Fresh Loaf

Forget Dong Hoi, Vietnam, Vanuatu and East Timor. The Classic City made the paper’s list of “29 destinations to visit in 2009.” According to the article, Athens made the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations list. But :

… don’t think Athens is sleepy and all musty history. Athens touts itself as a great mix of hip — home of the B-52s and R.E.M. — and history, with 15 neighborhoods on the historic preservation list.

I’m all for pimping Athens in the national spotlight (Go Dawgs!), but the B-52s and R.E.M.? Why must every reference to present day Athens reference a 20-year-old music scene? What about the incredible restaurants (ahem, the National, the Grit)? Current music (Cough, cough, Venice is Sinking, Of Montreal, We Versus the Shark)? Or badass events (Twilight Criterium, AthFest)?

Definitely visit Athens, but please don’t expect the Michael Stipe Welcome Wagon when you arrive.

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This is big.

The Tribune Co. is the country’s second-largest publisher of newspapers behind Gannett. (And following the break-up of Knight-Ridder.) The company owns some of the most venerated brand names in print journalism: the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and Orlando Sentinel.

Like Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, Tribune is heavily invested in broadcasting, with two dozens TV and radio stations across the country. But it also owns plenty of other things most publishing companies don’t mess with, such as a sport franchise (Chicago Cubs), a ball park (Wrigley Field) and a cable sports network.

This afternoon, the NYT reports that Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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