on the Pantagraph Union site. Interesting enough, as I learned from an employee at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Lee's memo was e-mailed to all Post-Dispatch employees this afternoon. Post-Dispatch employees are organized under the St. Louis Newspaper Guild. 

Classy, Lee. I'm sure if the results had been different, no memo would have been sent out.

Let me know of shenanigans and announcements at your paper: lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Retirees protest benefit cuts at St. Louis Post-Dispatch

It sounds like there was some excitement at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday morning. CEO Mary Junck made a trip to the paper and was greeted by protestors. The St. Louis Fox station has a story and video; a group of retirees were protesting cuts made to their health benefits. 

Lee stock falls 18 percent

On the day that the New York Times announced it was borrowing against its own building and Tribune Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Lee stock closed at 50 cents a share. 

La Crosse Tribune editor moves to Wisconsin State Journal

La Crosse Tribune editor John Smalley is heading to the Wisconsin State Journal next month, replacing Ellen Foley. Foley resigned in October.

HuffPo vs. Lee

The Huffington Post is worth more than Lee Enterprises.

Lee ended the week trading at 61 cents a share.

For sale: Lee Lodge; jet not included

What's going on up at the "Lee Lodge"? The Billings Blog found it back in August -- for sale.

It looks like Lambros Real Estate still has the Polson, Mont., lodge listed for $4.5 million. (A motivated seller might've dropped the price in the last four months.) That includes 6 acres on Flathead Lake, adjacent to the Polson golf course. There are five houses, three cabins, a duplex, indoor pool, tennis court, a conference center and a maintenance shop.

I'm not sure if Lee still has its corporate jet. In 2006, a Cessna Citation Excel was registered to Lee. That 13-seat plane (serial number 560-5628, N-number 890LE ) is now registered to Blackwell Aviation in Davenport, Iowa. That plane flew from the Spirit of St. Louis Airport to the Quad City International Airport 11 days ago. A trip from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch back to headquarters, perhaps? Looking at past flight activity, it looks like almost all of the flights correspond to a Lee paper. (Maybe it's time to learn a lesson from Detroit's automakers?)

Priority check: Lee funds social media provider

An interesting story was sent to me from The Port regarding its funding. The Port is a "leading social media solutions provider" and has raise $4.1 million thanks to investors that include Lee Enterprises.

From its website, The Port links (several times) to a social network at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The $4.1 million question: How can Lee afford to help fund The Port when letters just went out about cutting retiree health care, speculation about bankruptcy and layoffs abound, and it's stock is worth less than a copy of the Sunday paper?