It also ran The Evening Times of Little Falls, New York, and the weekly The Northern Light in Conway, New Hampshire.
Managed as a trust by Bank of Boston, Alta was formed in 1977 to oversee four newspapers and five charities owned by the Foster and Whitehouse families.
In May 1996, the bank announced it would sell the chain in order to meet financial obligations to the trust's beneficiaries.
It was CNC's first foray into newspaper ownership outside Massachusetts; at the time, some speculated that the company would quickly turn around and sell the New York and Maine dailies.
Elfers denied these rumors,[2] but within a year, CNC had indeed unloaded the Journal Tribune and Evening Times.