The New Hampshire Eagle Times

Despite significant economic and budgetary issues, the State of New Hampshire has decided to join the newspaper business, reports today's Nashua Telegraph:

The state of New Hampshire last week agreed to guarantee 75 percent of a $250,000 loan from an Upper Valley bank to the new owner of the Eagle Times, an unusual deal because it involves a daily newspaper and the government it covers.

The Executive Council on Wednesday unanimously approved without debate the “working capital loan guarantee,” which would be administered by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority.

Under the deal, the BFA and the state would be liable to pay up to $187,500 to Connecticut River Bank if Eagle Printing & Publishing LLC defaulted on the $250,000 line of credit it would receive from the bank.

Eagle Printing is the entity created by a small Pennsylvania-based newspaper chain which bought the Eagle and a handful of weekly papers out of bankruptcy in September.