 The paper has constantly jettisoned employees while seeing its circulation dwindle dramatically ever since the sale.Upon assumption of operations, on January 3, 2005 Paxton's executives fired 81 of the newspaper's approximately 350 employees, including president and publisher David Hughey and longtime executive editor, vice-president Bill Hawkins, award-winning photographer Ross Taylor, award-winning editorial cartoonist John Cole and longtime columnist Jim Wise.The firings were unexpected and abrupt, many employees being told they were fired upon returning from lunch, and then being escorted to the parking lot.