The Tribune-Phonograph serves Abbotsford, Colby, Dorchester, Unity, Curtiss and Milan areas, and also covers the Abbotsford and Colby school districts.

The Record-Review covers Athens, Edgar, Marathon and Stratford areas and school districts.

Tribune Record Gleaner serves the Loyal, Spencer, Greenwood, Granton areas and school districts.

 

---

The Tribune-Phonograph, The Record-Review and the Central Wisconsin Shopper History

• • The Tribune-Phonograph and The Record Review were purchased by J.A. and Carol O’Leary in 1971. In 1981 they started The Central Wisconsin Shopper, covering western Marathon and northeastern Clark Counties.
  • J.A. O’Leary was an expert in computer knowledge and was responsible for the papers being two of the first weekly newspapers in the state to use computer typesetting and billing.
  • Upon the unexpected death of J.A. in 1997, his widow, Carol, daughter, Kris and son-in-law, Kevin Flink, took over the helm of the newspaper and printing operations. Carol has been working in the newspaper business since 1964. In 2010 Kris and Kevin purchased the paper from Carol. In 2011 the Tribune Record Gleaner, located in Loyal, WI, was purchased from Dean Lesar.

 

---

The Tribune Record Gleaner History

In 1969 Bob and Florence Berglund combined the Loyal Tribune, the Spencer Record and the Greenwood Gleaner to form the TRG, serving the area since 1894.

 

---

The Star News and the Star News Shopper History

The history of The Star News coincides with the history of Taylor County, in that both were born in 1875.

The first newspaper in Taylor County — the Taylor County News — was published on March 31, 1875 by the two Ogden brothers. Read more about this on The Star News.

• Jay and Carol O’Leary bought The Star News, and the Star News Shopper, in August 1986.
• At the time, the O’Learys owned The Tribune-Phonograph of Abbotsford-Colby, and The Record-Review of Edgar and Marathon, as well as the Central Wisconsin Shopper.
• Jay O’Leary had been experimenting with computers for several years — he was so knowledgeable about computers and computer programs, that he usually had to explain new equipment and software programs to computer dealers —and The Star News soon became one of the first newspapers in the state, daily or weekly, to use computers for typesetting and scanning photographs.
• The Star News began using pagination — designing and making up newspaper pages entirely on a computer — in 1992, becoming one of the first, if not THE first weekly newspaper in the state to do so.