RUST COMMUNICATIONS BUYS TWO NEWSPAPERS IN INDIANA

GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- Pathfinder Communications Inc. of Elkhart, Ind., Monday announced the sale of the Greencastle BannerGraphic, a 5,800-circulation, six-day daily newspaper, and the Spectrum, a 6,500-circulation companion weekly newspaper, to Concord Publishing House Inc., a subsidiary of Rust Communications Inc. of Cape Girardeau.

Randy List, who will become part-owner of the Greencastle newspapers, is being named publisher effective today. Gary Rust, Rust Communications president, and Wally Lage, a former Indiana resident and chief operating officer of Rust Communications, are also investors in the property.

Rust Communications is a family newspaper group that has grown from four Missouri daily newspapers six years ago to 11 daily newspapers, 25 weekly operations and several printing companies in seven states. This is Rust Communications' first acquisition in Indiana.

List has been a publisher-in-training and advertising-circulation-composing manager with the Crawfordsville (Ind.) Journal Review for the past nine years. "It's great to have the opportunity to not only become publisher of this newspaper but also to have the opportunity for ownership." List said. "Now that most newspapers are owned by giant chains, it is unusual for a newspaper to return to local ownership and control, and I am thrilled to be part of this process."

Steve Hendershot, general manager and advertising manager for the BannerGraphic the past 21 years, will continue in that position. No other major personnel changes are anticipated.

Among the first projects for the newspaper, List said, is to completely modernize the prepress areas with state-of-the-art equipment. "It will be an exciting time for our folks as several crates of new equipment have already arrived at the plant." List said.