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"War all comes down to these little tiny stories about people's lives that will never be the same." -- Eugene Richards

If the Honolulu Star-Bulletin doesn't find a buyer, its merger with The Honolulu Advertiser will likely wrap up this summer under a process that will result in layoffs and a name change for The Advertiser reflecting the consolidation, those involved in the sale say.
But yesterday, a day after Star-Bulletin owner David Black stunned Hawai'i's journalism community with news he was purchasing The Advertiser, it was still unclear how many would be laid off and how the papers would be combined.
Two things did appear certain yesterday.
The newspaper will sport a new name but retain the Advertiser's size. Star Bulletin publisher Dennis Francis said the Star-Bulletin's tabloid size will be scrapped.
Black said that the name of the combined newspaper will reflect both dailies. "We think a combination of the two names makes sense," he said. He couldn't yet say what that combination would be.
Lee Webber, publisher of The Advertiser, said he doesn't think readers will see any changes in the pages of the newspaper because of the purchase, even after the new owners step in.
"We will continue to put out the quality product that we've been putting out," he said. "I think that will continue even after the change" in ownership.
Black "knows what he's doing," Webber said.
Webber gave Black and Francis a tour yesterday of The Advertiser's printing facility in Kapolei, which was built for $82 million and opened in 2004.
Also yesterday, more details surfaced on the year-long discussions that led up to Gannett Co.'s sale of The Advertiser to its Honolulu competitor, Oahu Publications, which owns the Star-Bulletin. In an interview, Black said he approached Gannett and "said the obvious — (Star-Bulletin) revenues are down and we'd like to restructure the market."
Black, chairman of Oahu Publications, said Gannett initially was not interested.
The financial terms of the sale have not been released.
900 workers affected
Black has expressed doubt the Star-Bulletin will find a buyer. No potential buyers have come forward so far, officials said yesterday.
If the Star-Bulletin is not sold in four to eight weeks, Oahu Publications will move to consolidate the newspapers — a process expected to wrap up by late summer and result in layoffs at both dailies. The Advertiser, with a weekday circulation of about 130,000, has 600 full- and part-time employees, while the Star-Bulletin has 300.
There are about 120 people in The Advertiser's newsroom. The Star-Bulletin, with a circulation of about 60,000, has about 75 editorial employees.
Francis said yesterday he couldn't estimate how many people will be laid off at either newspaper if the two are consolidated.
He also said that once the sale of The Advertiser to Oahu Publications closes — in approximately six to eight weeks — the company will be able to get more information on the newspaper's employees.
"Until we get a chance to interview people and find out exactly what their responsibilities are, we can't really determine the numbers that we're going to need," Francis said. "That will ... be determined probably after the close of the sale."
Black also would not estimate how many employees at the newspapers could face layoffs, saying it's too early to tell how many workers a consolidated newspaper would need.
"Down the road, we'll be able to get into The Advertiser and start talking to folks and then figure out how we'll integrate things, if it comes to that," he said yesterday.
Francis added that the work of combining the newspapers can't start yet, since it's unclear whether the Star-Bulletin will be purchased. If it is, he said, any work to coordinate a merger would have been a waste. "We'll continue to operate" normally, he said.
Plans still up in air
Representatives from the Hawai'i Newspaper and Printing Trades Council, which represents Advertiser and Star-Bulletin employees, met yesterday to form a plan on how to move forward. The council also met with Advertiser management yesterday, and is seeking a sit-down with Star-Bulletin management to get more details on potential changes.
"There will be layoffs. One of our goals is to make sure we preserve all the jobs we possibly can," said Wayne Cahill, spokesman for the council and administrative officer of the Hawai'i Newspaper Guild. He added that employees at both newspapers have little information on how secure their jobs are and when they'll be told of potential layoffs.
He also said there are continuing questions about benefits and wages. "We just don't have those answers right now," he said.
Francis said that Star-Bulletin employees have expressed "mixed emotions" about the sale. "They feel very excited. They're concerned," Francis said. "There's no conclusion as to where it's (the Star-Bulletin) going to end up."
Webber, The Advertiser's publisher since 2007, said he isn't sure what he'll do when the newspaper's sale is complete. He said he may retire, but is also looking at other options.
If the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser merge, Honolulu will become one of a growing number of American cities with only one newspaper — a future many have fought against. In response to those concerns, Francis said that if it weren't for Black, Honolulu would have become a one-newspaper town years ago, when the Star-Bulletin was near closure.
"I guess nothing lasts forever," Francis said.
Black purchased the Star-Bulletin in 2001.
Since then the newspaper has struggled, shedding employees, freezing wages and converting to a tabloid format to save money. The Advertiser, though on firmer financial footing, also has been hit hard by the recession and decreased ad revenues and has reduced staff, cut pay and shrunk the size of its newspaper to cut costs.
Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- State Sen. Capri Cafaro's father admitted Monday that he skirted federal campaign finance law by hiding an illegal contribution to his daughter's unsuccessful 2004 bid for Congress.
Federal prosecutors accused former Youngstown mall developer John Cafaro of concealing a $10,000 loan to the campaign. They charged him Monday with making a false statement in connection with the loan, an offense that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Cafaro's attorney Ralph Cascarilla said his client takes responsibility for his actions and plans to plead guilty.
"Although I wanted to help my daughter in her campaign, I made a mistake for which I am solely responsible," Cafaro said in a written statement. "As the investigation has determined, my daughter was not involved in any way."
Capri Cafaro also said Monday afternoon that she was not involved in the loan transaction. She said she learned during the investigation that the recipient was her former campaign chairman B.J. Schuerger, who is now a lobbyist in Columbus.
Schuerger's attorney John Climaco said his client did not violate the law in accepting the loan from John Cafaro. "Unfortunately Mr. Cafaro failed to report the loan," Climaco said.
Capri Cafaro said her father has made a habit of doing things and not telling her, "particularly things that he thinks I would not be supportive of."
Ethical questions have dogged Capri Cafaro in the past, but she doesn't think this latest incident will harm her political career because she has faith people will see her as an effective legislator.
"People will judge me as Capri first and a Cafaro second," she said.
The charge against John Cafaro states that in 2004 "he caused the responsible official of the Capri Cafaro for Congress Committee to file with the FEC a quarterly report that falsely stated that he had contributed only $2,000 for the general election campaign," knowing he had also given a $10,000 loan to a member of the campaign staff.
The maximum any person can contribute to a federal candidate or an authorized committee was $2,000 for a general election and $2,000 for a primary election.
The charge against John Cafaro is not his first go-around with federal prosecutors. In 2002, he was fined $150,000 and placed on probation for bribing former U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant.
Prosecutors sought leniency for John Cafaro because he cooperated in their case against Traficant, who was convicted of corruption and sentenced to eight years in prison.
John Cafaro extended favors to Traficant expecting the congressman to help Cafaro's USAerospace obtain runway-lighting system contracts from the military. The company later folded.
Capri Cafaro received immunity from prosecution during the Traficant investigation. She would later say she accepted the immunity on the advice of her attorney, but that she "didn't need immunity protection for anything."
Capri Cafaro lost the 2004 election in the 14th District to incumbent Republican Steve LaTourette. She then sought the Democratic nomination for the 13th District seat in 2006 but lost to Betty Sutton, despite spending more than $1 million of her own money.
Ohio Democrats later in the year appointed her to the state senate seat vacated by Marc Dann, who was elected attorney general. In 2009, Cafaro became the senate minority leader.
While Capri Cafaro's political opponents might try and make hay out of her father's transgression, it's not likely to do much damage to her because people understand how one family member might want to help another, said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
"It would be a much more serious problem potentially, if it had been someone unrelated to her," Green said, especially someone who does business with the federal government or a lobbyist.
Green also said he finds it credible that Capri Cafaro would not have known about the loan, even though it was given by her father to her campaign manager. As a full-time candidate, she would have been relying on others to handle various details of her campaign, he said.