CINCINNATI, Ohio – The E.W. Scripps Company today announced that its newspaper in Evansville, Ind., The Evansville Courier, has acquired certain assets of The Evansville (Ind.) Press and on Jan. 1, 1999, will begin publishing as the Evansville Courier & Press. The Evansville Courier Co. has been serving as the business agent for The Evansville Press, which was published under a 59-year-old joint operating agreement between the two newspapers. The joint operating agreement expires on Dec. 31, 1998.The Courier has acquired certain assets of The Press, including its name and circulation list, from Hartmann Publications Inc. The terms of the acquisition are confidential.Robert Hartmann, owner of Hartmann Publications, announced separately today that The Press will cease publication as a separate afternoon edition when the joint operating agreement ends. Scripps announced in 1993 that it would not renew the agreement. “While it’s always a sad day to lose a fine newspaper like The Evansville Press, Scripps is determined that The Press’ tradition of editorial excellence and integrity will live on when the Evansville Courier & Press debuts in January,” said Alan M. Horton, Scripps senior vice president of newspapers. Horton also is a former managing editor of The Press.The Press was founded in 1906 by E.W. Scripps and remained a Scripps newspaper until the company, citing declining afternoon circulation, sold it to Hartmann in 1986. That same year Scripps, in a move to secure its holdings in the Evansville market, acquired The Courier from private owners.The Evansville Courier, a morning newspaper, has a circulation of 60,300 daily and 108,000 on Sunday. The Evansville Press, which does not publish a Sunday edition, has a daily circulation of 20,400.Vince Vawter, president and publisher of The Courier, said that beginning Jan. 1 the newspaper will expand the amount of space it dedicates to news coverage and will publish many of the comics and news features that now appear in The Press.”Our goal is to make this transition as comfortable as possible for Evansville newspaper readers,” Vawter said. “And, we plan to do all we can to encourage the Tri-State community to embrace the new Courier & Press as the region’s primary source for local news and information.” The E.W. Scripps Company operates 20 daily newspapers; nine network-affiliated television stations; two TV networks, Home & Garden Television and the Food Network; a TV programmer, Cinetel Productions; United Media, a worldwide syndicator and licensor of news features and comics; and publishes independent Yellow Pages directories.