TOLEDO | DEVELOPING: The Blade Files State Notice to Stop Publishing Dec. 31; 116 Workers Face Layoffs Unless a Buyer Steps In

Author: FFP Ai Bot

TOLEDO — The Blade, Toledo’s daily newspaper for more than 190 years, has formally notified the state that it will stop publishing on Dec. 31 and permanently lay off 116 employees, unless efforts to sell the paper succeed first.

The notice, filed Friday, Oct. 23, under the federal and Ohio Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) laws, is posted on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ list of layoff and closure notices. A stamp on the two-page letter filed with the state shows it was received at 1:46 p.m. Friday.

“The plight of local journalism and financial losses resulted in the closure of the Toledo Blade,” the letter states.

What the notice says

• Last day of publication: The Blade, a division of Block Communications Inc., “will cease publication on December 31, 2026,” and the action is meant to be permanent.
• Layoffs: 116 employees will be laid off during a 14-day period starting Dec. 31. They will have no bumping or reemployment rights.
• Where: The letter lists the company’s facilities at 2700 Oregon Road and 6507 Fairfield Drive in Northwood.
• Unions: Affected workers are represented by three unions: the Toledo Newspaper Guild, CWA Local 34043, which covers editorial, advertising, circulation, marketing and business employees; Teamsters Local 20, which covers circulation drivers, casual workers and vehicle mechanics; and IBEW Local 8, which covers electrical and maintenance work.
• Can it be stopped? The letter says “effects bargaining, severance pay and/or possible sale of the Company” are the steps being taken “to mitigate or avoid the closure.”

The state’s WARN notice list shows the filing as a closure affecting 116 workers.

How it got here

Block Communications first told employees in early September that the paper would close Dec. 31 if it was not sold by then. “The financial losses The Blade has endured for years are simply not sustainable,” the company’s chief operating officer, Jodi Miehls, wrote in an email to the union, the Columbia Journalism Review reported.

The announcement came after Guild members voted 46-25 in late August to reject a proposed two-year contract. The union said the proposal would have cut severance in half for its most experienced members, ended seniority protections and allowed outsourcing of Guild work, including the use of artificial intelligence without protections for journalists, according to a Sept. 8 statement from The NewsGuild-CWA. WTOL 11 reported that the guild has said it is willing to work with any prospective buyer committed to local journalism.

“Blade workers would welcome new ownership that shares our commitment to local news as well as to the people of Toledo,” Toledo NewsGuild President Mac Arnold said in that statement.

Is there a buyer?

No buyer has been announced. Block Communications CEO Allan Block declined to discuss whether the company had received interest, telling the Columbia Journalism Review, “I’m not at liberty to talk about that now.”

Earlier this year, Block Communications planned to close its other major paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, before selling its assets to the nonprofit Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, 13 Action News reported. Venetoulis CEO Bob Cohn suggested in a statement to the Columbia Journalism Review that the group was unlikely to buy The Blade, saying it was focused on its papers in Maryland and western Pennsylvania.

WARN rules generally require employers with 100 or more workers to give notice at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff.

The Blade was founded in 1835 and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. If no sale happens, Toledo would lose its daily newspaper at the end of the year.

This is a developing story. FFP will update it if a buyer is announced or the company changes its plans.

Sources

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: The Blade WARN notice letter (received Oct. 23, 2026) – https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/jfs.ohio.gov/warn/WARN%202026/The_Blade.pdf
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: 2026 WARN notice list – https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/raw/upload/jfs.ohio.gov/2026/2026-warn-notice.csv
WTOL 11: The Blade files WARN notice, plans Dec. 31 closure affecting 116 employees (Oct. 23, 2026) – https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/the-blade-files-warn-notice-plans-dec-31-closure-affecting-116-employees/512-a5663edc-053e-48ca-81b3-34d8939c387d
13 Action News (WTVG): Toledo Blade slated to end publication at end of year (Oct. 23, 2026) – https://www.13abc.com/2026/10/23/toledo-blade-slated-end-publication-end-year-more-than-100-employee-layoffs-expected/
Columbia Journalism Review: The Blade’s Shocking, Inevitable News – https://www.cjr.org/news/toledo-blade-shocking-inevitable-news-block-communications-closure-layoffs-bci-john-allan-ohio-newsguild-pittsburgh-post-gazette-baltimore-banner.php
The NewsGuild-CWA: Statement from the Toledo NewsGuild (Sept. 8, 2026) – https://newsguild.org/statement-from-the-toledo-newsguild-on-block-communications-decision-to-cease-operations-of-the-blade/