Ballantine Communications Inc., the parent company of The Cortez Journal, completed the purchase of the Pine River Times from Melanie and Robert Mazur on Monday.

Bayfield’s weekly newspaper becomes Ballantine Communications’ fifth Southwest Colorado newspaper, joining the Cortez Journal, Mancos Times, Dolores Star and Durango Herald. The company also includes Ballantine Digital Media and DirectoryPlus.

The Pine River Times will continue to be published each Friday, and will remain based at its office on 110 E. Mill St. in downtown Bayfield. Mazur will stay on as managing editor.

“First and foremost, we will keep the identity of the Pine River Times and make sure it stays focused on Bayfield, Ignacio and the surrounding area,” Ballantine Communications CEO Doug Bennett said.

The Pine River Times has a print circulation of approximately 1,600. An electronic edition reaches another 300 readers, with some overlap.

Home delivery will be offered to some Times subscribers.

The news department is staffed by Mazur and longtime staff writer Carole McWilliams. McWilliams also will be asked to stay.

Mazur said Bennett approached her in early fall to gauge her interest in selling, and presented a fair offer.

“I’ve viewed myself as caretaker of the community paper, and I believe this was the best opportunity to continue and grow,” Mazur said.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Ballantine Communications is privately held.

Bennett said Ballantine Communications will use its resources to offer more and better video, digital and mobile content to Times readers. He added that the Times will be able to publish the Herald’s news content, and vice versa.

“We will of course share our content with (Mazur), and she will of course pick the content that works best for her community,” he said.

The Pine River Times was founded in 1985 by Stephen and Lynda Cannon. Ann McCoy purchased the paper from them in 1987 and ran it until 2002, when Mazur and her husband, Robert, purchased it.

At the time the Mazurs purchased the Times, the Missionary Ridge Fire was burning. More recently, Bayfield readers were captivated by the story of Dylan Redwine, a 13-year-old boy who was found dead near Vallecito Reservoir after a seven-month search.

The Times often publishes front-page stories about youths’ accomplishments.

“If it’s about our kids and the positive contributions they make, a lot of times that’s front-page news, and I don’t apologize for that,” Mazur said. “For a lot of us, that’s why we live in a small town.”

With the Times’ acquisition, Ballantine Communications grows its already significant footprint in Southwest Colorado. Despite the possible savings, Bennett said he’s not interested in combining the properties into one news organization.

“It’s been shown over and over that you lose some of your audience, and we’re just not willing to pursue that at this point,” he said.

Ballantine Communications changed its name from Durango Herald Inc. in January 2013. That same month, Montezuma Valley Publishing Inc. merged with Durango Herald Inc.

Bennett was named CEO on July 31, 2013, succeeding longtime Publisher Richard Ballantine. Ballantine remains the company’s board chairman, and he continues to write editorials for the Herald.

Bennett said acquiring the Pine River Times made sense for Ballantine Communications to follow growth taking place between Durango and Bayfield.

“I could see that Durango is a growing community, and it continues to grow its population, and most of that growth is south of Durango and heading toward Bayfield,” he said. “Many of our subscribers live there and work in Durango. You want to be part of where that growth is happening.”

cslothower@durangoherald.com