Just heard a few more rumors and updates for The Morning Call: plans to print the Easton-Express Times at TMC's 6th Street location fell through, and as a result, more layoffs are rumored for November, primarily in the pressroom. Plans to move pre-print operations to the Baltimore Sun have also fallen through. Press workers have managed so far to stave off layoffs, thanks to union negotiations, but it looks like that may soon change.

On the editorial front, the  Photo Department has been moved out of their private digs and into the near-deserted newsroom. Apparently, the reasoning was to make the newsroom look more full and to use "the cheeriness of photo to boost morale." To which a TMC staffer replied "Bullshit!" and explained that Publisher Tim Kennedy, who is moving into Ardith Hilliard's old office, wanted to use the photo lab to house his "BIG conference room table."

Being unemployed means you look for help paying your bills wherever you can. I had contacted Senator Casey's office to find out if I qualified for the government subsidy that would pay 65% of my COBRA health insurance premiums but unfortunately I missed the start date of September 1, 2008 by 13 days. I was laid off from The Morning Call on August 18, 2008. But the clerk did tell me that the cut-off date for the program has been extended from December 31 of 2008 until December 31 of this year. That's good news for all of you who were laid off from TMC in May. COBRA is notoriously expensive, so if you were laid off between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009, you will be eligible for the subsidy.

If you want to find out about the program you can call one of the following three Department of Labor numbers: 

Toll free: 1-866-444-3272

Washington, D.C.: 1-202-693-8700

Philadelphia office:  215-861-5300

You can also visit the Department of Labor Web site at: www.dol.gov/ebfa/COBRA

 Best of luck to all of you!