Layoffs Hit Paragraph Factory - Again

Things aren't good for the daily rag here in town as about 150 employees got pink slips today. Affected staffers received a form letter from head honcho Mark Zieman thanking them for their sacrifices.
Interestingly, the letter indicated this was the "final stages" of staff reduction. If that sounds familiar, its bacause every blood letting at The Star recently has been their "final stage".

Adding insult to injury - staffers who survived the budget axe are taking a pay cut too. Employees who make in excess of $100-k get whacked by 10%. If you fall under the $100-k ceiling, you get a 5% whack. Guess that's that "spreadin the wealth around" Obama-nomics.
The absolute funniest part of the letter was in the final paragraph. Here's a snippet, courtesy of John Landsberg over at Bottom Line Communications.

[b]Not only have you kept our newspaper safe, you have made heroic progress toward successfully transitioning The Star to a multimedia, multi-platform future.
Even during this difficult time, we remain far and away our region's preeminent source for news and advertising. When the economy recovers we will be well-positioned for future growth.[/b]

Puhlease. I think they pegged the B.S. meter with that one. How bout you! "Heroic"?
SHEESH!!!
"Kept the newspaper SAFE?"
I can hear the death rattle from here!