Private group plans to save dying Bastrop newspaper

Stop the presses. After 118 years, the Bastrop Daily Enterprise will cease production. The paper is closing its doors due to shrinking advertising markets locally and nationally.

"It's pretty sad. This was my first real job where I got to experience my writing make it to print. And so, I've really grown a lot through it. So it's kind of bittersweet to see it go, but I know it'll be something else out there," said Bastrop Daily Enterprise reporter Brittany Wilson.

Losing the local paper tugged at the heartstrings of thousands of people in Bastrop, particularly Mayor Henry Cotton. Cotton was a former paperboy growing up.

"I had a route. I would take the papers and I would fold them, and tuck them, and ride our bikes and throw them," said Cotton.

What seems like the end of the road, might actually be the start of something new. Some private citizens now plan to buy the newspaper.

"Newspapers are in trouble nationwide, but with that being said we want to have a publication and we want to call it the Bastrop Daily Enterprise," said Cotton.

Mayor Cotton has served as a facilitator for the group. He hopes a deal will be finalized by next week.

"It's a little bit more than a possibility now. We hope to have a deal done where we can continue to publish the Enterprise weekly at first and hopefully one day we may be able to go Wednesday and Saturday and make it a two-day a week paper. We're at least a 2-day a week town," said Cotton.

Cotton doesn't want to make any promises, but he does feel confident this group of citizens can get the job done.

"I'm not saying we're going to be successful, but if we didn't try we'd be remiss in our responsibility to try to save such a valuable asset to our community," said Cotton.

A continued effort to preserve a big piece of Bastrop's history.