Newspaper ownership changes

As of July 1, the North Forty News has new publishers who will continue the newspaper's 18-year history of independent, local ownership.

The new owners, Doug Conarroe and Dana Coffield, have been reading the North Forty News since 2002, when they bought and restored two historic cabins in Red Feather Lakes and learned to love the Larimer County building and zoning codes and their influence on old houses balanced on granite boulders.

In the process, they also began to explore the awe-inspiring landscapes and diverse communities that make up the newspaper's circulation area. They've stood near the Pawnee Buttes and listened to the silence rushing in their ears, shivered watching sled-dog races on Cameron Pass, and always look forward to seeing the new graffiti scrawled on Haystack Rock north of LaPorte.

The publishers for the past 16 years, Mike and JoAn Bjarko, are excited about putting the future of the North Forty News into capable, experienced hands. "We could not have written a better description of the perfect buyers for our newspaper," JoAn Bjarko said.

Both Conarroe and Coffield are lifelong journalists and Colorado natives who qualify for Pioneer license plates.

Conarroe grew up in a newspaper family that owned the community weeklies in Louisville, Lafayette and Erie. He was a photographer at the Longmont Daily Times-Call and then managed the family newspapers for six years before becoming director of student publications at Metropolitan State College in Denver. He worked at The Denver Post for five years and was most recently the assistant managing editor for online content at The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.

Coffield began her career at the Times-Call and has worked as a staff writer at the Northern Colorado Business Report and for the Associated Press in Cheyenne and Denver. She was assistant business editor at the Rocky Mountain News, and joined The Denver Post in 2003, where she was founding editor of the Colorado Sunday section. The section specialized in pointing out interesting, if under-appreciated, destinations in the state. She is now city editor of the newspaper and writes the Outside Voice column in the garden section.

"Dana and I are thrilled to continue Mike and JoAn's longstanding commitment to covering community news in northern Colorado," said Conarroe.

"We've done our fair share of poking around in northern Colorado, and it's exciting to be in the position to really start learning about the communities around the locations we've come to love as weekend warriors," said Coffield. "Professional opportunities like this are rare, and we're glad to have the chance to be involved in covering a region where the issues are as interesting as the landscape."

The former publishers will be moving back to their native state of Montana, where they have purchased the Bjarko family farm. It's located in Daniels County, in northeastern Montana, 700 miles north of here. The third-generation owners hope to be settled into their new routine before the snow flies and temperatures dip to minus 40.

The new publishers are retaining the North Forty News staff. The office will remain in Kintzley Plaza in LaPorte. Visitors are welcome.