Happy Birthday   

A year-and-a-half after purchasing the Salt Lake Tribune and on his 51st birthday, MediaNews Group CEO William Dean Singleton takes control of the paper and names himself publisher.

MediaNews Group CEO William Dean Singleton takes control of a paper his company purchased more than a year-and-a-half ago, naming himself publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune on August 1, his 51st birthday. He replaces Dominic Welch, 69, who, along with Editorial Page Editor Randy Frisch, 43, had tried to buy the paper before Singleton beat them to it. Frisch is now working for the McCarthey family, owners of Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co., whose five-year management contract expired at midnight on July 31. The family is continuing its legal fight to buy the Tribune under a purchase option. Singleton, who is also publisher of the Denver Post, says he'll make the one-hour commute to Salt Lake in his private plane. "There's a lot of work to be done there and I didn't want to work through anybody," he says. In addition to hiring a new editorial page editor, the Tribune will add some reporters, Singleton says, including a Washington correspondent.