DENVER -- One-hundred-fifty years of Colorado newspaper history ended Friday with the publication of the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News.

The owners of the Rocky Mountain News announced Thursday that Colorado's oldest newspaper was closing.

"Goodbye, Colorado," read the headline on a 52-page commemorative edition wrapping the regular newspaper. "STOP THE PRESSES," read the front-page headline inside.

The special section highlighted some of the newspaper's best work, including Pulitzer Prize-winning stories and photos.

The final edition had a print run of about 350,000 copies, up from the regular daily circulation of 210,000 and 457,000 on Saturdays, when the Rocky also went to Denver Post subscribers as well.

Now the Denver Post will be the only daily newspaper in town, and will be delivered to Rocky's subscribers until their subscription ends.

The Rocky was not only Colorado's first newspaper, but the oldest business in the state. It has been a fixture since 1859.

The paper's editor and publisher John Temple spoke to other journalists today at the luncheon for the Colorado Press Association.

He told them to embrace the digital age and confront problems early on.

Questions about the future of the Rocky Mountain News had become so common, the newspaper's staff put up a handwritten paper sign on the news desk that said, "We don't know."

On Thursday, someone wrote over it in heavy black marker: "Now we know."

The E.W. Scripps Co., which has owned the Rocky since 1926, said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last year and the company was unable to find a viable buyer since announcing a sale Dec. 4.

"Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver, becomes a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges," Scripps CEO Rich Boehne said Thursday.

The state Senate paused Friday morning to lament the closing and applauded one of the Rocky's statehouse reporters, Ed Sealover, who had stepped into the chamber.

Republican state Sen. Shawn Mitchell, one of the Senate's most vocal debaters, said he wouldn't even try to be eloquent.

"It's sad. I'm sad. Goodbye Rocky Mountain News," he said.

Rocky Is Largest Newspaper To Fail In This Recession

The Rocky is the latest -- and largest -- newspaper to fail in a recession that has been especially brutal for the industry amid falling ad revenue.

Four owners of 33 U.S. daily newspapers have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the past 2 1/2 months. A number of other newspapers are up for sale.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors announced Friday it was canceling its annual convention, scheduled for April, so newspapers can save money and focus on surviving the recession. The last time the group canceled was during the final months of World War II in 1945.

Since its first edition on April 23, 1859, the Rocky has covered the Civil War, Colorado statehood, the Ludlow Massacre, the Columbine High School shootings and the Oklahoma City bombing trial. It survived a devastating flood in 1864 and competition from as many as five newspapers at a time.

A circulation war with The Post in the 1980s and 1990s proved costly, and in 2000 the rivals announced they would pool their business operations in a joint operating agreement between Scripps and The Post's owner, MediaNews Group Inc. The deal took effect in 2001.

Staffers Play Music At Own Funeral

In the newsroom Thursday, News editors chose a photo for the front page of the final edition as Publisher and Editor John Temple hugged a tearful photographer.

In another corner, interactive producer Duncan Taylor blared an aria from "The Magic Flute" from his computer, a running dig at photographer Judy DeHaas' cell phone ring.

Dennis Schroeder, a Rocky photographer for 25 years, said some of his colleagues were angry but others were relieved that Scripps executives decided on the newspaper's fate after weeks of uncertainty.

"It's hard losing the best job in the world," he said.

"It's very rare that you get to play the music at your own funeral, so you want to make sure you do it well," Temple said.

Employees gathered outside the newsroom to open a 1985 time capsule cut out of a wall. It contained copies of the Rocky and Post, a book of employee signatures, a map of Denver and books from Rocky cartoonist Ed Stein and the late columnist Gene Amole. The capsule read: "To be opened in April 2059 on RMN's 200th anniversary."

Scripps' Boehne said the News' 230 editorial employees would be paid through April 28. The Post said it will hire 10 News staffers, including five columnists, four reporters and the editorial page editor.

One of those reporters, Lynn Bartels, said she would miss sitting beside her News colleagues. "The Rocky is the most amazing family," she said.

Bartels held a box of tissues over her head and called out, "This is for everybody."

"It's hard to sit there and not shed a few tears while you're writing your last story," said reporter April Washington.

Washington remembers delivering the Rocky as a child. Back then, it was a constant presence. She could not have dreamed it would end.

"I can remember the smell of the ink in the morning at 5 a.m. when we were rolling the paper and getting ready to throw it," Washington said.

"To think that poof, in one second, it's all gone. That's unreal to me," said columnist Penny Parker.

On Friday at 5 p.m., employees badges will be deactivated and computers shut off.

Scripps said only one potential buyer came forward for the Rocky, "and that party was unable to present a viable plan." That buyer had never been in the publishing business but found the idea of owning a newspaper attractive, Boehne said. That interested party eventually backed away several weeks ago, he said.

"They're aren't a lot of lookers for newspapers. There are lot of newspapers for sale -- and a lot that will be a lot easier and cleaner to buy," Boehne said.

Readers React

The newspaper closes just 55 days short of its 150th anniversary. Readers can't help but mourn the loss.

"Good grief -- that's a piece of heritage we're losing," said Diane Scott, 56, of suburban Englewood.

Mike Hankinson, 25, of Denver blamed the format. "It's the paper. People go online now," he said.

"I know that the economy is one of the reasons but someone should have bought the newspaper," said Robert Vigil.

"Unfortunately, it's a sign of the times. The days of the cart and buggy went way to the car. We mourned them back in those days, yet now everybody drives," said Doug Labout.

Scripps said it will retain ownership, and still offers to sell the Rocky Mountain News name and the newspaper's archives and Web site.

Ed Atorino, a newspaper industry analyst at The Benchmark Co., said that indicates the Rocky could become an online-only venture at some point.

"Online newspapers seem to be doing pretty well," he said. "It's a very low-cost business."

However, Boehne's words Thursday indicated that it isn't currently in the plans.

"Our intention is to leave the market completely... Once we unwind the partnership (with JOA) we will be completely out of Denver," Boehne said.

Online ads make up less than 10 percent of the newspaper's total revenue.

The publisher of the New Haven (Conn.) Register and the owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News filed separate bankruptcy cases last weekend.

Tribune Co., whose stable includes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy protection in December. The owners of the Minneapolis Star Tribune filed in January.

Hearst Corp. said this week it will close or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if it can't slash expenses, and the company has laid out plans to close the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if a buyer isn't found before April.

Gannett Co. is looking for a buyer for the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. The Sacramento Bee also announced big layoffs Friday.

"It seems like every year we're losing something else that we used to have made seattle special. It used to be that if you owned the printing press and the delivery trucks, that's what made you powerful. Now that cost structure is an albatross around the neck on journalism," said author Jeff Jarvis.

Since Jan. 1, more than 20 newspapers in cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit have gone into bankruptcy or merged.

The last major American newspaper to close was the Dallas Times Herald in 1991, said Ken Doctor, an industry analyst with OutSell Inc.

Subscribers To Get Denver Post Now

Since 2001, the Rocky has shared business operations with The Denver Post in a joint operating agreement between Scripps and The Post's owner, MediaNews Group Inc.

MediaNews said Rocky Mountain News subscribers will get The Post for the length of their subscriptions and The Post will return to seven-day publication starting Saturday. Under the JOA, The Post published Sunday through Friday and the News published Monday through Saturday.

The 14,000 people who received both newspapers, and those who subscribed to the Rocky and don't want to get the Post, will get refunds.

"The Rocky will forever be remembered for its vital role in the city's history and the city's success," said William Dean Singleton, chairman and publisher of The Post and CEO of MediaNews. "Although we competed intensely, the talented staff of the Rocky earned our respect with each morning's edition."

Singleton has said Denver could support only one newspaper. "I'm not just confident that we'll survive. We will survive," he insisted Thursday.

He acknowledges the difficulty his paper now faces but said all media, including local TV news, is feeling the pinch now.

"Your ad revenue's down more than ours is but you don't talk about it on television everyday. The radio industry's revenue's down more than ours but they don't broadcast it everyday. We seem to write about it everyday, which is just what we do," Singleton said.

Scripps said it has been working with MediaNews on "a plan to unwind the partnership" since mid-January, the deadline for offers.

The future of the Denver Newspaper Agency, the entity that handles the two newspapers' business operations, was unclear. The agency is a 50-50 partnership of the News and The Post. It employs about 1,800 people.

Scripps and MediaNews Group also are partners in Prairie Mountain Publishing, which publishes the Daily Camera and Colorado Daily in Boulder, the Broomfield Enterprise and other Colorado newspapers. Scripps said it would transfer its 50 percent interest in Prairie Mountain to MediaNews later this year.

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