Meanwhile, how are things at the other newspaper?

From Jerry Berger:

PRESSING ON: Money's been tight at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - so tight that the company is considering removing the free bottled water provided in water coolers that almost everyone uses. Top managers think that it could save Lee Enterprises $13,000 a year. Yet, it could take much more than that to resort to water fountains. Earlier construction work has blocked pipes that would have to be repaired to power up the fountains. And, with the epidemic of swine flu, who's going to want to use the fountains anyway? Speaking of construction, Post-Dispatch publisher Kevin Mowbray has spent more than $160,000 to outfit his new office on the sixth floor. Costs include $48,500 for his private bathroom, that includes black fixtures. More than $2,000 was paid to install light switches. Then, there is the matter of a plasma, wide-screen television price-tagged at about $3,000. Finally, after repeatedly changing the paint color in his office, using at least 30 gallons, the color is now almost identical to the original color. All that at the same time Mowbray has ordered layoffs of more than 70 employees in low-paying positions at the city's daily.

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